About 29.11
"No one has a greater heart or compassion than Dirk to communicate truth to students. He is well equipped to challenge students of this generation to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ."
Josh McDowell - Josh McDowell Ministries
"Dirk is a gifted young man who has a wonderful ability to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to today's youth. I believe he will do an excellent job of ministering to your students. Please consider inviting him to be your next youth communicator."
Barry St. Clair - Executive Director: Reach Out Youth Solutions
"Dirk is like a spiritual coach. The students are running that race toward the goal. Dirk is coaching us to be better and to not except the norm. He challenges us to listen to God and seek Him with our whole heart. Dirk is starting to stoke a fire in students that is growing everyday here at Mars Hill College."
Tommy Keller - Junior at Mars Hill College
- The Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God. It is supreme and has final authority.
- There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- In the deity of Jesus Christ - that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He led a sinless life, took on Himself all the sins of man, died and rose again on the third day and is seated at the right hand of the Father as our Mediator and Advocate.
- That salvation of man only comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
- In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is expected and enabled to lead a godly life.
- Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self effort of the Christian. Therefore, true salvation is eternal and secure.
- That Jesus Christ will personally return to earth one day soon.
If you're interested in supporting 29.11 Student Ministries, there are 2 integral areas where you can get involved. We believe that prayer is an extremely vital part of any ministry. It declares our total dependency on the Father. If you would like to be a prayer partner of 29.11 Student Ministries, just drop us an email or phone call and we'd be glad to share with you how you can most effectively pray for this ministry. And because we've seen the power of petitioned prayer, we know how important and effective your prayer coverage is. Thanks for lifting us, this ministry and thousands of students around the globe up to the Father. Unlike some ministries that have more money than they know what to do with, we are daily in desperate need for God to supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. In the past, God has always used the body of Christ to help equip us to reach students for Christ. That's why we're convinced that even if we had all the money in the world, we'd still invite friends like you to share this ministry with us by investing in what God is doing in and through 29.11.
From time to time we meet people who ask how they can support this ministry financially with a one time gift or on a month-to-month basis. Typically these are individuals or families that sense God's call to support and equip a ministry that's reaching students for Christ. We have learned that this kind of financial support allows us to extend our ministry to go places we never thought we could go and do things we never thought we could do. So, if we're going to reach more students for Christ and be faithful to the Great Commission, we need you're help. 29.11 Student Ministries operates as a non-profit organization under the accountability of a board of directors. Due to this, all donations are tax deductible. If you sense God's leading you in this direction and you want to be a part of our support team, we want you to know how grateful we are. And you can be assured that we'll do everything we can to reach as many students as we can as quick as we can with the money that you entrust to us. If supporting 29.11 is something you are interested in, you can email Joanna Robinson (she keeps 29.11 running) at Joanna@2911.org or call the 29.11 office at (828) 689-9700.
What happens after Dirk leaves? Will we ever hear from him again?
It depends on whether or not your students are nice to him. Just kidding. Dirk really does love the students he gets to hang out with and invest in and his hearts desire is that they would not only encounter Jesus, but that they would continue to grow and become more like Him. So, Dirk is absolutely committed to following up with the students he spends time with. We can give you more details about our follow up ministry, just ask us. Ideally, Dirk would like to return and do a "follow-up session" with every group he meets with. We realize this isn't practical for every group Dirk hangs out with, but if you can work it out for your group, there are some great advantages to it. Just talk to some folks who have tried it.
What exactly does Dirk do?
That's like asking how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop. The world may never know. In all seriousness, check out the "About 29.11" tab and then mash the "What we do" sub tab. If that doesn't suffice, give us a jingle.
What does 29.11 stand for?
29.11 comes from the verse in Jeremiah - "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They're plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." A big part of 29.11's vision is to help students understand that God created them for a purpose and that the most exciting thing in the world is knowing what that purpose is and passionately living it out every day of your life.
What makes 29.11 different from other similar ministries that are out there?
Glad you asked. And if you didn't ask, you should have. The biggest thing that sets us apart is the time and investment we make following up with the students, whether by mail, email, revisits, or phone calls. Another component of 29.11 that makes us different is that we actively challenge and equip youth pastors and their youth workers to pick up where we leave off. If you're expecting some joker to blow in and blow out and somehow change lives, you're probably not gonna get your money's worth. Much of the effectiveness of bringing guys like Dirk in to minister to your students, lies in the follow up work that YOU do after we leave. We'd be glad to help you develop some strategies that'll most effectively meet the needs of your particular group of students. Just ask.
How much time in advance should we book Dirk?
Depends on the time of year. We often book events 18 months out. However, we've also booked engagements 2 weeks out. Much of it depends on Dirk's calendars and what dates he has available. All of that to say this, the further out you book your engagement, the better your chances of getting the dates you want.
Is Dirk available for one-on-one time with students during camps?
Heck yeah! That's one of the coolest parts about what Dirk does. Any free time he has he loves to spend hanging out with students. And he tries to make himself available any time they need to talk privately about something too.
What denomination is 29.11 affiliated with?
29.11 isn't affiliated with any particular denomination. We believe that the church is made up of the body of Christ and all true Believers serve the same God. You're thinking that seems a bit vague. You can find out more by clicking on the "About 29.11" tab then clicking on the "What we believe" sub tab. That should give you the fine details about this question. However, we're not so naive to think that all denominations serve Jesus. So, as much as we say we're inter-denominational, we're still not too shy to let you know if we don't feel like we're a good match for you. If you're all about Jesus, we're probably a good match. If you're not, you might wanna save your time and check out the yellow pages for someone else.
After you got married, how did you decide who slept on which side of the bed?
Dirk and Julie played 87 rounds of "paper, rock, scissors," and finally Julie won the left side.
How often are you on the road?
For the sanity and spiritual stability of everyone involved, Dirk spends as much time with his family as he can, so we try not to book events that last longer than a week and Dirk's committed to being home doing local ministry at least two weeks out of the month.
What does Dirk dress like when he speaks?
We try to stick with 80's style cut-off jean shorts and hyper color t-shirts. When Dirk has to dress up he busts out his tight rolled jeans, ruffled tux shirts and black bow ties. Nah..just kidding. Mostly he wears jeans, t-shirts and collared shirts. If a group really wants Dirk to wear something different, he's willing (I mean happy) to accommodate that request. But if no preference is made, you'll probably see him in jeans and a Tommy.
How do students get plugged into 29.11's summer overseas mission trips?
We meet thousands of students over the course of the year, and usually Dirk makes it available and students that want to and feel led can just find the application on our site and sign up. There's a tab under "For Students Only" that talks more about it, but for the most part it's made available to students that show an interest and approach Dirk about it.