I Lost A Student Today

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We were told last night that a young man from one of our past youth groups ended his own life last week.  He was a sharp college student in California with a promising basketball career.   When we were his youth pastors he was just beginning high school.

It hit Robin and I quite hard.  Our hearts go out to his family.  His parents were very loving and supportive, as were his siblings.  We have been praying for them a lot since we learned of the tragedy.

While we will never know just what he was truly struggling with, we do know that he was loved everywhere he went.  He was respectful, courteous and kind.  When we knew him he had a deep love for God, even though he was fairly shy.  Apparently he came out of his shell as he grew older.

It got me to thinking... youth pastors only have a few years with the students God sends them.  These students have real hopes and dreams, and have been created by God for a significant purpose.  Unfortunately they also bear all-too-real hurts, disappointments and pain.  Many carry hidden scars.

Sadly we sometimes get too busy to notice that the people around us are hurting.  When I was a youth pastor at a megachurch I was often so busy preparing to minister to students that I missed God-given opportunities to connect with them.  What's really dumb about this is that these same students were the very reason I was there in the first place.  How crazy is it to be too busy getting ready to invest in students, only to miss the face to face opportunity to do so?!?!

Are you building a monument or scrawling graffiti?

Crusader graffiti on the wall of the Dover Castle Saxon Church (Image credit: John Dahl)

Before moving back to the USA our family was able to do one final European road trip.  We took the ferry from Calais, France to Dover, England, and spent the night there.  The next day we toured the Dover Castle.  It was awesome!  On the walls of the castle church we saw some Crusader graffiti scrawled into the church wall.  These men wanted to leave some sort of mark on the world before heading out into battle.

It got me thinking about our mortality.  We are not guaranteed our next breath.  No one knows what is ahead.  Before we depart we want to leave some sort of legacy that will live on after we’re gone. We only have a few short years in which to impact our world, hopefully for the better.

Some men build grandiose monuments to show how important and impressive they were.  Others scrawl graffiti over those monuments, as a small way of leaving something behind.  This graffiti “shortcut” leaves people more disgusted than impressed.  In our digital world graffiti looks more like online criticism in blog posts and articles.  It has always been easier to deface what someone else has done than to build something that matters.

Men and women of honor build something significant.  Small minded men and women seek to tear it down.  But great men and women realize that the way to leave behind a true legacy is to invest your life into serving others and empowering them to succeed.  Let's invest in the next generation of leaders while we still have time.

The Unfolding Story…

I remember moving to Germany almost 9 years ago…  We were so excited!  We knew that God had big plans for us and we ready to get going.

We left a great job with people we loved and trusted in order to follow God’s plan for our lives.  We KNEW this was the right thing to do, although it seemed crazy.  We felt as if we were jumping out of a perfectly good airplane without a parachute!

And we KNEW what God’s plan for us was (or so we thought).  He had made it clear to us that we were to come to Germany to train European youth leaders and to minister to European teens.  We also felt we were to help a church and Bible school in Bonn, which we did for 7 years.

Three years ago something in our hearts began to change.  It was as if God was broadening the “call” on us to train leaders.  All of a sudden we were doing as much training and mentoring for pastors and other church leaders as for youth leaders.  And this new “call” has served us well for the past two years.

In retrospect we can see that God has been preparing us for the leap of faith we’re taking right now (again jumping out of an airplane without a parachute).  In planting a church in Freiburg, we can see that THIS is the reason He called us to Germany.

The epiphany I’ve recently had is that, as we grow in our relationship with God and our spiritual maturity, God’s plan for us also grows.  Every step of obedience creates new opportunities.  That’s why the path to our destiny is never a straight line.

InSight 2010 rocked!

The InSight 2010 Youth Leader’s Conference was amazing!  There were three days of incredibly practical training and encouragement.  We received some incredible testimonies.  And dozens of youth and leaders made fresh commitments to follow God’s plan for their lives.

Since our goal from the outset was to not just have a one-time event, we are putting both the mp3s and other free information on the website.  The updated http://insight2010.eu website is not yet finished, but it should be shortly.  Be sure to check it out!

InSight Youth Leader’s Conference is NEXT WEEKEND!!!

We are now only one week away from the InSight Youth Leader Conference. I am so pumped about this! It will be a time to speak into the lives of European youth leaders. Many of these youth leaders feel alone and underprepared.

The European Spiritual Estimate states that less than 1% of European teens have a genuine relationship with Christ. This is our chance to impact this lost generation by empowering leaders. We would appreciate your prayers for this conference from Mar. 18-20.

After the conference, we will be making many of the sessions available for download on mp3 (along with other free materials), so be sure to check the website regularly: http://insight2010.eu.

Leadership Podcast

FfO Youth Leader Seminar – Q & A (Jon Perrin) - This podcast is from a Youth Leader's Seminar I taught in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany recently. Although it primarily applies to youth leaders, the principles taught will benefit anyone in church or ministry leadership. The title of the series is "Questions we must answer". This is the question and answer session at the end of the seminar.

http://www.perrinministries.org/upload/FfO_YLS-Q_A.mp3

New Leadership Podcast

FfO Youth Leader Seminar - Session 3 (Jon Perrin) - This podcast is from a Youth Leader's Seminar I taught in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany recently. Although it primarily applies to youth leaders, the principles taught will benefit anyone in church or ministry leadership. The title of the series is "Questions we must answer".

http://www.perrinministries.org/upload/FfO_YLS-Session3.mp3

Insight 2010 Youth Leader Conference

The Insight 2010 Youth Leader Conference will be held in Loerrach, Germany from Mar 18-20.  It will be a time of equipping and encouragement by seasoned youth leaders.  We’d love to see you there!

You can get more info by clicking on the picture below.

The situation on the ground

I got a Facebook message from an old friend yesterday…

As I have shared I'm real interested in what God is doing in Europe. I NEED INFORMATION! Tell me what you know and what the Lord is saying to you...

Here’s part of my reply:

The situation on the ground is pretty grim, spiritually speaking. Only 1.42% of Europeans are Born Again. And for teens it's less than 1%! Centuries of hypocrisy, abuse and simply "going through the motions" have taken their toll. Christianity became a means of controlling the people, so it became absolutely irrelevant. Christianity - the religion - has run its course in Europe and has been relegated to history.

The State churches are dying. The only churches that are growing are independent, protestant churches (and Islamic mosques) . And their growth usually is quite slow. Most churches are doing the same type of ministry that was done decades, if not centuries, ago. There is no connection to real life.

But Europe is ripe for a huge spiritual harvest! As I talk with people here, there is a great spiritual interest, even though it's tempered by cynicism. People are willing to talk about spiritual things if you're willing to get to know them (just like in America). If they feel you are simply proselytizing they will shut you down. They probably won't even be polite about it. But when you invest in a relationship with someone, it opens huge doors! You have to work a lot harder than in Central, South, or even North America to lead someone to Christ, but when you do, you know they've thought it through, and at least somewhat counted the cost.

I hope that answers some of your questions. We would appreciate your prayers as we attempt to change the spiritual landscape of a continent.

What do we stand for?

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! - John 3:17

I came across this a couple of days ago in my daily reading time. It reminded me of a quote from Eric Bryant. He said, “The Church is known for what it stands against rather than what it stands for.”

Think about that… the Church has the greatest message this world has ever known: God loves people and has done everything possible to bring people into a relationship with Him. And yet we have the reputation for being anti-this and anti-that. In our zeal for God’s holiness, we have held the world around us accountable to the same standard as we have for those inside the Church.

I think it’s time that, through our attitudes and actions, we reclaim God’s reputation as a loving, forgiving God. Yes, He’s a holy God. Yes, sin separates us from God. And yes, there will come a day when He judges the world.

But the Jesus I read about in the Gospels was welcomed by “sinners.” They seemed to enjoy His company. And He didn’t seem in the slightest put off by them or their “sinfulness.” It was the religious elite that didn’t like Him. He didn’t care for their “holier-than-thou” attitude either!

We need to remember that it’s His kindness that draws people into a relationship with Him…

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? – Romans 2:4

Let’s represent, or re-present Him to a world in desperate need of His love!

God knows what He’s doing

Sometimes we get frustrated when it seems like we’re not accomplishing much with our lives. Often this shows up in a mid-life crisis. This is especially true if you’re serving in some form of spiritual leadership. It seems as if you’re not really doing anything for God, even though you’re following Him and are striving to grow spiritually.

Even though it may not be plain to you what exactly you're supposed to do or how long you're supposed to do it, rest assured that God knows what He's doing. He's orchestrating the whole thing. And never underestimate the impact you're having on the people around you. As long as you're following God's plan to the best of your ability, He'll make sure your efforts count!

The purpose of light

Human nature is a funny thing. I read somewhere that the natural human tendency in relationships is to form a closed circle. In other words, we choose a set of friends and stay within this circle of friends. It’s comfortable, non-threatening and doesn’t require much extra effort.

During my teenage years, I was often told about the importance of not being “diluted” by those that don’t have a relationship with Christ. I was to go “preach” to the “lost”, but not befriend “them”. They would probably just bring me down and lead me astray.

How crazy is that? I mean, who would listen to someone that only wants to “preach” to them and not be their friend.

Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this…

“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood (or overcome) it.” – John 1:5

Notice where the light shines… it doesn’t shine among other lights. It shines in the darkness. It shines where it can make the most difference.

This is how God has designed us to live. He desires that we not only connect with our friends, but that we actively engage with the world around us.

So how do we do this? Try being friendly! Get to know your neighbors, your co-workers (or fellow students), make conversation with the cashier at the grocery store, with the teller at the bank, with the waiter or waitress…

Let’s live the song many of us sang as kids:

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!

Bible translations

As the old saying goes, the best Bible translation is the one you'll read. I'm reading through the Bible cover to cover. This year I intend to finish my MESSAGE translation and move onto the New Century version. I find that reading in a new Bible and a new translation helps keep my devotional time fresh.

In addition to this, I'm working through a daily one-year Bible reading plan using the New Living Translation. I also read two daily devotionals... one on spiritual leadership and the other one on spiritual growth. And I'm always reading at least one book on the side.

Why is this so important? As a spiritual leader, this plan enables me to keep my edge. If I'm not growing spiritually (not just reading, but applying what I learn), then I have little (nothing) to offer those that look to me for leadership.

I'd be interested in hearing which translation is your favorite. And what advice do you have for others trying to keep their devotional lives fresh?

Job descriptions (part 3)

Image source: referenceforbusiness.com

There is a big difference between a job description and a policy. My mentor says it’s always easier to create policy than to deal with a person directly. Policies are simply rules. They enable us to set clear-cut boundaries, but they don’t encourage ownership or thought. Rules only require obedience.

Job descriptions, however, deal with things that are expected of our volunteers or employees. They establish boundaries, and enable us to evaluate a person’s performance against a set of clear expectations. They should also encourage initiative. They should empower people to do more than just cross off one more thing from their “To do list.”

Policy says, “Answer the phone like this: ‘Thank you for calling Perrin Ministries. How may I help you?’”

A job description goes more like this: “We expect our volunteers/employees to handle all of our customers respectfully, to have a positive, can-do attitude and a pleasant demeanor.” This encourages the volunteer/employee to be creative in their implementation of the expectation.
Sometimes it is necessary to create policy – especially the case of a recurring problem. This shows a lack of clear communication on our part. But this should be the exception, not the rule.

Job descriptions (part 2)

Image source: referenceforbusiness.com

Job descriptions enable us to share our expectations with those we lead. And we are able to do this in a way that is non-threatening. We are simply letting the employee know what we expect from them, and setting boundaries.

And when they fail to meet the agreed-upon expectations, it gives us a legitimate way to bring confrontation or correction, if necessary. We can bring them back to the job description and show them how they didn’t meet the necessary expectations. And we can do so in a respectful, relational way.

We need to remember the goal of confrontation: the restoration of relationship. When one team member fails to accomplish a necessary task, the entire team suffers. This creates stress and strain on working and interpersonal relationships. Confrontation, when done correctly, allows us to restore these relationships to more than just a functional level.

Job descriptions (part 1)

Image source: referenceborbusiness.com

While I was at a conference today, I had an interesting conversation with a lady about her company. She owns a music school and has recently started having to hire employees. She doesn’t have much experience with people management, so she asked me a few questions. One of them had to do with how close she should be to her employees.

She is a people person so, naturally, she enjoys relationship building. And she has an employee that has used that as an excuse to not respect her as the boss. It’s not that the employee is evil… it’s just that this other person didn’t follow through on an assigned task and it left the owner looking unprepared, and very frustrated.

When she asked me what she could do, I encouraged her to spell out her expectations for each employee and position – basically, I encouraged her to come up with job descriptions for each employee.

I'm home!!!

My USA fundraising trip was crazy, but amazing! In three weeks I traveled a little over 17,500 miles, counting 14 flights. I spoke in 15 services and did 3 leadership training sessions. The coolest part was that I was able to pray with four students to give their hearts to Christ.

Now I'm back home and trying to ease back into the Central European Time Zone. It hasn't been pretty so far, but sometimes that's the way it goes. I have one week of down time with my family before heading to Frankfurt (Oder), Germany for four days to do evangelistic school and street outreach, as well as leadership training and a service for the host church. For an updated ministry schedule, check out our website: www.perrinministries.org.

I wanted to thank all of you that supported this trip with your finances and prayers. We continue to be amazed at our partners and friends... You're helping us change the spiritual landscape of a planet!

Interestingly fun evening planned!

I (Jon) am currently in Lexington, SC.  Tonight I speak in a Presbyterian youth group, and then hop in a car to go to a non-denominational church to speak to their youth group.  This is a first for me.  I'm used to doing one church on Sun. morning, and another on Sun. evening, but back-to-back will be something new!

The wildest part is that God has put two different messages on my heart.  For the first one, I'll talk about discovering God's purpose for your life. ("Why are you here?")  For the 2nd one, I'll be talking about our expectations... how God conform to our preconceived ideas. ("What are you looking for?")

I'm really excited to see what God will do in both groups!

US Trip

I (Jon) leave on Wednesday for a three week trip to the USA.  I'll be traveling to both coasts and the Midwest.  It'll be a lot of traveling, but a lot of fun.

Now it's the mad dash to get everything finished before I leave(ministry taxes, mentoring phone calls and emails, newsletter, etc).

If you're in the area, come see me at one of the following places:

• Sept 17-21: Father's Family Church (Exeter, NH)
• Sept 24: Invasion Youth Group of The Harvest Church (Columbia, SC)
• Sept 28: Shiloh Faith Fellowship (Chinook, WA)
• Oct 1: Harvest Bible Church (Stockton, CA)
• Oct 3-5: Depot Youth Ministry of Word of Life Church (Sand Springs, OK)

For up-to-date schedule information or available ministry dates, please check out our website calendar.

Finding your place

I met a man today that handles the finances for most of the Wycliff missionary projects in Europe and western Asia. And he says it's amazing how perfectly suited he is for this job.

He started out a number of years ago as a church planter in Japan. When his organization needed some help in the financial and organizational dept, he volunteered. He had left a successful job in the banking industry to plant churches. As he helped in this area, he realized how perfectly suited he was for this.

It's definitely not as important in man's eyes, but it is vital for the success of Wycliff Bible Translators... and he's making a difference behind the scenes. As he puts it, "It's not glamorous, nor does it look really good in a newsletter, but it's exactly what God created me to do." How refreshing to hear someone who has found and is fulfilling God's will for their lives!

It's sort of the same for us... we came over to reach every teen in Europe. We planted youth ministries, did evangelistic outreaches, mission trips, camps, seminars, conferences, street ministry, etc... all with and for teens.

And although we had success, we began to notice that we felt the most in our element when we were training leaders. As we began to do more and more training, we saw the huge need for someone to come alongside European leaders and coach/mentor them. And we began to recognize the shift in the grace on our lives... away from the actual youth ministry and more into leadership development. It's not as sensational as doing all the street ministry, but it's just as important... and it's exactly what we were put on this earth to do. what Jesus did when He walked the earth. He spent most of His time training His disciples so they could change the world!