August, 2010
Our Partners for the Younger Generation,
 People often ask me about what is happening on the Reach Out home front. They say, "Since your financial crisis in early 2009, how is Reach Out doing?" A quick response..."Less skins. More wine."
A more reflective perspective: Several years ago my wife, Lawanna, encouraged us to pray "Less skins. More wine." as a prayer for ourselves and for Reach Out. Jesus implies in Matthew 9:17-18 that He is the New Wine who does not fit into old skins. So Lawanna and I asked the Lord to remove all obsolete, hardened old skins--"less skins"--and to do whatever necessary to create new skins that would expand our capacity for Jesus-- "more wine." Little did we know how radical the answers would be!
My Personal Breakthrough
First Jesus broke through the old wineskins in my life. He took me "under the waterline" to some deep and painful places (click here to hear the story). He showed me how achievement, performance and fear of failure had created a false self that had dominated my life. As I mourned this experience, I saw my true self--one of His beloved sons. Instead of having to "make it happen," I began to relax, seeing people as more important than my projects, and connecting emotionally with them. As the New Wine of His life flowed through me, I starting living with a fresh awareness of God's presence and of the people around me.
"Less skins. More wine."
Reach Out's Crisis and Rebound
Not surprisingly, Reach Out soon followed my same pattern of brokenness and healing. In the first few months of 2009, we hit a wall financially when the economy impacted several significant donors. Old wineskins exploded in every direction! We released 5 staff members, cut salaries, created home offices, and slashed 70% of our expenses.
A perceptive Board member asked me, "You don't think that the Lord will shape a new, true you and leave Reach Out the same, do you? " Well, He did not! The Spirit quickly, amazingly supplied new skins for more wine:
- New donors--86 monthly and 60 one-time donors
- New simpler and efficient systems to maximize your gifts
- More staff (four of us) choosing to raise support or volunteer
- More funds consistently coming in than going out
- More ministry--for example in Africa last summer 280 youth leaders were trained in JFYM and 40,000 teenagers began a relationship to Jesus
- More growth--for example in Ukraine JFYM trained churches increased their leadership over 90% and their youth ministry over 300% in one year
- More resources--17 new book and web resources created or translated
...just to mention a few!
"Less skins. More wine."
Our "Less Yields More" Team
So how does "less yields more" work? When Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2) the wedding began with plenty of ordinary wine. Then they experienced the crisis--no wine. When Jesus stepped in--plenty of the best wine. That is what our Reach Out team is experiencing and we are loving it.
Meet our "less skins, more wine" team. They come to work every day with a strong desire to see New Wine flow through this ministry.
Roger Palmer, National Director
Eric Ball, International Director
Lawanna St.Clair, Operations Director
Barb Townsend, Editorial Assistant
Dava Aul, Donor Care
Plus over 100 Eagle Leaders nationally and over 200 globally. Eagle Leaders introduce, implement and multiply Jesus Focused Youth Ministry. Through these leveraged relationships Reach Out equips leaders and multiplies our ministry at minimal cost to us, thus extending our ministry farther than we could imagine.
And you--through your praying and giving, you are a significant answer to our prayer...
"Less skins. More wine."
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