Last Thursday, January 15, John Perkins spoke to the kids at the Spencer Perkins Center.

“Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?” Dr. Perkins asked.

“A civil rights leader,” “Jalesa, 5^th grade, promptly answered. “He made the black and white people equal!” Omari, 7^th grade, said. Jakaylah, 2^nd grade, called out, “He preached in D.C. in churches and marched.” “And led boycotts,” Permelia, 5^th grade, boldly stated.

As Dr. Perkins remembered Dr. King, he spoke from his heart about the fulfillment of a dream, King’s dream. Perkins believes there is no excuse now for African-Americans to fail.

“We’ve never had a place in this society where we weren’t second class citizens.” — until now. With the inauguration of Barack Obama, King’s dream was finally fulfilled.

“King had a dream. Obama is that dream.”

As part of our “Meet Me at the Well” gathering each month we’re adding a weekly Wednesday noon prayer time. We’re praying at noon because that is when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well. We want to join Him there because we’re thirsty — thirsty for a mid-day drink.

This “meeting” will take place on a conference call and will only last 30 minutes as we want to respect participants’ time and schedules. To join the conference call each week:

Dial - (218) 339-2500
Enter Access Code - 805585 followed by the “#” sign

Please email your prayer requests to Elizabeth Perkins before the end of the day Tuesday each week.

On the evening of November 22nd, 2008 one of the Perkins Foundation’s Zechariah 8 houses caught on fire. Firefighters did not arrive in time to save the house. The back family room, the laundry room, and two bedrooms were almost entirely destroyed. The rest of the house suffered severe damage from heat and smoke.

The home belonged to Angela Andrews and her two sons, Patrick and Pierre. Despite the family losing almost everything, they did not lose the most important thing — their lives. No one was hurt in the fire as Ms. Andrews smelled the fire in time to get outside and her sons were not at home. No other houses were affected by the fire.

Patrick and Pierre participate in the Perkins Foundation’s After-School Program each day and Angela is a full-time student working on an education degree. They are an important part of our lives here at the Perkins Foundation and we’re asking you to continue to pray for their recovery and spirits.

If you would like to contribute to the Zechariah 8 Fire Fund please visit our donation page.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

On June 30, 40 people crowded into an old storage closet at the Perkins Center. Unlike the musty shed covered in spider webs that you would imagine, these forty people were standing in the brand new, state-of-the-art Snack Shack Studio.

The children and staff of the Summer Arts Camp, the Foundation employees and some of the volunteers who helped design and complete the studio all crowded in to hear what Dr. John Perkins had to say.

“This is the fulfillment of God’s promise,” said John Perkins quoting Matthew 7:7. “Ask, and it shall be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.” What that passage doesn’t say is that sometimes it take a lot of sweat and work to open that door.

Earlier this spring Dr. Perkins and his son Wayne Perkins dreamt about creating a recording studio. During one of his morning devotionals with a volunteer group from Minnesota he mentioned his dream. He wanted a space where the neighborhood children could record themselves and where they could learn the technical side of the production process. He thought his dream had fallen on deaf ears.

The next day he started to make his pitch to the group again. Peter Borne stopped him before he started.

“We’ve got that covered, already,” said Borne.

Borne, who is the owner and creator of Airborne Creative Group based in Edina, Minnesota, caught the vision right away. Wayne took Peter to an old storage room that same day and where everyone else would see a broken down closet, they saw possibilities.

Over the course of the next three months Wayne worked with nine volunteer groups putting up drywall, installing air-conditioners, adding a wall with a mirror and a slew of other jobs. Finally, the last weekend of June, Borne and a few other volunteers put the carpet in, painted the walls and installed recording equipment.

“It happened so fast! It was amazing,” Wayne said. “Its unlikely that you would see something that nice, that professional within three months.”

During the grand opening Dr. Perkins and his wife Vera Mae cut a red ribbon to officially open the studio.

“I’ve seen of a lot of God’s blessings these 48 years,” Vera Mae said with a huge grin on her face. “It is no different now than it was in the beginning.”

The children poured into the studio, amazed at the lights, colors, equipment and style. Painted a “creativity-inspiring yellow,” with a large-checkered carpet the room the space has an energy of its own.

Dr. Perkins said a few words during the dedication of the studio thanking Borne, Mike Hotz of Christ Presbyterian Church and the rest of the people that helped make this dream become a reality.

“I think when you call people friends, rather than donors, it is the highest compliment you can give,” Dr. Perkins said. “It is one of the greatest graces in the Bible. God worked with Abraham for 30 years and finally He said to Abraham, ‘you’re my friend.’ Jesus finally told his disciples to call him ‘friend.’ This studio represents that friendship. We are so very thankful”

Borne was thrilled at how the studio turned out and excited that he got to be a part of this new creation.

“We all, as people of God, are given gifts. My gift happens to be of music and I was lucky enough to use those gifts to help put the finishing touches on this space,” Borne said. “The bottom line is that this is here to spread the Word of the Lord. Use your gifts here to make a joyful noise!”