For those who don't believe in God, walking in the Spirit is a religious way of explaining a statistically impossible number of 'coincidences' that all seem to work together with order and logic. For those who believe, walking in the Spirit is more than serendipity... it is being sensitive to little "God nudges" that bring together people and situations for the good of others...
Dustin Barrington
Have a great day!
Dustin Barrington
Have a great day!
If you are thinking about what you are going to say next in a conversation, you are not really listening. Is what you are going to say really more important than hearing what is being expressed? When we do this we are placing higher value on our own perspective than that of the person. I have been a poor listener for most of my life. I have only recently started listening well... Try it! It works.
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
Click to view this email in a browser
| ||||
 |  Dear Dustinbarrington, Hello! With all of the exciting things that are happening with SMC, we have recognized the need to communicate well. Thank you so much for being a part of what we do! |  | ||
 |  | |||
|
| SMC North America Director Dustin Barrington 334 East Oak Street Fort Collins, CO 80524 Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy. |  |
Barrington’s June Update
Hello again! The months are just flying by!
Here is the JUNE nutshell…
1. Student Mobilization Centre is now a 501(c)3 (registered non-profit organization) in Colorado and we have a clear strategy for SMC North America!
2. Brazil was awesome… It is all “green lights” for us as SMC to partner in existing community development projects in the “favelas” (slums) of Rio de Janeiro!
3. We will be at the University of Wisconsin from January to March to help run a SMC “School of University Ministry and Mission.”
…and JULY’s coming attractions…
1. Our NINE70 van outreach at BREWFEST is going to be featured in a national level magazine called “Outreach.” Look for the July edition next week at WWW.OUTREACHMAGAZINE.COM with the title “Want a ride?”
2. We might have to move again! UGH! (The house we lease is being auctioned on 7/1.)
3. Fundraising! Or should we say “fun-raising”? We love talking to all of our friends!
Thanks for all your prayers and support! We love you!
Dustin and Denise
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE REST OF THE DETAILS FOR THE COURAGEOUS!
SMC 501(c)3
The IRS is really clamping down on non-profit organization registrations. Without getting into details, it is really good news that we are now registered as a non-profit organization in Colorado!
SMC NORTH AMERICA STRATEGY
We have been praying about the direction of SMC in North America and we feel that God has given us a very clear and simple strategy from Judges 6-7. We are calling out 300 young leaders to directly engage leading universities in the United States and Canada. Following the example of Gideon, we intend to involve over 32,000 people in reaching the social and cultural center of the next generation’s leadership.
Our Strategy is: call out 300 young leaders, supported by the resources of 10,000 and the intercession of 22,000. As the SMC Director, I am setting an example by personally calling out for 33 resource supporters and 73 intercessors to join me. Denise and everyone working with us will do the same. We will be contacting soon to see if you are willing to become one of our 300 or 10,000 or 22,000.
SMC BRANDING
A huge part of successfully calling out 300 young leaders will be having the ability to cut through the “noise” in order to communicate directly with them. This is the purpose of what marketing professionals call “branding” (the right message, look, feel, etc… to capture the attention of our specific target audience). Please pray that as we go through our branding process that we get God’s message for 300 young leaders of the next generation.
SMC “COMMUNITY BRIDGE” IN BRAZIL
I recently spent a very productive week in Brazil.
In only one week I renewed my Brazilian Permanent Residency Visa (like a US “Green Card”), visited family, and spent 2 days with the leaders of YWAM Rio de Janeiro laying the ground work for a partnership with SMC. For over 15 years, one of YWAM Rio’s primary activities has been community development in “favelas” that surround the city, resulting in YWAM health clinics, daycare centers, after school and vocational training programs, sports camps, etc.
YWAM Rio would like to partner with SMC in establishing a “Community Bridge” to provide volunteer internships for university students to create and implement community development projects in Brazil that make a tangible difference among the poor. Setting up this “Community Bridge” will probably require us to spend a few months in Brazil later this year.
SMC SCHOOL OF UNIVERSITY MINISTRY AND MISSION (SUMM)
We will be staffing a 12-week SUMM at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) from January through March of 2010. We are very excited about this opportunity because it is through this training program that we will be equipping some of the 300 young leaders we intend to send out. Denise is not excited about the weather forecast! BRRRRRRR!!!
TRAVEL
In August I travel to Kona to teach at the University of the Nations on Missions Research & “Best Practices” and meet with leaders from the different colleges about partnering with SMC. ($1,000 already paid)
In September I travel to one of the four UofN Workshop locations to be officially installed as the SMC North America Director and to recruit students for our upcoming SUMM. (Switzerland $700, Ukraine $1,000, Egypt $1,200 or South Africa$1,400)
In October and November we will possibly travel to Brazil to set up the SMC “Community Bridge” with YWAM Rio and raise support in Brazil. ($2,800)
In November we will travel back to Colorado for a missions conference and support raising. ($??)
In December we will travel to St Louis for the Urbana09 Missions Convention to recruit leaders and staff. ($500)
In January we will travel to Wisconsin to staff the SUMM. ($500)
As you can see, we have about $6,000 in travel expenses coming in the next few months… could you please pray about helping us?
MASTERS THESIS
Some of you have been asking… “What was it about?!” The simplest answer is “Jesus.”
The next simplest answer is not as simple. The generation that will determine the fate of Christianity in America for the next century are influenced strongly by postmodernism. This presents a real problem for Christians that can only make sense of their faith by using the “orthodox” categories of systematic theology developed by the Early Church Fathers in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Since most Christians fall into this category, the only way to reach the next generation is through a “cross-cultural missions” approach.
Where do we start?? Well… Understanding Jesus in His original Semitic context paints a refreshing picture that, oddly enough, is very compatible with postmodernism and most non-western thinking (where the church is growing the most). Therefore…
My thesis is about the message and praxis of Jesus. His words and actions, in their original context, were directly related to the moral and ethical tradition of Israel’s prophets. His prophetic interpretation of the Law informed His responses of compassion and confrontation and was what put Him in direct contention with religious and civic authorities. It was His confrontation of their injustice and exclusion that ultimately resulted in His death. Living as He lived produces non-violent positive change, and often, conflict.
I believe this perspective is a more accurate representation of Jesus as He actually was. It is a message that will resonate with the postmodern generation and it will ignite a movement in the next generation like the “Jesus People” of the 1970’s.
What you understand about Jesus influences everything!
If you read this whole thing I congratulate you!! Wow! That was a big one!
We love you and thank you for all your support.
Dustin Barrington
Have a great day!
