Dear Dustinbarrington,
I hope that you are doing well!
This is the second email I am sending with this new distribution system. It is already helping us figure out which emails are bouncing and who is actually opening them! Some of you have mentioned that the photos did not come through without you clicking something. This is normal, because most of you do not have your email set to automatically download photos from HTML messages... It's normal.
WARNING: LONG EMAIL
This is a LONG email that has been requested by some of you that would like to know more about what we are doing and how to get involved.
As ususal, there is the nutshell:
I have been looking for a "leverage point" for changing the world for 20 years. I beleive that I have found one! It involves taking advantage of the exponential social change that is occuring right now as an opportunity to influence the leaders of the next generation. Massive cultural shifts are going to happen wihtin our lifetime and we have a window of opportunity of 10-15 years to influence the leaders who will be making the "big" decisions in 20-30 years. In response, I am calling out 300 young leaders to pioneer relevant expressions of the gospel and biblical worldveiw on the leading university campuses. They will be resourced by 10,000 and supported in prayer by 22,000. It's a HUGE vision but it is a strategic approach that coul dliterally turn the tide of the next generation. I want you to be involved as part of the 300, 10,000 or 22,000. We love you!
SMC
As you may already know, I recently accepted an invitation to become the North America Director of the YWAM Student Mobilization Centre.
20 years…
For over 20 years I have been looking for a way to change the world. I found one… and I want you to be involved in helping to make it happen. Are you interested?
Change the World?
Our world is intensely complicated, more than any of us could ever imagine, and yet, at the same time it is incredibly simple. In the midst of all of it, I have found a leverage point that can move it.
The World is Changing
We live in a time of exponential change. The world is changing faster than any other time in 10,000 years of human history! It is causing massive social and cultural shifts that are redefining almost everything: what we think is real, who we interact with and how we live. Most Christians are ignorant or oblivious to both the threats and opportunities. Are you?
A Window of Opportunity
There is a short window of opportunity available for us to influence the changes around us, and even use them to our advantage. In the last 2,000 years there have only been a handful of historical situations where whole societies have change the way they think, referred to as “paradigm shifts.” At each of them Christianity experienced either a significant advance or decline… Which would you prefer?
The shift is happening. The revolutionary social and cultural implications of postmodernism, secularism, consumerism, humanism, and globalization are only part of a tsunami of change that will affect and influence the leaders of the next generation. We MUST reach tomorrow’s leaders today with socially and culturally relevant expressions of the gospel and biblical worldview.
The Target
These leaders are currently STUDENTS, immersed in a “global youth culture,” influenced primarily by peers, media and the ideologies of liberal educators …NOT by parents, churches or Christian values.
Change has accelerated to a point that a social and cultural divide has developed in less than a generation. This means that young people do not actually have the same culture as their parents. Reaching the next generation will require cross-cultural mission strategy. The target is moving!
A Vision
I have a vision to call out 300 young leaders from the next generation to impact the most influential universities of North America by effectively confronting contemporary ideologies with relevant expressions of the gospel and biblical worldview. Following the pattern of Gideon’s victory in Judges 7, I am calling out 22,000 intercessors, 10,000 resource supporters and 300 full time university pioneers.
Will you join me?
I am serious… Will you join me? My message to you is, “You are change.” It isn’t something you “do” once in a while, change is what happens when you accept your true identity… change is the result of acting on what you “are.” God created you to do amazing things that He planned out before the creation of the earth. The world is changing and you can be a part of making that change positive.
HOW?
There are a number of ways that you can be involved.
You can be one of our 300. You can join us in pioneering new expressions of God’s kingdom on university campuses!
You can one of our 10,000. You can resource the 300 by supporting them by volunteering your time, your talents, your relationships, your finances, your house, your car, your RV, whatever!
You can be one of our 22,000. You can commit to pray regularly for guidance, encouragement, wisdom, direction, provision, protection, opportunities, favor and power. You can regularly intercede, break through spiritual barriers, hear from God, and participate in God’s strategy for the next generation.
I know that this is a vision from God and “where God guides, God provides.” That means that God has been preparing circumstances, resources and at least 32,000 people who are supposed involved. They have been blessed with everything that is needed to see God’s vision succeed. Are you one of them?
What should I do next?
Please pray about whether or not God is calling you to be involved. The most important thing is for you to do what God has called you to do. I am not asking you for anything but that. If you feel like this vision is something God might be calling you to be involved in, please contact me. I am available: email, Skype, Facebook, Orkut, telephone or good ol’ postal mail.
I will be challenging everyone that joins our 300 to each recruit 33 resource supporters and 73 intercessors. Together with Denise, I believe God has 66 supporters and 146 intercessors lined up for us. Please ask Him if you are one of them! If you are, let me know ASAP!
As I have prayed about our financial needs, feel that God has communicated to me that His provision for us is like the parable of the treasure in a field. The field is our relationships and the treasure is His provision. All I have to do is dig around until I find it. What a blessing.
Parting thoughts…
Thank you so much for investing the time to read this message. If there is any way that I can help you figure out if or how to be a part of this vision, please contact me. I care about you more than anything you have to offer. I really feel that God has strategically established the relationships in my life. Somehow, God is going to use our lives to fulfill His purposes.
Sincerely,
Dustin Barrington
