Thanks so much for praying for our shared staff retreat last weekend! Undergrad and GFM InterVarsity spent the weekend together with an ice-storm keeping us cozy and close indoors! In my last post I gave you a wish-list. Many, if not all (and then some) items on that list were experienced. I’ll let the pictures do the talking below. Scripture. Prayer. Worship. Relationship building. And LOTS of fun.

Click here to be taken to Tim’s donation page at InterVarsity online.

One resource person we brought to the weekend was a faculty member from Iowa State University. We asked Alex Tuckness to share a few insights he’s distilled from his 25 years of teaching Political Science (philosophy) at ISU. I think you’ll find his five points incisive! Usually GFM speakers can be a little lofty and ornate. Alex was very approachable and practical. Alex is a known quantity to us in the GFM stream. But I as curious about how he’d connect with the undergrad staff. He was clear and very helpful to everyone in the room! Alex, thank you so much!

The Pendulum is Swinging. Five shifts.

1. Social Media Fatigue is creating a desire for authenticity. Students are hungry for face to face relationship and deeply need a community where they can experience grace and not more social scrutiny!
2. Change Fatigue is stimulating interest in old things (in Alex’s experience with student ministry he has noticed an encouraging draw to doctrine and the early church creeds).
3. Polarization Fatigue is giving way to Christian virtues. People are burnt out on be angry and feeling anger from others. The fruits of the Spirit are now more visible and being appreciated more.
4. Materialistic Fatigue may be making a way for something other than the desire for a high-paying job. There is an opportunity to help students ask questions about meaning and purpose.
5. Instability in the University stemming from a combination of the pending enrollment cliff and the broader cultural tension between populism and elitism, is creating an uneasiness about the future of higher education!

Taken together Tuckness observes that far from silencing Christian witness in the University, current cultural pressures are leading to opportunities for the mission of Jesus in higher education. Christians of mature character convinced of their calling are needed more than ever to make a redeeming impact.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Thanks so much for your giving. Please remember to let me know if you need to send a year end donation or make any changes to your giving in the coming year. At the moment I am running a typical 2nd Quarter deficit that usually rights itself in December and January. I am still trying to add to my ministry budget as I head toward the second half of my fiscal year. Thanks so much for your generosity!

A few captions from the top moving down the photo gallery:

• They left me in charge of the games for Friday night. We had a dice theme: Tenzi, Fill or Bust, Left Center Right (with real quarters, people) AND a fun print and play game called Raging Bulls – message me if you want to check it out. It was super nerdy and I DID find 3 other dice nerds who I taught it to.
• Our faculty member from Ames drove in the night before – he saw the forecast and decided that if he waited till Saturday morning to come down, he wouldn’t have come! Things melted before the weekend was over.
• My team-mate Kathy Haug – the Regional Director for the Central undergrad region was a delight to work with! We had a great time in manuscript study, she leads program times superbly as well!
• Six of my 13 member team were able to be present. Nice job with the branded merch clothing memo, George!
• We had a collaboration session on Saturday night where we broke our four-state region up into working groups around Prayer, Faculty Ministry and Effective shared Events. Just the tip of the ice-burg of how we could be adding to each others ministry.
• Kathy sent off two of the Central Region’s best leaders – Will and Esther Chu. We commissioned them as they will be leaving St. Louis to join IFES in Christchurch, New Zealand this coming summer.

Have a terrific week as you welcome the Christ-Child! As for me, I’ll get to hang out with these two cuties and their families next week (Lewyn on the left, Juniper on the right).

Blessings, Tim

This weekend my team will have the opportunity to be together with the undergraduate staff in our four-state area. Pray for our time together in scripture, prayer and team-building. Undergrad InterVarsity are more plenteous than their GFM (Graduate Faculty Ministry) counterparts. That means our grad and faculty work is more focused on R-1 universities (large schools with large research budgets and numerous PhD programs. Think University of Nebraska at Lincoln (R-1) and Creighton University (R-2). Our staff teams are on many of the same campuses. We are in separate ministry steams organizationally – sometimes we miss out on the kind of team-work we’d like to bring to faculty and students.

We’ll be together this coming weekend! Schedule is above. Please pray for us! We’ll be spending time in the Gospel of John in those rich chapters 15-17! Here’s a wish-list of ways we hope we see God work:

• Friendships enriched and incubated by time together.
• Spiritual input from scripture that feeds our missionary/pastor hearts.
• Sharing stories of God’s work from each stream (celebration and awareness).
• Refreshed vision for mission and identity.
• Pathways to more effective collaboration on the campuses we share.
• Fun and enjoyment. Spontaneous conversations. Meals. Laughter. Games.
• Sharpening each others gifts and confirming our callings.
• Opening new paths of being colleagues
• Fresh ideas for better outreach to faculty and students
• Renewed appreciation for our alumni and ministry partnerships

Pray for me and my co-director, Kathy Haug, Regional Director of undergrad ministries in NE, KS, MO, IA. On the undergrad side it’s called the Central Region. My team is the GFM Central Area. So we decided to call this thing the Central Staff Retreat (CSR). Kathy is a terrific leader – its been a delight to work with her. She’ll be co-leading the sessions with me and she’ll be teaching our MSS study sessions in John. I’ll be doing a couple of workshops (and coordinating one of the evening fun adventures). There are 42 or so people attending in all. I’ll send some pics from the weekend!

Click here to be taken to Tim’s donation page.

Just another reminder about year end finances. See the details from the past post. Let me know what you need as you think about your year-end giving or your plans for 2025! Thanks so much!

Our Christmas Progressive Dinner last Friday. Got the chance to talk about Advent – one of my favorite subjects! Great fun back at our place with dessert, Tenzi and LCR!

Two things I am powerless to do ministry without! On this first Sunday of Advent I want to you know how grateful I am for your praying and your giving. Honestly, I’m even MORE grateful that I have you in my life as a friend, a family member, or a team-mate of some sort! I love a work where I get to pick the people I want on my team. Thank you for being one of about a hundred people/families that keep me hopeful, focused and resourced. I’ve been in vocational ministry since June 1987! Never without teams to belong to, teams to lead and never without a team of intercessors and givers. Thank you!

As usual, this is that time of the year when you will be totally slammed with support needs. As usual, Tim needs to know if his team is in this for another year! IF you know you’re on-board for the coming year, NO NEED TO DO ANYTHING in response to this post! Just keep doing the terrific job you do every year, every month, every week. Keep praying! Keep giving! And PLEASE keep being my friend!

LMK means LET ME KNOW. Let me know one of two things if you’re not sure I’m aware. 1- Let me know if you are an annual giver and you need help sending your donation. Below is the link. Every year in December, quite a few of my annual donors “clear out the hopper” and send calendar year-end gifts. For some donors that is their once-a-year gift. For others who give monthly, they might send in an EXTRA gift at the end of the year. Use the same link to give, give an extra gift, or increase your monthly giving. When you hit the link below, you’ll land on your account on my donation page. Let me know if you need help! Thanks!

Click here to go to Tim’s donation page at InterVarsity

2- LMK also means let me know if you need to stop or decrease your giving. It happens every year. And it’s really helpful for me to know so I can factor that support into next year’s funding goal. It’s always exciting to bring new donors on my team. When someone has to step off, that’s a chance for God to bring more helpers. Just let me know.

You can reply this post in two ways. You can text back the notification you got on your phone (either the TEXTEDLY number or my cell phone number will do). You can also email me at my address below. I’d love to hear from you – especially if there are some changes you need to make. Thanks!

How can we pray for you THIS week, Tim?

There are three things I’d love prayer for this week. I’ll keep it short and sweet now, but post more later this month.

1. This Friday InterVarsity in Omaha is having it’s annual Christmas Progressive Dinner. It’s a great chance for our groups to hang out together – undergraduate, graduate, faculty, UNO, Creighton, Bellevue Univ, UNMC and others). I’ll be giving an Advent Devotional again like last year. I’m excited about writing it this week. Pray especially for a clear invitation to faith in the Jesus of Advent.
2. This December 13-15 the Central Region (undergrad IV) will be joining up with my GFM Central Area for a combined staff retreat. Pray for our work on that event in the coming two weeks. It will be terrific opportunity for team building and collaboration across our ministry streams.
3. Last thing. This Saturday I’ll be heading down to Manhattan, KS for a campus visit. I’ll be sitting in on George Gardner’s Brunch and Bible. George also wants me to meet an alumni named Levi who is possibly interested in GFM ministry. It will be a quick one-day trip. Pray for good travel. Pray for great conversations.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your giving. 2024 was a pretty good year for building my budget. If you recall in 2024 I had my sights set on landing in a better place on the pay-scale with my Area Director job. I was able to get a salary increase back in August! I’m about half-way toward my eventual goal of being fully funded at a level 10 salary. I need to keep going as I head into 2025. But it feels good to make some significant progress. Thanks so much to new donors! Thanks so much to old donors who increased their giving.

PS. No this is NOT the same baby from my previous post! That was Lewyn, Silas and Haleigh’s little boy. THIS is Juniper Morwen Perry. Tennessee Twinkie number two – my oldest son’s second daughter, born November 19th. So thankful for how God is growing and blessing my kid’s families. Thanks for your prayers – the waiting is over!

Poppy is SUCH a proud big sister!