Board Feature
Hey, friends!
It's time to usher in
a brand new year. Now, I know you're expecting me to
jump into a nice little story about making a new
resolution to help you become the person you've
always wanted to be. Sorry, not happening.
Instead, I want you to
take a minute to celebrate who God created you to be
-- who He saw before you were created in your
mother's womb. The potential He sees today, in the
midst of your failures, trials, and shortcomings.
Search for what God sees in you, underneath all the
influences of this world.
That's who you really
are, and who God is using to share His story of
hope, grace and love.
God will use the story
of your messed up past, the hopes of your future,
and the real life stuff that makes up your daily
existence to reach the world around you. He's not
looking for perfection; He's looking for someone who
will proclaim His truth, and share their testimony
of God's work in a life. He's looking for the real
you to come out and share the real message of
deliverance.
With this real you in
mind, praise God for how He has already used you to
share the truth of the gospel with the world.
Pray for more
opportunities to be a light in the darkness.
Commit to obeying
God's call, wherever it may lead.
This group of writers
called the Christian Authors Network has committed
to writing His message. We will continue on in
another year of doing just that. I challenge you to
find your niche in God's story. Take the challenge.
Make an impact.
Jennifer Devlin,
CAN President
jennifer@jenniferdevlin.com
§§§
Member Feature
This month we feature
member
Jan Kern, who
recently found a new way to minister to teens and
families.
As writers and
speakers, our God-given passions stir, develop, and
refine each time we write an article or book,
prepare a presentation, or have a conversation about
the topics of our heart. We feel the call to do
more, to go deeper.
I have had the
privilege of working alongside my husband at a
residential ministry for at-risk teens. That
naturally led to the creation of the Live Free
series, published through Standard
Publishing—nonfiction books about the true stories
of teens and young adults facing the tough issues of
self-injury, false intimacy, and Internet addiction.
The books are doing well and have garnered award
nominations.
But as I was further
exposed through my research to the struggles of
teens and their families, I felt God’s call to do
something more. I had already been pursuing further
education through a Master’s program at Western
Seminary as I began to write the Live Free series.
As I hit the send button to e-mail the third
manuscript of the series to my editor, I turned my
attention back to my courses. I found God had
further refined my passion and focus toward helping
families find unique tools to confidently raise
their children and teens, for family ministries in
churches to discover new ways of reaching their
youth who could easily join those who have been
abandoning their faith in droves. Life coaching came
on my radar, and I shifted my degree concentration.
Now, along with my writing and speaking, I am a life
coach.
As I told one of my
mentor coaches, “It’s as if I have been pursuing
this all of my life, but I’ve discovered what to
call it.” I see the uniqueness of the coaching
modality for ministries and families, for faith
conversations that transform. I see a vision of
hope--teens who deeply grasp who God has created
them to be and are rooting themselves in His plans
for their future. Not because someone fed it to
them, but because they have done the hard work
through coaching kinds of conversations to think,
pray, and work to discover it. I’ve watched it in
action. They get it. They own it. That excites me.
Today I’m coaching
individuals, families, teens, other coaches, and
writers and enjoying every minute of it. I’m working
with other coaches in developing opportunities for
church staff and ministries to learn to lead,
mentor, and disciple through transformative coaching
conversations. I’m looking forward to using my
writing, speaking, and coaching to support these
efforts and further impact families and teens. I’m
fully on board God’s adventure for me, and I’m
loving it!
§§§
Member
News
From
Mary DeMuth: “In
January I’ll be speaking to a ladies luncheon and a
book group. I’ll attend the USA Lausanne meeting
toward the end of the month (in Dallas) in
anticipation of the World Congress in South Africa
next October. I’ll also be gearing up for the
release of Thin Places. I’m excited that we
had over 60 influencers for this book, and I’m
hopeful the book will change many, many lives.”
From
Jan Kern: “January
is not only the launch of a new year, but also some
exciting new ventures for me as a writer and
speaker. I will still be speaking and writing on the
tough teen topics and issues, but I'll be focusing
more on family and family ministry. In January I
will be speaking at the Christian Education
Conference in New Orleans on the topic of The
Seduction of our Children and Youth--Strengthening
Family Ministry. Along with that, since I have
pursued intensive training in life coaching over the
last year and a half--including parent, teen, and
family coaching--I look forward to not only new
coaching opportunities, but also writing and
speaking around those topics. I'm excited about all
that is ahead for 2010!”
From
Virelle Kidder:
“I'm excited about a new ministry partnership with
Lisa Troyer and Circle of Friends ministry launching
in January. Lisa Troyer is a Moody radio host from
Cleveland and a solid music professional whose
station hosted a Moody event last spring at which I
spoke on Meet Me at the Well. God nudged her to
write and record a worship CD to accompany the
book. We connected at a heart level. By the end of
the year, COF writer Jocelyn Hamsher will have
written, with my input, a 13 week Bible study to
accompany the book. Wayne Shepherd and Lisa and I
recorded an hour long radio show in Oct in
Nashville, which will release across the country in
Jan featuring the book and Lisa's new CD, plus our
partnership in ministry. We¹ll offer groups a "Meet
Me at the Well" retreat complete with worship music,
a concert, the book, CD, and Bible study. Our first
retreat together is in January in Hyannis, MA. In
February, Lisa and I we¹ll do COF's conference in
Akron, OH. We have no idea what is ahead. Only God
knows, but this is one of His best surprises in my
ministry life.
If there are radio
stations that might like to air the special, it's
available by contacting Wayne Shepherd via his
website. Thanks for the opportunity to share.”
From
Susan Titus Osborn:
“I am excited to announce the January release of my
latest book, Too Soon to Say Goodbye: Healing and
Hope for Victims and Survivors of Suicide,
co-authored by Jeenie Gordon and Karen Kosman. It
is my 30th book!”
§§§
New
Releases from CAN Members
|
Shelley Adina
The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth
Hachette FaithWords
ISBN: 0-446-17964-5
|
Mary Connealy
The Husband Tree
Barbour Publishing
ISBN: 1602601437
|
|
Jane Hampton Cook,
Jocelyn Green
and John
Croushorn
Battlefields & Blessings: Stories of Faith
and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan
AMG Publishers (God and Country imprint)
ISBN: 978-0899570419
|
Susan Titus Osborn
Too Soon to Say Goodbye: Healing and Hope for
Victims and Survivors of Suicide
New
Hope Publishers
ISBN: 978-1-59669-243-5
|
|
Martha Rogers
Becoming Lucy
Realms division of Strang Communications
ISBN: 978-1-59979-912-4
|
|
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