March 2012

Cedarville University

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This month, Joel was given the opportunity to speak at Cedarville University's chapel service.  Cedarville is a sponsor of ours, and there are many dear friends and supporters involved with Cedarville.  The response was great and Joel said it was refreshing to speak to so many attentive, college-age students!  Here's where you can see Joel's talk in its entirety - http://tinyurl.com/penton-message

Keeping It Simple

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Recently we've added a new tool to reach students.  It is an over-sized bookmark that simply explains the Gospel.  Here are a few things we like about it:

1. Every student gets one.  We include it with every book that we give away at the concert.
2. It's clear, concise and complete. During the concert, We present the Gospel in a way that is clear, concise and complete.  We intentionally designed the bookmark to follow the same structure and use the same forcefulness.  The goal is for students to consider again what they were just challenged with at the concert.
3. It's from Ryan.  The book was written by Joel, and the bookmark is from Ryan.  The purpose of this is twofold: 1. Some students connect well with Ryan and it gives these students the Gospel in written form, from him.  2. It increases the likelihood that the students will read thebook.

Home Is Where The Ministry Is...

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We recently returned to our old stomping grounds in NW Ohio for a couple days of events at schools near our hometown of Van Wert.  We were at Parkway HS and Wayne Trace HS, both just minutes from Van Wert. The events went extremely well.  One teacher at Parkway sent us this email after the event:

"I was very blessed by your ministry.  Several kids I teach here at Parkway that I have been praying for and witnessing to heard a much-needed Gospel message.  All morning long my students have been having conversations about faith.  Many kids are carying around the book you gave out.  One girl even brought her Bible to class and was reading it!"

It's also worth noting that we were able to reach Parkway and Wayne Trace at no cost to the schools.  This was ONLY possible because of you, our supporters - thank you so very much!!  

February 2013

Eat at Wendy's!

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Over the past two years, we've been so blessed to develop a partnership Wenco, a series of Wendy's restaurants in communities along SR 30 in northern Ohio. The owner of Wenco is a fellow Christian brother who understands the vision of our ministry and wants to use his position for the advance of the gospel. In fact, the Wenco Core Values Statement begins with, "We will be guided by Christian Values and Principles with the purpose to honor God in all we do." Wenco has already sponsored several assemblies and concerts and we are working on more for the future. In February they sponsored  events at Smithville HS and Shelby HS. Please pray for Wenco, that God would continue to use them in the business world for His glory.

Iowa is the Greatest!

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In February Joel and Ryan made their second journey this school year to Iowa. During their first trip, they got some great press that included spots on the Sioux City ABC and NBC evening news.  An administrator at West Sioux High School saw Joel and Ryan on the news and was determined to get them to come back. He didn't need to twist their arms. The guys love going to Iowa. They say the people there are so nice and events are always a hit. This second trip was no exception.

January 2013

Joel's Preaching

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Joel preached three out of four Sundays in January.  It was a challenging, but spiritually uplifting time for him.  I enjoyed hearing and giving feedback on all of his brainstorming as he developed some new material.  The second Sunday in January Joel had the honor of preaching at his hometown church, First United Methodist Church in Van Wert, OH.  He was asked to preach on Isaiah 43:1-7, a very weighty and theologically rich passage.  Joel actually felt slightly overwhelmed by the depth of the text, especially, when thinking about how to cram it all into one, 40-minute sermon.  However, I had no problem suggesting which of his ideas he should cut! ;)  Here's a video of Joel preaching at FUM in Van Wert.  Scroll to 17:02 to see Joel!
 

Joel has been seeking out more and more opportunities to preach in churches lately.  If your church would be interested in having Joel, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Until Next Month,

Bethany

Message From Joel

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Friends,

The Fall of 2012 was perhaps our busiest season yet in the ministry. It was a fruitful but it was also very exhausting.  Thankfully out of state travel in December and January was lighter just as it has been in years past, and we were able to "recharge" a bit. That recharge is going to be important because the rest of the school year is shaping up to be equally crazy as the Fall.  Please pray for our safety on the road.  Pray for our endurance as we take the gospel to students in public school.  Pray also for our families at home.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support!

God Bless,
Joel

December 2013

A Sea of Students

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Joel and Ryan kicked off December with three days in a row in Michigan.  All three high schools they presented to were HUGE! In total, Joel and Ryan were in front of more than 5,000.  Below is a video from Flushing High School, the smallest of the three school assemblies.

While Flushing HS was the smallest assembly of the week (a mere 1,300 students), our concert at Flushing turned out to be our largest concert of the year. More than 300 students came out at night to hear the gospel! Check out the message from Joel (below) for a video from the Flushing concert.

Riverside High School

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In mid December, Joel and Ryan visited Riverside High School in Degraff, OH. Riverside was one of the first schools Joel and Ryan did more than five years ago when the ministry began. The guys were able to go a little deeper with the students when they spoke to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group during lunch time. That night, the concert was a big success.

Until Next Month,

Bethany

Message From Joel

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Friends,

We are so excited that this school year we have begun partnering with Cedarville University, one of the nations premier Christian Universities located right here in Ohio. We have worked with Cedarville some in the past for individual outreach events. I have also spoken on the Cedarville campus a few times over the past several years. Now they have become an official sponsor of all of our concerts! We are so grateful to be working with an organization that is aligned with our passion - taking the gospel to students. Below is a video we made at a recent concert to thank Cedarville University.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support!

God Bless,
Joel

November 2012

Welcome Wesley!

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Joel and Ryan had a whopping 19 events across 5 states in November, but the most exciting news is about the latest addition the the team.

On November 3rd, The Hollidays' new baby finally arrived!  The birth was much anticipated, as Wesley Michael Holliday came a mere 9 days after his due date.  Emily said that the birth was much easier than expected.  Amazing, especially considering that Wes weighed a rather huge 9 lb 6 oz and measured 22 inches!!! 

Emily says that Wes is "an incredible baby."  He only cries when he is hungry or has a wet diaper.  Praise God for a healthy mom and baby!  Please join us in prayer for this new little blessing, for his spiritual and physical health.

Until Next Month,

Bethany

Message From Joel

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Friends,

Ryan's new album has been a great tool for our ministry. Along with the album, we partnered with long our long time collaborator, Nathan Lundquist, to make three music videos.  We use two of the videos at our concerts to lead up to the time when I present the gospel.  Check them out below:

The first song/video we use is called "Blinded." It is all about searching for the Truth in a world that is filled with lies.

The second song/video is called "What We've Done."  The song describes how all of us are guilty and without hope based on our own merits.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support!

God Bless,
Joel

October 2012

Two trips to the State up North?

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Joel made two trips up to Michigan this October.  The atmosphere was actually more welcoming than one might expect.  As a former Ohio State Buckeye, Joel used to be a little nervous to speak in the state of Michigan.  He knows how seriously Buckeye fans take the rivalry and what contempt they seem to have for "that state up North."  You could only imagine what response Joel would get from a full high school student body in Michigan if the feeling is mutual.  However, after several experiences, Joel found that the people of Michigan don't seem to take the rivalry as personally as many do in Ohio.  Michigan residents seem to treat the rivalry more like what it is - just a game.  Joel's association with OSU is actually a huge positive because people are so familiar with the Buckeyes.  In fact, Michigan has become our most frequented state for ministry outside of Ohio.

Joel takes a video of volunteers joining Ryan for a song during an assembly

Joel speaking about the rewards that can come from keeping commitments

On the 2nd trip back from MI Joel noticed that The Moose rolled over the 200,000 mile mark! We purchased the vehicle with 60,000 miles. Though not too luxurious, the large 15 passenger van has been good to us and we hope to get at another 100k out of it!

Until next month,
Bethany

September 2012

Six States in Thirty Days

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September was extremely busy with events in six different states!

The month began with a trip to New York and Pennsylvania followed by a couple of assemblies in Ohio. Next came a long journey to Iowa and Nebraska.  Joel and Ryan found the heartland crowds especially welcoming.  They were even warmly greeted by the media. Both the ABC and NBC affiliates in Sioux City, IA ran a story on their evening news programs about Joel's assemblies in the local schools.  Colby Hill, a 10th grader at West High School in Iowa, commented on Joel in a local television news report, "He's not just someone who's saying something that he's never been through, he's had experiences, just like us in high school."  It's exciting to know that students feel that they can relate to Joel.  You can read the full length transcript here.

The month ended with one final trip to South Carolina. Whew! That was some serious traveling!

Students at the Sioux City West HS Concert

Impacting an Atheist

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A few days after the concert in South Carolina, Joel received an email from a guy named John. John's friend, Lyndsey was had been an atheist. She had even begun to challenge John and ask him questions about why he believed in God. In his email he says,

"We talked and agreed to disagree and not bring it up again. The night of the concert, she came along and listened to you and Ryan, and left with a copy of your book and Ryan's cd. She went home and read some, and listened to the cd, and the next day she called me and told me that she had been changed by the stories mentioned in the book, along with the passages in the Bible. She agreed to come to church that Sunday and left with even more faith. In a couple of weeks, she's getting baptized at my church!"



Wow, will you take a moment with me to just praise the Lord for another sister in Christ! How awesome that we get to be a small part of His work.
 

Until Next Month,

Bethany

Support Team Update

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This month our goal is to find four new individuals or families to partner with us by donating $30 a month to Stand For Truth.

If you haven't already, would you consider joining our support team with a monthly gift $30?

You can quickly and securely join our monthly support team or give a one-time gift online HERE.

Message From Joel

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Friends,

You may recall a post a few months ago about Ryan working on a new CD.  For several months he has been working hard to write a full-length album that complements my book that we give away to students. Well, last month he officially released his new album called, "Blinded."  Just like my book, it is all about the search for truth and finding the Truth in Jesus through the Bible.  You can listen to the album online here.  You can also purchase the music online through itunes or here.

God bless!

-Joel