November 2011

Ottawa-Glandorf High School

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In November, I had the rare opportunity to attend a concert!  Ottawa-Glandorf is close to Joel's home town of Van Wert, OH, so we were able to get free babysitters for the night (Joel's parents!).  And the drive over was very short.  I loved being a 'spectator' and just taking it all in.  Joel and Ryan have really honed their concert performance and they do an awesome job.  The kids really have a blast and love Ryan's music!  They also listened closely to the gospel presentation.  I was encouraged and blessed to have this opportunity!

The Concert at Ottowa-Glandorf

Wisconsin

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Several Months ago, Ryan and Joel began planning a trip to Wisconsin Rapids, WI to do three straight days of assemblies and outreaches.  They were able to schedule and confirm all the school assemblies but the guys began hitting some major roadblocks when they tried to schedule the outreach concerts.  The first high school principal that Ryan approached about hosting a concert said no and then proceeded to contact all the other schools and encourage them to say no as well.  As the trip approached, it looked like the whole thing might fall through. Ryan found a way to secure venues for a couple concerts but they came together so last minute.  So, when the guys headed off for the long trip, they were a little pessimistic about the chances of successful outreaches.  To their surprise, students came out in force to both outreaches and packed out both venues.  The second concert drew nearly 400 students!  Joel told me that the students were very attentive during the Gospel.  Praise God for continuing to show us that He makes things happen - not us.

Concert at Assumption HS in Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Concert at Nekoosa HS in Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

We are so excited about my new book, “Seven Lies Almost Every Teen Believes” that - get this - we are GIVING AWAY a copy to every student who attends one of our outreach concerts from now on. We expect to distribute between about 10,000 books this school year alone!

The book was carefully crafted to present a solid biblical worldview in plain “teen speak” to unchurched students. Since late August we have given away about 5,000 books and the feedback has been incredible. A Christian teacher who volunteered at an outreach had this to say the day after the event:

“One of my seniors, who I am pretty sure is not a Christian, told me today that he started looking at your book before bedtime and couldn't stop reading. He said he read more pages than he can ever remember reading outside of school. Other students made similar comments.”

We wish we could mail a copy to everyone who receives the Pentons' Progress but that would take more money than we have. So here is what we are doing: we will send a book to anyone who makes an online donation to our ministry this month at www.tinyurl.com/give2fca No gift is too small (or too large) and all donations are tax deductible.

As a recap, to GET YOUR COPY OF THE NEW BOOK, here's what you do:
1. Make a donation at www.tinyurl.com/give2fca (make sure to select Joel Penton in the drop down menu).
2. Receive your copy of "Seven Lies" (we get your address when you make your donation).
3. That's all!

Thanks so much for all your support!


God bless,
Joel

October 2011

Intense fall travel continued through October.  Joel gave a whopping 31 speeches across six states this past month alone!

Urbana High School

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Joel and Ryan teamed up with River of Life Church in Urbana, OH to reach the students of Urbana High School one Friday last month.  The day started with a morning school assembly where they invited students to attend a "5th Quarter" concert at the church after the football game that evening.  After school, Joel had the honor of addressing the Urbana football team as they mentally prepared for the game. Joel was also able to hang out on the sideline and watch as Urbana destroyed their opponent 51-6. (His speech to the team must have been really good!)  After the game more than 300 students walked over to the church for the concert where Ryan played and Joel shared the Gospel!  Please pray for the students of Urbana and River of Life Church who ministers to them.

Joel and the Urbana "Hill Climbers" Mascot



Anthony Wayne High School

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Toward the end of October, Joel and Ryan spent a day in Whitehouse, OH where they had two school assemblies and an evening concert.  For some reason nothing seemed to go as planned in the weeks leading up to the event. There wasn't an in-school Christian club to provide volunteers, the administration wouldn't allow promotional posters to be displayed throughout the school, and the auditorium was hosting the school play so the concert had to be held in the cafeteria. The daytime assemblies went well, but Joel and Ryan were both a little pessimistic about whether students would come back for the concert. To their complete surprise, the students came back in force!  They packed out the cafeteria to the point that there was standing room only!  Afterward Joel told me that the students seemed captivated by the gospel and it was possibly the best outreach so far this year!  

Ryan plays to a packed house in the Anthony Wayne HS Cafeteria

Message From Joel

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Teammates, 

We've been doing a lot of traveling this fall.  As I write this message, I realize that it's been three full weeks since I have spent consecutive nights in my own bed.  The next month looks like it will be just about as busy.

As always, I ask that you pray for our safety on the road as well as our families that remain at home.  This month I ask you especially to pray for our spiritual health.  Traveling, setting up, presenting, and tearing down make for very long days.  It is all too easy to let our personal daily Bible study and prayer get lost in the busyness.  Please pray that Ryan and I both would find the time and energy to tend to our own souls as we reach out to the souls of teens.  Pray that God would fill our hearts during our time with Him and that we would be able to minister to others out of that fullness.

We are so grateful for your prayers and support.

God bless,

Joel

September 2011

One Crazy Week!

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Joel and Ryan decided to see how far they could push themselves and still survive the week of September 12th.  They did twelve events in four days.  Oh...the events also were in two different states.  Yeah, they were pretty tired by the end of the week.



Concert at Southside HS

The week began when Joel picked Ryan up at 5:30am Monday morning. The two drove up to the Cleveland for assemblies and concerts at Berea HS and Midpark HS on Monday and Tuesday.  The response from both schools was incredible and more than 300 students attended each concert.


Concert at Berea HS

Concert at Midpark HS

At 10:30pm Tuesday night, Joel and Ryan pulled out of the Midpark HS parking lot to start the six hour journey to New York.  After just a few hours of sleep in a hotel, they headed to Southside HS in Elmira, NY for a morning assembly.  Joel and Ryan spent two days in Elmira also doing two assemblies and a concert each day. However, their hard work paid off and Joel told me it was obvious that there were almost all unchurched, non-Christians students who attended the New York concert - exactly who we are trying to reach!

The high point of the week was at the 12th and final event, the concert at Elmira Free Academy. Before Ryan's final song, our fog machines set off the school's fire alarms and everyone had to evacuate!  Joel and Ryan signed autographs for students in the parking lot while a team of firefighters with two massive firetrucks investigated the scene.

Joel and Ryan drove through the night and finally arrived back home at 6am.  When all was said and done, more than 1,100 students heard the Gospel that week. Praise Jesus! We are so thankful to be used by Him!

Message From Joel

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Teammates, 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who support our ministry through prayer and/or financial support.


James 5:16 says that Christians prayers are "powerful and effective." As we boldly bring our requests to our Heavenly Father, we can trust that He is faithful to hear our prayers and respond. Please continue to lift us up to the Lord as we seek to honor Him in America's public schools.


We are keenly aware that our ministry would not be possible without so many people supporting us financially. If you are one of our financial partners please know that you are a very real part of our ministry. Your gifts enable us to go and so in a way, you go with us to take the Gospel to students.  If you are not a member of our financial support team and would like to learn more about partnering with us financially, please feel free to contact me directly and I can get you some more information - jpenton@fca.org

God bless,
Joel

August 2011

 The New School Year Begins!

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Due to some audio/visual equipment upgrades, "The Moose" (our van) will now be accompanied by "The Slug" (our new trailer).

It's hard to believe the summer is already gone and a new school year has begun.  The past four school years have been exciting for our ministry.  We have been blessed with the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to tens of thousands of teens all across the country.  We have even seen many students take the step to trust in Christ. However, as we begin this 2011-2012 school year, I can honestly say that both the Penton's and the Holliday's are more excited than ever about the opportunities ahead.

We hit the ground running this August with nine school assemblies and four outreach concerts.  The attendance at the outreaches was significantly higher than in years past, a trend for which we praise God and pray will continue.

One of the outreaches this month was at Oak Hill High School in Southeast, OH.  The Oak Hill school system is pretty small with only about 400 high school students.  Amazingly, more than 300 students came back in the evening for the outreach concert!  And after Joel shared the Gospel, dozens of students indicated first time decisions for Christ!

Please join us in thanking God for his grace and praying for Jesus to be honored in all that we do.

Joel joins students in doing the "O" at Oak Hill HS

Message From Joel

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Teammates, 

I have an exciting announcement.  Our son Judah, who is not yet one year old, is going to be a big brother!  That's right, Bethany and I are expecting our third child!  I have no clue why the Lord has chosen to be so gracious to us but we are very thankful.

The baby is due in mid April.  Please pray for a healthy pregnancy.  Also pray for Bethany to have energy to care for our two children as she carries our third, often while I am on the road.


Thank you all for your continual prayers and support!

God bless,
Joel

July 2011

 Student Leadership Conferences

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photo by Sharon Elizabeth Photography

In July, Joel spoke at three student leadership conferences.  These summer conferences give Joel an opportunity to invest in the lives of students from many different high schools all at once. Those students then are able to take what they learn and impact their classmates back home. Joel is sure to let students know that he does most of his speaking for schools in hopes they will relay the message to their principals and potentially book future school assemblies where we can hold outreach events.  Please pray that these conferences would help expand our influence for Christ.

 Gearing Up

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Joel and Ryan have been very busy getting ready for the upcoming school year. A flurry of emails and postcards have been going out over the last several weeks to schools all over the country. We are also sending out a copy of Joel's first book, Stand Your Ground, to principals who are interested in learning more about Joel and his presentation.  Each year it is a step of faith to invest so much time and resources into our summer marketing campaign, trusting that schools will respond and fill our calendar. Please pray God will bless our efforts yet again with many opportunities to preach the Gospel to unchurched students.

Message From Joel

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Teammates, 

I am so excited to report that my second book is finished.  It is called "Seven Lies Almost Every Teen Believes" and the first batch is being printed now. The project took much more time and energy than anticipated but the end result is also much more than we had hoped for. We are praying that God will use the book to win students to Christ as well as help new Christians become grounded in their new walk with God. We will be sending out a more formal announcement about the release of the book soon with information about how we plan to use it and how you can get inexpensive copies for your church and people you know. If you can't wait until then, as of today, the book is available on Amazon.com HERE. Thank you all for your love and support!

God bless,

Joel

June 2011




2011 Ministry picture...Our families just keep growing! 

 Virginia

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Joel took his first trip to the Washington DC area in June.  He spoke at an overnight event in West Springfield, VA. The event was held for high school seniors the night of their graduation. The whole class was invited to stay the night at a local rec center in an attempt to deter destructive graduation celebrations. The seniors spent all night playing games, singing karaoke, swimming and just having a good time. At 4am, they gathered everyone together to hear Joel speak.  This made for a challenging speaking environment but Joel said he connected well with the slap happy crowd and got some great feedback from kids afterward.

 School Year Recap

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June is always a time for us to step back and celebrate all that God accomplished during the school year as well as plan ahead for next year.  We are very thankful that more that 10,000 students heard the Gospel during the 2010-2011 school year. This number has grown consistently over the last few years and we pray that the Lord will continue to give us opportunities to share the Good News with those who don't yet know him.

Joel and Ryan took several days in June to redefine and refocus the goals of our ministry.  We know we have come a long way since we began doing assemblies and outreaches but we still see potential for an even bigger impact if we continue to move forward. Please pray that we would use our limited time wisely this summer to prepare for a great 2011-2012 school year! 

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

I heard a pastor say that to effectively communicate the Gospel you need to do two seemingly contradictory things very well: contend and contextualize.

Contend: We need to be willing and able to fight for the truth of the Gospel without compromise.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 1:9, “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” People will be offended. People might make fun. But we must consistently proclaim the truth without altering it in an attempt to make the Gospel more palatable. If we win people to a different Gospel, then we haven’t won them at all.

Contextualize: At the same time, we must communicate the Gospel in a winsome way that makes sense to our hearers. This means we need to be culturally relevant and relatable to our audience.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” Our vocabulary matters.  What we wear matters. As good missionaries in the world we must “become” the people we are trying to reach.

Doing both of these things simultaneously is hard. Please pray for us, that we will be faithful contenders and attractive contextualizers in public schools. We will pray for you to do the same in your world.

Joel

May 2011

May always includes a lighter travel schedule for us.  This allowed Joel and Ryan time to work on other projects.  Ryan's most notable projects were his first few weeks of parenthood!

California

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Joel had an interesting trip to California for the 2nd time this school year.  He was lucky enough to book a direct flight to LAX but unfortunately, the plane was delayed so he sat for five hours...in the Columbus airport! (This, of course, just killed me to know, as he was literally in town but not at home and it was kinda a rough night with the little ones!)  Joel arrived at his hotel in LA at 2:30am and set his alarm for 6am. The next morning he gave four 1-hour speeches in a row.  His reward was a dip in the Pacific ocean(just his feet).  

That evening he met up with friend and former OSU teammate, David Patterson for dinner.  Joel flew back early the next morning. He arrived on time to Minneapolis for his layover but his flight to Columbus was cancelled because half the airport was experiencing a power outage! He had to spend the night there, but it wasn't horrible because he was able to see the Mall of America and eat at a restaurant called Soul Daddy which we saw on the NBC show, "America's Next Great Restaurant!"  Despite the travel woes, we were grateful for such a great ministry opportunity and a safe return home. 

 Whitney Anne Holliday

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Ryan and Emily had their sweet baby girl, Whitney on May 10th.  Emily's labor went extremely well and Whitney is just a beautiful baby!  Whitney has very LONG fingers and arms and big feet.  She is a great sleeper and eater and the Hollidays are pleased with how well things are going.  Please pray for them during this transition time.

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

Bethany and I set aside some time in late May to finish the first full draft of my next book, "Seven Lies Almost Every Teen Believes."  We secluded ourselves at home and went through the text line by line.  We hoped to finish the project in two days. However, those two days turned into a full week of intense rewriting and editing. By the time we were finished, we both felt like our brains had turned to mush. However, I am happy to report that the manuscript is finished and in the hands of a 25 member review team.  The team will give us extensive feedback so we can make some final changes before moving into the design and production aspect of the project.

Please pray for wisdom during this process with the book.  We hope this book will play a big role in our ministry of proclaiming the gospel to students and getting them started down the road of a healthy walk with Jesus.  This project has been so much more difficult than we ever imagined and we pray that God will bless our efforts and use them for His glory.

God Bless,

Joel

April 2011

This April included some of the very best evening concerts the ministry has seen to date!

Answered Prayer - New Lexington & Logan

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It is a truly amazing experience when God allows you to be a part of answered prayer.  Joel and Ryan were able to experience that recently at the New Lexington and Logan outreaches.  We teamed up with a long-time partnering church - Ebenezer Baptist in Logan, OH to hold the assemblies and concerts.  Long before the concerts we were aware of numerous church members devoting many hours of prayer to the event.  The first concert, held at New Lexington High School made it apparent that the Lord had answered those prayers, in at least 1 way...  450 students showed up, setting a new attendance record for our ministry!  But it did not end there.  The students were majorly disruptive throughout the concert (imagine a concert with 450 students and only a handful of adults) but when Joel began to share the Gospel, they actually quieted down and listened intently!  Wow! Often times, the opposite happens as non-Christians get uncomfortable when Jesus is mentioned.  Joel was shocked.  The excitement continued the next evening at Logan High School when our attendance record was broken for the second night in a row, this time with 550 people. The best part we found out about later.  Our Ebenezer Baptist friends inputted the data from 'feedback cards' we have the students fill out at the concerts.  We were so shocked and blown away to see that over 290 students indicated that they put their faith in Jesus for the first time!  Wow, thank you Jesus for answered prayer!

The Logan concert made history for us as our #1 attendance to date at a concert - 550 people!

Students get involved during the Logan Concert

Students taking pics during the concert

Joel's Ministry in his Inbox 

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A huge amount of ministry is going on in a weird place right now - Joel's email inbox.  As you may know Joel directs the students at school assemblies to a website where they have the option to sign up and receive emails with videos of Joel.  These videos contain the gospel, solid Biblical truths, and Joel's testimony.  Sometimes these students reply to the email and ask some deep, personal questions.  Joel quickly takes the opportunity to share the gospel again with the student via email.  One particular high school senior emailed Joel in mid April with a question:

"Ive been having suicidal thoughts lately...my school councilor knows as well as my parents. But the question that keeps crossing my mind is, Does everyone have a purpose for living? 

I dont like hurting people. I put everyone else first. But I need something for me. And I thought maybe, if i could figure out, or at least know, I have purpose in life...I'm worth staying alive, then maybe i'll finally be ok..."

Wow. talk about a perfect set-up to share Jesus.  Joel responded with this message: 

"I’m not going to pretend that I know exactly what you’re going through but I am sure that everyone has a purpose. 

Our purpose is to know God.  Do you believe in God?

Here’s the thing – we were all created to know God but we all rebelled against him.  We were made to live for him but we turned things backwards and began living for ourselves instead.  Now the whole world is backwards because our relationship with God is backwards.  That’s why we feel so alone and empty and without purpose…. Because me messed up our purpose.  Not only that but we all deserve to be punished forever because of the way we betrayed God.

But here is the good part – Jesus came to Earth to set things right.  He died on the cross to pay the penalty for what we have done wrong.  Then he rose from the dead, proving that he is the true King."

He then went on to challenge this particular student to turn to Jesus as her Savior.  


Sometimes it makes me sad that these students feel like they need to pour out their souls to Joel, someone they don't really know at all, about emotional and spiritual things... via email! However, we are grateful for the opportunity that presents for the gospel.  We do recognize though, the need for these students to find godly people in their own lives.  So, we ask that you join us in prayer.  We pray for the students to find a local pastor or Christian parent that they can talk to on an ongoing basis to grow in their relationship with Jesus.  


We are so thankful to be a part of the Lord's work here!

Until Next Month,

Bethany Penton

Who says ministry life isn't fun? Joel takes a break during set-up to 'skate board'

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

As the school year begins to wind down, I am finally getting to catch up on some much needed time with my family. Being a father is a great joy but it is also a huge responsibility. This reality became exceedingly clear a while back when I read Matthew 7:11. In that verse Jesus says, "If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask him." Jesus makes an important point that God is a loving father whom we can trust to answer our prayers. What struck me most about this concept was something kind of subtle: people should learn things about relating to God by considering how children relate to their parents, particularly their fathers. This means that as a father, I need to serve as a picture of God, our Heavenly Father, for my children. My kids will spend their childhoods learning from and obeying me so that when they mature to independence, they will be better equipped to spend their entire lives learning from and obeying God, their True Father. What an exciting (and scary) opportunity! I along with all parents must humbly pray for God's grace to accomplish this great task through such a feeble instrument as me.

God Bless, 

Joel

P.S.  I spoke on this topic at my home church recently and you can listen to the sermon HERE.

March 2011

Tidbits from Illinois

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-Joel and Ryan took and intense trip to Illinois for 10 speaking engagements in 3 days.  The last day of the trip, Joel spoke 5 times!

-Three of those 10 events were some of the most successful outreach concerts to date!

-Joel and Ryan visited Spoon River Valley, one of the smallest schools he has ever visited. There were 200 total students in the grades seven through twelve.

Concert at PBL HS in Illinois

Then and Now at Lucas, OH

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This month ended with an awesome trip to Lucas, OH for 2 assemblies and a concert. Here's a funny video of a teacher at Lucas rapping Vanilla Ice right after the assembly.



Joel and Ryan actually visited Lucas for an evening event a couple years ago. At that time, the crowd was mostly families and Ohio State fans. Since then, if you remember, a little over a year ago we changed our plan of attack for our evening events. It is now a concert featuring Ryan and aimed at students. The crowd this time consisted of over 200 students! We were so pleased to see that our efforts have paid off and hopefully tons of un-churched students heard the truth about Jesus for perhaps the first time! Here's a quote from a student at Lucas HS student who prayed to receive Christ for the first time at the concert,

"Your show was very good and it helped me open up. I cried when we were praying and I believe it was because God came to live inside me. I would like to know if I can get baptized. Thank you!" -DD

Praise God for DD's new life in Christ!

Until Next Month,

Bethany Penton

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

Last month I wrote about the Holliday's new baby coming soon.  This month I have some more news from the Holliday side.  Which is remarkably less exciting than the baby.

Ryan recently released his first CD with original music.  It has been in the making for the past 3 years.  It is one more avenue to minister to students.  We give away a copy of Ryan's CD at the school assembly and we have already and seen how this brings more students back to the concert. You can check out his website where you can listen to his music for free online.  His music is also available for purchase on itunes and CD Baby.  All of the money from sales goes to support our ministry.  We are excited for this big step forward.  Please pray that God uses it for his glory.

God Bless, 

Joel

February 2011

A Close Call in Alabama

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-The trip to Arab, AL for Joel and Ryan was originally scheduled in January.  It was canceled due to snow.  

-On the way there this February, the guys got stuck on the highway for eight hours and feared the assembly and concert would be canceled again!

-School was in session with just a two-hour delay so Joel and Ryan were able to do the assembly and concert.

-It was our first trip to Alabama and the southern crowd was welcoming!

The Concert at Arab, AL, Check out Ryan's new CD on his website

A Glimpse into Joel's Life

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This February was arguably Joel’s busiest month since he has been speaking full-time. He spoke 27 times and in eight different states, all in the shortest and snowiest month of the year.  This made for a lot of time in airports, rental cars, hotels, and travel inconveniences.  One somewhat comical example of this happened in Joel’s 2-stop trip in late February.

Joel’s first destination was Milton, Delaware. Running a little late, he had to rush out of the house to get to the airport on time.  As he was pulling out of the driveway, the garage door broke and he spent another 10 minutes trying to fix it.  Joel gave up and texted me, “Bad news: Garage door broken.” Luckily me and the kids were out of the house.  Almost late for his flight, he frantically arrived to the airport. Fortunately, he got there in time. However, the second leg of the flight was on one of the smallest planes Joel had ever seen (it had a propeller) and 6 foot, 5 inch Joel was seated beside a 6 foot, 4 inch former college basketball player (what are the chances?!) Upon landing in Baltimore, Joel picked up his rental car and drove to his hotel in Delaware.  In the morning Joel plugged “Mariner Middle School in Milton, DE” into his GPS which quickly generated directions.  An hour later, Joel arrived at 1 Mariner Way in Middleton, DE.  His GPS had taken him to the completely wrong place!  Luckily the school was only about 20 minutes away and Joel made it in time.

So, he survived that one. But, after speaking at two schools in Delaware, Joel drove to Philadelphia to stay the night and catch an early morning flight to Chicago to speak at a leadership conference.  On the shuttle to his rental car in Chicago, he looked down and noticed a four inch rip in his shoe exposing a large portion of his sock and making it difficult to walk.  He spent the next three hours trying to find a place in Chicago that sells size 15 shoes.   At the 7th store he settled for size 14.  This time he made sure the school address was correct and as he was checking it on his phone he got a text from me that said, “Need to talk to youASAP... our basement is flooded.”

Wow! I don't know how he does it!

Joel's ripped shoe!

Until Next Month,

Bethany Penton

Message From Joel

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Teammates,

We are anxiously awaiting another new addition to our team.  Ryan and Emily Holliday are expecting their first child this Spring!  They are due to have a baby girl on May 7th.  We are so excited that Ryan and Emily will get to join with us in the joys of parenthood.  We are also excited that Joel and Judah will have another friend to play with.  Please pray for Ryan and Emily as they prepare for the birth.  Pray for a safe and healthy delivery for both mom and baby.  Pray also that the Lord will prepare Ryan and Emily to shepherd their daughter in a life for God’s glory.  Each new child brings a new level of joy as well as new challenges for a ministry focused on traveling.  Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we coordinate a busy travel calendar with busy, growing families.

God Bless,

Joel