Here are a few happenings since my last post.  Kind of random order.  Funding news.  Ministry gigs (GFM and otherwise).  Some fun happenings on the way from autumn to winter.

 

Click here for a readable version of the info-graph.  The good news buried in the details is that I’m sufficiently funded to be on payroll and benefits with InterVarsity as of the first of October.  I’m currently at 3/4 pay working 30 hours a week.  The yellow chunk of the chart above represents about $23,000 in annual support yet to find before I can launch full time into my complete job description.

Follow this link if interested in making a donation to InterVarsity

I’m so grateful to be able to transition back into InterVarsity ministry with a growing team of people like you making that possible.  I’m hoping future posts will be more about staff teams, students and faculty members with slightly fewer info-graphs about my funding needs!

OT Students at Creighton meeting monthly for Bible Study and Prayer

Last week I got to sit in on a small gathering of Occupational Therapy students who have been meeting monthly with a christian faculty member.  Creighton University’s OT department is part of the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions.  A group of 15 or so mostly OT 1 and OT 2 students gets together for dinner.  It was great fun to meet them and get their group on my radar here in the Omaha/Lincoln area.  My goal is to help them find GFM resources useful for their mission.  While the group isn’t affiliated with GFM, I will say their Bible study looked amazingly familiar to me.

Yes, they still call me Pastor.  Yes I still do weddings!

I still love being a pastor.  One great perk to my years of ministry at Christ Community was that I got the chance to do a lot more of this!  I don’t think I’m done with weddings, but I’ll probably not get to do them like I used to.  We’ll see.  Michael and Katie are a very special couple to me.  They’d arranged for me to do their wedding since before my leaving CCC.  I don’t think I’m done being a part of this family’s story.  Maybe more on that later.

Last Saturday, Oct 21st was about the fastest weather turn around I’ve ever seen.  This picturesque outdoor pagoda was the setting for a freezing cold downpour just about two hours before the event!  I reminded the crowd that if Husker fans could do this for three hours, we could make it for 37 minutes in 59 degree weather.  We didn’t lose anyone to frostbite.  And certainly none of the brides-maids passed out from the heat (been there with at least one of my weddings).

Oh yes, we do baby dedications too!

Cheryl and I have a terrific friendship with this little guys mom and dad.   We were honored to be asked to do a dedication service for little Malachi.  About 30 people descended on this family last weekend. Cheryl and I had a few comments to share.  Another friend shared some scripture and a blessing.  We prayed and gave this young man over to God’s watch-care.

Malachi is one of those cool names in the Hebrew language.  It means “my messenger”.  As is often the case in scripture, Malachi’s name becomes a theological play on words.  At the beginning of the oracle, “Malachi” appears to be the title of the prophecy named after its author.   But the name/word appears a couple more times referring, not to Malachi himself, but “a messenger who is coming before the day of the LORD.”  This messenger is tagged as “Elijah” – yet in the future tense.  Another Elijah will come (even though THE Elijah had already come) to announce the coming of the LORD.

Three Malachis…

The OT minor prophet is Malachi #2.  The Malachi called Elijah was actually the first of God’s messengers (Malachi #1).  And Malachi #3 spoken of in the future tense (by Malachi #2) turns out to be who?  John the Baptist (Mark 1:2-4).  The irony wasn’t lost on this family because their little Malachi’s older brother just happens to be named Elijah!  He turns three in March.  SO if this family follows suit with biblical prophetic ancestry do you know what that means?   It must mean their third child is going to be a boy… and his name is going to be John!   I might as well start writing a devotional for his baby dedication coming sometime in a couple more years.  I love peaking into salvation history before its written!   (Of course I’m kidding).

Thanks for reading.  Shoot me a text or an email if you have comments or questions.

Be blessed.  Be well.

tim.perry@intervarsity.org

Welcome to the Perry Boiler Room for those of you who might be reading this for the first time.  PBR is a quiet place for me to share my life and work with friends, family and stakeholders.  The blog has been up and running for few months now, but at any point if want to backtrack through earlier posts feel free to catch up.

Since March I’ve been collecting team mates for a new chapter in my life – Graduate Faculty Ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.  Many of you are new to IVCF having joined my timeline somewhere in the past 11 years.  Many of you have been through this with me before.  Whichever part you’ve played, please know that on the brink of my first official month of employment with InterVarsity I am so grateful for your presence in my life!  The last 15 months have been quite an adventure.  You’ve blessed me and my family far more than you realize.

On Sept 16th, my supervisor decided that our funding was looking strong enough to begin employment at 3/4 time.  I’ll be on payroll but not allowed to work my full job description till I’m at 100% of my budget.  100% means all the resources for a year’s worth of budget are either in the coffers or pledged.  As of today I’m at about 68% and hoping to find the rest in time to start the full job, full time in January.

The chunk of GFM I’m joining is blue above – that’s the South/Central Region.  The chunk of the chunk I’m preparing to supervise is the Central Area Team.  Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.  Currently there are seven of us GFM staff in these four states.  Lots of room for growth.  More on my team in coming posts.  God is doing terrific things among med students at University of Iowa, faculty and internationals in the “little apple” (K-State),  a Veritas Forum is coming this spring at Kansas University in Lawrence while a thriving faculty ministry is happening at Wash-U in St. Louis.

This summer I got my first look at “them” at a regional staff conference in Nashville.  About 30 of us across the 17 state region gathered for 4 days of training and networking.  I’m honored to be a peer with such gifted, bright and experienced staff and look forward to learning from them in the years ahead.

Thanks so much for helping me get here.  As I sit in the boiler room banging in this post please know how grateful I am for you and your family.  Thank you for checking in with me countless times these past 15 months.  Thanks for praying for me, coaching me and encouraging me.  Thanks for welcoming me to this new space I now call my vocational home.  Feel free to hit the comment button and leave me a thought or two – or send me an email if you’d rather.

Be blessed.

Be well.

tim.perry@intervarsity.org

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Nashville…famous for its music and lively night life on Broadway Street!  Where else can you walk in and sample a $12K guitar…