DIRT Update

God has done great things over the last 10+ years and the time is long overdue for all our DIRT Crew partners and friends to come together and celebrate! This will be a wonderful evening of fellowship and rejoicing so please plan to join us because it will not be the same without you!

DIRT Crew Celebration Dinner
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Time: Starting at 4 p.m.
Place: First Baptist Acworth

We want you to feel the excitement of DIRT Crew as you enjoy the talents and hear the stories of our students. You will be introduced to our DIRT Crew ministry leaders and enjoy a presentation of gratitude to our faithful supporters. Then we will all share in a wonderful time of fellowship over dinner as we celebrate God’s blessings together.

This Event is R.S.V.P. Only (so that we may be good stewards of God's resources.)
There are three ways to R.S.V.P. and the deadline is Saturday, April 2, 2011.

1. Register Online:    A very fast and easy process.

2. Register by Email: Click here to tell us you are attending.

3. Register by Phone: Call Barry Dollar at 678-773-6102.

Bring a Friend - You may R.S.V.P. for yourself and those who will be attending with you.


PRAYER REQUESTS: Thank you for remembering us in your prayers!


• Thursday, March 17 - I am speaking to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Young Harris College.

• Saturday, March 19 - We have a “Mystery Mission” planned for FBA students.

• Tuesday, March 29 - I am preaching the youth night of revival at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.

• Summer DIRT Camp planning is in full swing and we need some very specific prayers answered.

I can’t wait to see you!

A New Chapter is the DIRT Crew Story
For me there is no better way to start a new year than with a new DIRT Crew. Pastor David Joyner recently asked me to come and help build a God honoring youth ministry at First Baptist Acworth. So I shared with him the vision of the DIRT Crew because I believe this is how you build a great youth ministry. A ministry that will impact the lives of students and the life of the church!

Just Start Where God Puts You
I actually got involved the last Sunday in November teaching the youth Sunday School class because they needed someone to come and help out. Once I showed up, I just kept coming and teaching. Even with only three or four students showing up, I knew God was up to something good. Each week I would tell them to just watch and see what God might do.

It was not long before a young man named Mark visited. Mark is a gifted musician who has a desire to serve. The next Saturday he spent the whole day setting up our sound system. Now Mark has already led the music in two Wednesday night youth meetings. One of the students told me that she was not convinced when I would say, “Just watch, people are going to start coming.” But seeing Mark was the evidence she needed to believe that something good just might be about to happen.

Our First Mystery Mission Project
When working with students I like to do what I call “Mystery Missions”. We meet on a Saturday morning, go and do a mission project, eat lunch together and then do something fun to end the day. There are several reasons I like this format. First, it is the “Mystery”. The students want to know what we are going to do. They are afraid they might miss out on something so they show up!

Second, I like the first several projects to be for people in the church. For example, yesterday we worked in the yard of a church member who recently lost her husband. She must have shared our mission visit with her Sunday School class and friends at church this morning. Many came to me before and after church expressing appreciation for what we accomplished. So we earn some respect from the church family which helps to create a positive support system for the ministry. All the compliments were encouraging but the best part was hearing those six students (pictured above) tell me how much they enjoyed doing a good deed for someone in need. That is music to my ears!

I love Youth Ministry!

If you want to hear an amazing story call me and I’ll tell you about DIRT Camp. Especially our worship service on Friday where seven students received Christ! Both leaders and students said they have never experienced anything like it. 
Our theme was “Supernatural” which is the perfect expression for this camp. God was in our midst and it was supernatural...


7 salvations, 11 rededications & 20 other decisions!


496 Man-hours Served on Mission Projects!

These projects included painting the house of an elderly lady, raking yards for shut-ins, serving at four nursing homes, moving a thrift store and the projects described below.


$419 Donated to Third World Needs!

Students earned $1 coins each day in competitions. On the last day we gave students the option to purchase items for third world families out of a Samaritian’s Purse catalog or they could buy candy with their coins. Only $4 was spent on candy! Now listen to this: We only gave out $282 worth of coins. The additional $141 came out of the pockets of our students and leaders!


36 Parachutes Made to Drop Hope in Columbia!

This project targets the Farc Rebels who kidnap students and force them to be gorilla fighters. Often suicide becomes their only escape. The parachutes drop Bibles, radios and hope!


Operation Beanie Babies was a Success!

67 beanie babies and 53 pounds of candy were collected to be given to children in the middle east by our soldiers in hopes of winning their hearts. Students also created 66 cards to encourage our troops.

God is Awesome!

We are so excited about the opportunities we will have at Winter DIRT Camp to touch lives around the world. You can help share the love by participating in one of the following ways...

1. OPERATION BEANIE BABIES
Students are being asked to collect Beanie Babies and hard candies to be sent to the Middle East. Soldiers give these items to the children they meet as a way of building bridges and winning hearts. Students will also be making cards and pictures, and writing letters to encourage our soldiers.

• You can help by collecting Beanie Babies and hard candies.
• You can help by creating a card or writing a letter to a solider.

2. SAMARITAN’S PURSE GIFTS OF HOPE

As students compete in team challenges they will be awarded coins worth one dollar each. At the end of the week everyone will be given a Christmas catalog with gifts to purchase and send to a needy person or family in a third world country. Gifts such as baby food, livestock, seeds and tools for growing crops, school supplies and much more.


• You can help by making a donation of dollars to give in exchange for the toy coins.
• You can order your own catalog from www.samaritanspurse.org and provide gifts.

3. PARACHUTES FOR COLUMBIA
We will be making parachutes for the sake of dropping bibles and radios in the war torn jungles of Columbia. Along with the parachutes we need to include $3 each to purchase solar powered radios, Spanish Bibles and other materials to be attached to each parachute.

• You can donate to help purchase the sewing materials needed for the parachutes.
• You can make parachutes in your home and add them to our shipment.
• You can donate the $3 per parachute to purchase the radios, Bibles and tracts.

This Christmas season count your blessings and then share them with those in need!

Merry Christmas!

10 + 10 + 10 = Praise!
I am sending this update on the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year of the DIRT Crew. Last night I spent some time looking at many of my personal records from the past ten years and all I can say is Praise God! He has been so faithful and we have been so blessed to watch the Lord at work.

10 x 10 + 1 = One Hundred and One

101 is the number of precious souls that have been saved, an average of 10 salvation decisions each year! But that does not really tell the story. For example, in 2005 we only saw one person accept Christ as their personal Savior. I can remember the discouragement that year and my wondering if our ministry was missing the mark. Honestly, I thought about quitting more than once. Now if I would have quit right then, we would have missed out on the next year where 22 people accepted Christ!

2 x 10 = Sum Unknown
Over the last 10 years the Lord has blessed with many opportunities to mentor young men on their spiritual journeys. As I thought about this, I quickly jotted down 20 names that I have enjoyed a mentoring relationship with and who are actively serving in ministry. That’s the “2x10”. Two guys a year for the last 10 years. The “Sum Unknown” is the multiplication of their ministry impact!  Some were already serving in youth ministry while others were introduced to youth ministry through the DIRT Crew. (please understand I am not taking credit. I’m just giving God glory for all He has done!)

10 x 10 = Tens of Thousands

The other big number worthy of praise to God are the tens of thousands of man hours of missions and ministry. We do not have an exact number because it’s been too big to track. Over 10 years we have had many youth groups directly involved in DIRT Crew missions and ministry projects. In addition we have served thousands of hours through our camps and retreats. What a blessing to know that every hour represents lives touched and hearts changed through serving or being served.

The Number We Should Care About Most
The number I most care about is the next one! The next soul saved! The next life changed! Whether you participate through GIVING or GOING. pray that God will keep on doing what He is doing.
To God be the Glory!

“DIRT Crew University” That has a nice ring to it!
The picture above has special meaning to me because it is one of the first of its kind. This was a weekend reunion of college students who served at DIRT Camp this summer. They wanted to get back together before school and work fills their time again. On this particular morning we hiked up one side of Kennesaw Mountain and down the other. Sitting on the rocks right there we opened God’s Word and talked about the fact that Faith is a journey.

Now why is that so special? Because its a new place on the journey, the next level, DIRT Crew college students. They represent the first generation who have come up through the ranks of this ministry and now they are leaders of the ministry! I am praying that this will be the first of many generations of students who will grow to become great Christian influencers in this world.

There is one great story from this outing that I want to share. As I lead the Bible study I noticed a fellow hiker had stopped to listen. Later as we came down the mountain and I was approaching the end of the trail this same man in passing asked me about our group. He spoke of how impressed he was with the students and the Word that was shared. He even gave twenty dollars on the spot to go toward lunch. I am happy to say this is not uncommon. Everywhere we go people stop us and ask about our amazing group of students. I am so thankful the DIRT Crew stands out in a good way.

Last month I shared my heart’s prayer for the DIRT Crew. I want to ask you again to pray with us the prayer of Jabez for our ministry together... [1 Chronicles 4:10]


We are already planning our Winter DIRT Camp. This is hard work that demands commitment and sacrifice from our college and adult leaders; a volunteer force that either work or go to school full time. So why do we keep doing it? Because EVERY TIME at EVERY CAMP souls are saved and lives are forever changed. Please pray for Winter DIRT Camp and pray for the DIRT Crew!

As I write this DIRT Update, there are students in Atlanta at the “Four Corners” (one of our witnessing spots) handing out Big Money tracts. This morning they were serving a widow by working in her home and yard. Last week a different group went out in their area. Next week, somewhere, it is very likely another group of students will engage the world with the love of Christ. This is “US” living out our DIRT Crew creed to “Love God, Love People and Share Christ”.

Over the past ten years I have watched God grow the DIRT Crew from one youth group of twelve students to many students in multiple youth groups and locations. This ten year longevity has proven that the style of ministry God gave us is not only life changing but long lasting. We have college students who grew up in the DIRT Crew now serving in the DIRT Crew.

So have we arrived? Not hardly. But I do feel we have laid a great foundation to build on. When I see the impact of our ministry on the lives of students, I am inspired to want more. My heart’s prayer for the DIRT Crew is the prayer of Jabez... [1 Chronicles 4:10]


It is my desire to encourage more youth leaders to embrace the DIRT Crew style of ministry. I want to share all that we have learned, created and developed. I want to warn of the pitfalls and mistakes to avoid. I want to help those who have a passion for students and a burden for the world.

To see God “enlarge our coast”, we need your prayers. Pray that God would guide our journey into new places. Pray the He would open new avenues of ministry. Pray that our ministry reach would stretch beyond anything we could imagine. Pray for our leaders to have personal purity, spiritual strength and the continued commitment to the labor and sacrifice of ministry. I simply ask that every time God brings us to mind that you would send up a prayer. We are so blessed that you care.

The Mission Metroplex
For the fourth year in a row, Brian Lee has headed up a spring break mission trip. Brian is a DIRT Crew board member and youth pastor at Eastwood Baptist in Marietta, Georgia. This year Brian took his team of leaders and students to Arlington, Texas. Every morning to early afternoon they served the Mission Metroplex which consists of multiple ministry outlets including food, furniture and clothing warehouses and a medical clinic. In the afternoons they presented the “Rainbow Express” backyard Bible club at a local apartment community. During the week five children prayed to received Christ! Congratulations to Brian and his team for a mission well done.

The Liquid Highway
Another DIRT Crew board member, Chuck Carver, took his Venture Crew canoeing down the Santa Fe River in High Springs Florida. Four of the ten students are in the Juvenile Justice System. Here is a wonderful glimpse of the trip shared by Chuck in his update...

“We saw springs along the river some of which were producing twenty to thirty million gallons of water per day and so clear you could see all the way to the bottom. At the end of the day I could not pass up the opportunity to talk about  “Living Water”. During this trip we were able to build relationships with all the students and we look forward to camping and other activities with them in the future and more opportunities to share Jesus Christ. Please pray for the four guys in Juvenile Justice: Ty, Matthew, Brandon, and Jose. I hope that during this trip down the liquid highway that seeds took root in their hearts that would grow up into salvation.”

Brian and Chuck also serve as two of the primary leaders at DIRT Camp and I and so thankful to serve beside them. Speaking of DIRT Camp, I need you to keep praying because it is less than a month away! Pray for souls to be saved and lives to be forever changed. I can’t wait to see what God might do in answering our prayers and honoring your generous financial gifts.

HEART OF A HERO!
Our theme for Winter DIRT Camp was “Heart of a Hero” and everything we did was designed to inspire students to allow Jesus Christ to give them a hero’s heart filled with His love. From start to finish, this camp was something very special and God’s presence was very real throughout.

LIVES WERE CHANGED FOREVER
We rejoiced as seven students accepted Christ as their Savior and eight others came forward to rededicate their lives to the Lord. In all, out of 75 attendees, there were 43 spiritual decisions made! Students committed to serve more, pray more, honor God more, and grow spiritually.

HEROES TO THE COMMUNITY
On Thursday and Friday, we sent teams of students out to serve in the community of Norman Park, Georgia. We visited and ministered at nursing homes. We served elderly folks by working in their yards and houses. We helped to beautify the community by raking and spreading pine straw in various locations. It was a blessing to partner with the Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Norman Park to log over 500 man hours of community service in two days. These students proved their hero’s heart!

HEROES TO THE WORLD
To drive home the “Heart of a Hero” message we did something really crazy. We put up $500.00 for students to win during camp. In selected competitions students could win $1.00 tokens that they would be able to cash in on the last day of camp. You can imagine how excited they were about that! Our scoring system allowed every participant to win anywhere from $6.00 to $18.00.

On the last day of camp we all gathered in Hope Chapel to allow students to cash-in their hard earned rewards. But instead of just handing out money, we handed out catalogs from Samaritan's Purse. These catalogs are a wonderful bridge to offer hope to the needy around the world. They offer the opportunity to purchase and send a wide range of items, from school supplies to water purification systems.

We promised the students that we would pay out cash to whoever wants it, but we also wanted to give them the opportunity to be a hero to the needy of our world. We shared that with the money due them, which for most would not even be enough to buy a CD, they could be a hero and change someone’s life forever. Needless to say most students grabbed up the catalogs and began to  browse the many opportunities to express their Hero’s Heart.

HERE IS WHERE IT REALLY GETS INTERESTING
There were some items that students could buy for $10 or less, but many of the high impact items were pretty expensive. For example, a goat cost $70 and a family water filter cost $100. Students started calling out, “Who wants to help buy a goat?” Others called out, “We are trying to buy medicine, who want’s to help us?” Teams of buyers began to form and their financial goals were soon reached with cheers! When the coins ran out I watched students start pulling their own money out of their pockets to help purchase items. As I think about it even now I’m almost moved to tears. It was thrilling and inspiring to see.

OUR HEROES’ FINAL TALLY
Here is what students were able to accomplish:

• 1 week of dinners for one hungry child.
• 30 seedling fruit trees for a family’s food and income.
• 2 Dairy animals for a family to have milk and income.
• 1 warm blanket for someone who is homeless.
• 4 life saving Mosquito nets to protect small children.
• 2 hungry babies will be fed for one week.
• 12 baby chicks for a family to have eggs and income.
• 50 people supplied with vital life saving medicines.
• 1 family water filter with health-and-hygiene training.
• 1 student took cash to buy groceries for her family.

Better yet, every item will be delivered by a Christian worker who will share the love of Christ with every individual. Now, I know you are wondering how many students took the cash. When we were all done over 90% of the students had given their earnings to Samaritan's Purse. That told me that we accomplished our goal to inspire students to be heroes!

I need to mention one last group of heroes. They are the handful of heroes that pray and give faithfully to this ministry. Without your prayers and financial support this camp would not have happened. Let’s rejoice together because today we have more treasure laid up in heaven!

1 Corinthians 3:8-9 “Now he that plants and he that waters are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are laborers together with God.”