Van Wert HS/MS & Gahanna-Lincoln HS Assemblies

Kicking Off the New School Year
We are back into the swing of things, and geared up for another school year. The month of August and the early part of this month have been a whirlwind. The majority of August was spent marketing our assembly presentation to 12 states surrounding Ohio. Plus we began advertising on Google Ads, which has exposed our website to anyone in the world looking for a speaker. Our goal is to branch out, and we have made some good progress toward that end. We have assemblies booked in Michigan, Indiana, New York, and Kentucky, and we have many other tentative assemblies in the works.

Van Wert HS/MS Assemblies
We were excited to be back at our alma mater - Van Wert HS - in late August. It was great to help them kick off their year and see many people that we knew and grew up with. We also were at the MS for a separate assembly. The students there were great and incredibly responsive, in large part due to Mark Bagley (the principal and one of my HS basketball coaches) and the way he pumped up the kids for Joel. My younger brother is in 7th grade, so it made it that much more special to be in front of him and other students in his class. Hopefully these assemblies made an impact on students in our hometown.

Gahanna-Lincoln HS Assemblies
Joel and I also presented to about 2600 students last Friday (9/11) at Gahanna-Lincoln HS in Gahanna, OH on the NE side of Columbus. We had been there last year, so we were encouraged that the administration found the presentation valuable enough to have us back. This year we were not as shell-shocked by the sheer number of students either. The students were great, especially for such a large crowd. It was a good chance for us to get more experience with our second assembly presentation (for repeat schools).

"Man in the Mirror"
The Gahanna-Lincoln experience was unique for me in that the school theme is "Be the Change" and they use a quote from the Michael Jackson song "Man in the Mirror." So they asked me to play it, and it could have been disastrous (ha), but the response was incredible compared to my expectations. I did NOT do the Moonwalk. But I may actually use that song more in the future because the message of the song, believe it or not, is really solid (if you want the world to be better, take a look in the mirror and start with yourself - make those changes first). Kind of reminds me of Matthew 7:1-5.

Travel Season Over/Church Services

It's been over a month since we've shared with you....so here is an update of what's been happening in the ministry!

Travel Season Over
With the end of the school year came the end of our crazy travel schedule. Joel spoke 36 times in May, and we finished the year with 4 great evening outreach events in the mid/late part of the month. We still have a few camps and church services on the calendar for the summer, but this is our time to focus on building the ministry and preparing for next year. We will have some numbers tabulated soon to share with you the impact the Lord had through the ministry this past school year.

Church Services
We had the opportunity to spend time at 3 different churches in the last month to share the ministry. We were at Westville UMC in (naturally) Westville, LifePoint Community Church in Plymouth, and my home church, Calvary Evangelical in Van Wert. At each service we were able to share about the impact of the ministry and our vision for the future. We were also able to give individuals and families the chance to financially support this work. We were humbled by the incredible response at each church. It is very cool to see the Body of Christ at work all over the state. And being back at Calvary, seeing a lot of people I grew up with, was also very special. We are really looking forward to continuing to partner with these churches in the future. Truly genuine people at all 3 churches!

We plan on posting a few more times in the next few days, and we want to share with you an exciting ministry opportunity that is in the works. Plus we will be vlogging! (for those of you including my wife that have reading ADD.) How exciting. Hope you all are doing well....

Ryan

Northeast Ohio Assemblies

It has been a crazy last few weeks for us with lots of events and a lot of traveling. We spent quite a bit of time in NE Ohio in the Youngstown area doing 8 assemblies. It was especially fun for me as my grandparents and a few other relatives live in the area, so we were able to spend a lot of good time with them.

Some highlights of the travels were an assembly at South Range HS, where my cousin Ellie is a sophomore, an assembly at Western Reserve HS, where my Mom and the rest of the famous Williams sisters graduated HS (also where my great aunt is a sub), and an assembly at Salem HS, the town in which my family lived until I was in 2nd grade. We also partnered with Pastor John at First Friends Church, my old church in Salem, to put on an evening outreach back at Salem HS. We had about 215 students there, so it was a great turnout, plus we know of many first time commitments or recommitments to Jesus.

We have another evening outreach tonight in Lucas, and assemblies and an outreach tomorrow in Wellington (near Cleveland). Please pray for the students that we will be in front of.

Ryan


My grandparents were able to come to the Western Reserve assembly, so it was really great to have them there.




















The Western Reserve "Super Sub" herself, my Aunt Dinny.





















Just to show you what a stud my Mom and her sisters were in high school. Their names are still up on the wall at Western Reserve in the girls track & field hall of fame. Betty and the rest of the Williams sisters (minus Diane, sorry!)



















The crowd at a recent evening outreach event at Circleville HS in Ohio.
















In Mattawan, MI at an assembly. Me, Joel, and Emily's Aunt Marilyn who lives nearby. She and her husband, Bob, put us up for the night when we were in town. Thanks again guys!





















Joel is the world's #1 cat lover and he made a new friend at Bob & Marilyn's house.

The Moose

I am incorporating some vlogging (like blogging, except it's "video" blogging) into the blog to spice things up a bit. It will be like a newspaper column that occasionally appears and it will be called "Ryan's Ramblings." Just click the play button on the box below. Enjoy the first installment...

Ryan's Ramblings: The Moose


The Moose in Trouble


Family pic with the Goose

Updated Follow Up System

We shared with you in a post from a couple months ago that we have been working on an updated video/email follow up system. It has been a long and time-consuming process, but as of a couple weeks ago, that new system is fully operational. In the past, when someone would attend one of our events and indicate a decision for Christ, we would send them an email a few days later with some helpful advice and links to various online resources. Beyond that it was up to the local ministries to follow up with that person. The new system attempts to extend the bridge from the event to people getting plugged into a local ministry as well as follow up with those who may be slipping through the cracks of the current system. Now all the positive contacts receive the initial email with some encouragement and resources as well as five more emails over the next five weeks walking them through five key concepts to help them in their new walk with Christ. Each email directs them to a video of Joel and me walking them through the concept as well as a PDF “On Your Own Study” that takes them deeper into Scripture. We currently have about 500 people from recent events working their way through the system and the feedback so far has been great. If you want a better idea of what we are doing, visit: http://www.joelpenton.com/undevelopedmaturity.html to view the last of out five follow-up videos. From that page you can also visit the pages from other weeks.

Ryan

Lorain County Tour/New Presentation

Joel and I recently spent 6 days in Lorain County, up near Cleveland, and we packed in 13 assemblies during that time. A county prevention group brought us in for the second year in a row to travel to many of the county schools. We also partnered with Heritage Chrisitian Church in Avon to hold an outreach event at the tail end of our time in the area. Kevin, the youth pastor, and Guy, a local businessman, helped make the events happen and were kind enough to be our roadies for a few days. We're still trying to coerce Guy into selling his company and forsaking six figures so he can come on the road with us. Don't think that's going to happen.

Since we had been to many of the same schools last year, we brought a new presentation for those assemblies. We had been trying all year to craft a second assembly presentation for repeat schools, but had yet to feel like we created something solid. However, I think we finally hit the nail on the head as we got a lot of positive feedback from administrators, teachers, and students at the schools where we did the new presentation. This is huge as we really feel confident in offering schools a legitimate follow up assembly if they bring us back.

Sharing the Gospel at a Catholic Church

Well, it's currently closing in on midnight on Wednesday night and we are only halfway home to Columbus (just passing through Van Wert) on a 4 ½ hour trip from Mattawan, MI. We'll get home at 2:00 a.m. and then have to leave at 5:45 for an 8:00 assembly south of Columbus. Yeah, about 3 hours of sleep tonight. On a brighter note, as I’m blogging, I'm lounging in the back of our 15-passenger beast of a van named the Moose, which I’ll highlight in a later post. Seriously, you should look forward to that one.

I want to share about a really cool event we got to do recently at St. Brigid of Kildare Church in Dublin, which is a Catholic church conveniently located about 10 minutes from our home. We presented to about 300 8th graders for their confirmation retreat. We don’t often get the opportunity to go to Catholic churches or schools, so we always jump at any chance we get. From what I gather, it’s rare that anyone outside of the Catholic Church gets this unique opportunity. We actually did the same event last year and were really grateful that the church invited us back. So for the second year in a row, we were able to talk with their confirmation group about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. Please pray that the seeds that were planted in these kids’ hearts would grow.

Ryan

Willoughby Middle School OSU Day

Greetings from Biggby Coffee Shop in Kalamazoo, MI! Joel and I are on the road again and will be for the next few days...

Comment From Reading, MI Event
First of all, here is an e-mail we received from a student that came to the outreach event at Reading HS which I blogged about yesterday:

“I have to confess the day you came to my school I was like 'great another speaker....better break out the MP3 player'...but when I heard you played for the Buckeyes, I was like, 'maybe this guy is actually cool'...So I listened, and really enjoyed the speech...so I went to the little gig down at Reading School. And words cannot describe what happened, I rededicated my life to Jesus, and for the first time in 2 years I picked up my Bible, blew the dust off, and read it.”

This is why we press on.

Willoughby Middle School OSU Day
A couple weeks ago we were at Willoughby Middle School in the Cleveland area for an assembly. The administration decided to make it "OSU Day", as some schools do for our assemblies. I must say they took it to a new level with things like OSU giveaways and a blow-up Brutus. All in all, it was definitely one of the better assemblies we have been a part of this year. Be sure to watch the video at the bottom and make sure your speakers are up.

Ryan


Joel and his helmet.














The sea of red for OSU day.











I think Brutus could take Joel.




















Students at nearby Willowick MS where we also did an assembly.











No words needed.

Reading, MI Assemblies & Outreach

A few weeks ago we ventured up north to Reading, MI which is in Hillsdale County, just north of the OH/MI state line. We thought you couldn't get more podunk than our hometown of Van Wert....that is until we went to Reading. The whole county is pretty rural, and Reading is literally in the middle of nowhere.

We did 2 assemblies - 1 at Reading HS and 1 at nearby Camden-Frontier HS. Then we held an outreach event for both schools at Reading HS. We partnered with a ministry called Crossroads Farm which is a youth ministry based in Reading dedicated to reaching the rural youth Hillsdale County. They have an awesome ministry and we truly felt like we were simply coming alongside their already-existing ministry, rather than just coming in and doing our own thing.

184 students filled out response cards at the end of the outreach, 59 of whom indicated they had no church home. Of the 184 people, 102 indicated they rededicated their life to Christ and 39 indicated they made a first-time commitment to Jesus. More good news is that Crossroads was, far and away, the most equipped for follow up of any group at any outreach we have done. They were prepared to personally follow up with each student that made a decision to give each a chance to get plugged in and grow in their relationship with Jesus. Praise God for what He did in Reading! Please pray for the students that attended and heard about Jesus, and pray for Crossroads in their ministry and specifically the follow up efforts to this event. Enjoy the pics...

Ryan


Some of the Crossroads kids sporting their Stand Your Ground shirts.














I stole this idea from Attaboy (thanks guys). We bring up a few kids to bang on random percussion instruments during the tail-end of one of my songs. It is pretty cool if they get crazy. Plus it's as close as I ever get to having a band. Kind of sad.














We did a Halo-themed Nerf gun war that actually served as an illustration for later on in the event.














Joel and one of his fans.














Me talking with a dude. He was cool and reminded me of Carrot Top. Remember Carrot Top, that real skinny dude? Yeah, I googled him for the heck of it and look what I found....check this crazy stuff out.

Fort Walton Beach, FL

Joel and I recently got the chance to get out of the Midwest to go to Fort Walton Beach, FL. Joel won a national award called the Danny Wuerffel Trophy his senior year at OSU. The organization that gives the honor is based in Fort Walton Beach and they invite all past winners back each year for the award ceremony. Since Joel is in the area each year for the ceremony, we always try to book an event, and this year was no exception. I got to go with him this year and we did a youth event at a local church in FWB.

The event went well, and there were about 200 kids there. At our events, we don't usually get to spend a bunch of time just hanging out with people, but we had a lot of free time after the event. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Matt, the youth pastor of the church, and a bunch of his students and had a great time hanging out and stuffing ourselves with wings. It was great to do some ministry in a new area, plus it's always nice to go somewhere where it's not so frickin cold.

-Ryan

Me, Joel, and the lone Ohio State fan. God help her down there.

The dudes and ladies of Trinity UMC in Fort Walton Beach.

Joel with Danny Wuerffel, past winners, and '09 recipient Tim Tebow.

30 Hour Famine

Last night Ryan, Joel, and I traveled to a small town outside of Urbana for them to speak and play at a 30 hour famine for a youth group. The kids were about 20 hours into their famine so we had fun talking about how good our Wendy’s was on the way in. Joel began by sharing his story he normally shares at school assemblies that deals with his own high school experiences. Then he was able to get into the spiritual part of what was going on his life at the time. Because there was no time limit for them, they ended up spending almost 2 hours sharing. I have been to many, many events, but I have to say that this was one of the best. I am always amazed that no matter how many events I go to, I still learn and am encouraged by Joel’s speaking and Ryan’s music. I am thankful that I get the chance to hear them as many times as I do. Not only did Joel and Ryan do a great job, but the crowd was obviously thirsty for the Truth and responded very well. There were around 10 that accepted Christ for the first time and around 30 that rededicated their life to Christ! Praise God that he is using Ryan and Joel to touch the lives of so many people!

Emily

RealTime '09

Last weekend we got the chance to fly out to Kansas City, MO for FCA staff time. Every 3 years, they hold what is called “RealTime.” Rather than strict training, this weekend is a time for FCA staff and their spouses to be encouraged. They really poured into all of us—all 1000 of us and it was a very spiritually refreshing weekend. We stayed at the Hyatt in downtown KC and we got to listen to national speakers like Chip Engram and Leah Amico and hear and worship with award-winning Christian bands. We met people from all over the country that are faithfully reaching kids and adults through FCA. With Ryan and I being coaches (we coach cross country together and I coach track too if you didn’t know), we understand the influence you have with young athletes and the amazing opportunity to impact their lives. I left that weekend having a much greater appreciation for FCA and for all of the people that pour their lives into it every day for the sake of Christ.


Emily

Ryan and I at dinner...

All of Central Ohio FCA staff except Joel and Beth.

The first night they only had a smoking room available and our neighbors decided to have a late night smoke..... so this is what I woke up to Ryan doing at 2am!

The main stage...

Valentine's Day Dinner/Church Service

So for all 6 of you that are following this blog, I finally have an update! We had a substantial break in traveling/events from the end of January until mid-February. It has picked up again and will get crazy come March and April.

About a week and half ago, I got the opportunity to play dinner music and do a few songs at a Sweetheart Dinner. A good friend of ours pastors a church in Johnstown, a rural town northeast of Columbus, and this is an annual event he does for his people. With me playing during the evening, unfortunately, Emily was the only one without a sweetheart and was definitely the 5th wheel at her table. She's a real trooper.

Also, the church needed someone last minute to lead music worship for the next day's service. Emily and I got to come back the next morning to help and I even talked Em into joining me to lead a couple songs. The church is really cool. They meet at a high school, and Dan (our pastor friend) said there were a lot of people there for the first time, many of whom were unchurched. They have avoided making the Sunday service the strong focal point for their ministry. Instead, they do an awesome job of ministering to and reaching people during the week, where they are at. Please pray for Dan and Faith Fellowship as they grow. Pray that they would continue to preach the Gospel in words and action. Pray for the new believers at the church, as there are many who are finding their way in their new relationships with Jesus.

More updates coming very soon....

Ryan

Record Booking Week & Prayer

Last week was a great week from a booking standpoint as we were able to schedule 14 new events. Praise God for that. I'm not sure, but that has to be some sort of record in our short existence as a ministry. Please pray that the bookings continue to come in and that we continue to work hard - and smart - at that process.

Quick story about that, a good friend of ours e-mailed me on Wednesday last week and asked how he could pray for us. I told him to pray specifically for bookings. That day we scheduled 9 events. Like our earthly fathers, I know that sometimes God answers our requests by saying "no" or "later" and not always "yes", but we will never know unless we ask. Might as well ask, right? And if we end by submitting our will to the will of God, it makes it easier to accept whatever answer He gives. Because no matter what His answer is, it is always the right answer. The more we do that, I believe, the more our will and desires will grow closer to the will and desires of our Father.

I thank God for our faithful friend, and for all of you who are supporting us through prayer.

-Ryan

Penton's Progress

Just wanted to let you know that Joel and Bethany send out a monthly e-newsletter to keep people informed on the happenings of the ministry from their perspective. They write about some different things than what we post here. Feel free to sign up to receive the Penton's Progress by clicking here.

-Emily

YouTube Follow Up Videos

After each of the outreach events we do, we send out e-mails to encourage people that made first-time decisions or rededications to Christ. We also send out a 5-course Bible study for new believers, with a section going out each week for 5 continuous weeks. To beef up those efforts, we are in the process of shooting short videos to go along with each part of the study. We used Joel's handheld Flip cam and intentionally tried to create the YouTube (informal and intimate, kind of unprofessional) feel. Click here to watch the first one we've done. It is the lead-in video to the 5 study/video series. Any feedback you have would be great. Just leave a comment here on the blog.

Blessings,
Ryan

A New Birth

We have some good news! After 23 hours of labor (yes, 23!), Joel Stephen Penton III was born on Saturday at 2:03pm. We got the chance to visit Joel, Bethany, and baby Joel yesterday at the hospital. Mommy and baby are both doing very well. Please pray for the Penton family as they begin this new phase in their lives.

We can't wait to babysit!

-Emily

JP3

Joel and Bethany are expecting their first child, Joel III, and they are going into the hospital on Friday. It is actually about a week overdue at this point. Please pray for a healthy baby and a smooth delivery process. We'll keep you updated!

Ryan

Worship Chapel

Today I braved the snowy roads to be in Canton at Heritage Christian School (good thing Em wasn't with me - let's just say she doesn't do well on the roads when there's even a slight possibility of snow and ice). It's a small school, with only about 125 students in grades 6-12. Last year they had Joel and I to do a chapel. This year they invited me back to do a full chapel of just music. We followed Isaiah 6:1-8 (one of my favorite passages; read it if you can) to help guide our worship.

Because so much of the ministry we do is geared towards unchurched people, we intentionally stay away from doing corporate praise and worship music at our outreach events. Let's just say that a kid wearing black makeup that smokes pot and listens to Marilyn Manson probably wouldn't be cool with singing "Shine, Jesus, Shine." Seriously, though, I miss having opportunities like this chapel when we can get together with a group of believers and just praise God through singing. Pray that these students can continue to fall in love with Jesus and have a genuine desire to worship Him - in singing, and more importantly, with their lives.

P.S. Sorry, no pics today. We hope to include them in future posts.

-Ryan

Blog Debut

Welcome to the official blog for me (Ryan) and Emily and our minstry with Joel and Bethany Penton through FCA! We decided this was the most effective, cost-efficient, and personal way for us to keep you updated with what's going on in the ministry. We will, from time-to-time, post things that the Lord is teaching us in our own walks with Him, in hopes of encouraging you. However, the primary purpose for this blog is to share with you how the ministry is impacting the lives of others.

We promise to update the blog at least once a month, but the goal is to post shorter updates as they happen. I think we find that monthly newsletters can become long, and frankly, sometimes hard to get through (at least for me). So hopefully this encourages you to check back often.

With this first post, we thought it would be best to share the background of the ministry. Even though most of you probably know what we do, here it is for those who don't...

My Story
I joined staff with Central Ohio FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) in June of 2007. I was brought on to work exclusively with my good friend, Joel Penton, who was already on staff as a full-time speaker. Not only was I put in charge of the ministry’s business operations, but I also got the opportunity to travel to events with Joel and share my music. We decided our mission would be focused on reaching unchurched students for Christ. Thus, I spent much of my time scheduling public school assemblies and working to set up corresponding evening outreach events for each assembly.

A Successful 2007-08 School Year
By God’s grace and through a lot of hard work, we got the 2007-08 school year filled up with speaking opportunities. We presented at 165 assemblies and were able to set up 30 evening outreach events. At these events, students from the assemblies were invited back and we boldly shared the Gospel, many times to an audience that was largely unchurched. We know of nearly 600 who indicated they accepted Jesus for the first time and many more that made a recommitment to Him at last year’s events.

Moving Forward
We are continuing to do assemblies and events this school year. We've had some amazing opportunities and we are excited for what the future holds. Please pray for new opportunities for us to share the Gospel.

Blessings,
Ryan