Former Businessman Helps Others To Know Jesus

By Jessica Cline

Parking spots in downtown Raleigh, N.C., are usually hard to find. But this Thursday morning Brent Perkins quickly finds a space for his maroon Isuzu Trooper, grabs his briefcase and rushes into the Carolantic Realty building.

Passing an empty receptionist desk, he glides into the 1st-floor meeting room.

Inside, young businessmen mingle, juggling to-go coffee cups as they shake hands. Brent gathers the men around a glass table and begins the meeting.

Although 4 of the businessmen work in commercial realty, today's agenda has nothing to do with property. These men are studying the Gospel of John.

"The Book of John basically tells the story of Jesus," explains 31-year-old Brent to the group of mostly new Christians. Verse by verse, Brent walks them through the 1st chapter.

"I'm trying to get you guys to the point where you can pick up the Bible, read it and then be able to share it with somebody else," says Brent.

Brent doesn't work downtown like the others. He works with Priority Associates, Campus Crusade's outreach to business professionals. Five and a half years in the corporate world gave Brent a platform to help businessmen integrate faith into their lives and work.

One of the men is commercial real-estate agent John Webster. Brent and John started the weekly study group at John's office. Two of John's non-Christian friends accepted Christ at the 1st meeting.

Brent also likes to spend time with the guys individually. One Monday afternoon, Brent and John met at Starbucks. They discussed football and family -- both are husbands and fathers -- and then Brent got down to business.

"I want to start investing some more time in you," says Brent over the whirr of the coffee grinder.

He looks intensely at John from a plush, brown chair. Brent first met John following a Priority Associates outreach luncheon.

These luncheons, usually attracting 40 to 50 people, have a non-Christian theme but introduce business professionals to Priority Associates. Invited by a co-worker, John heard the director of strength and conditioning for athletes at the University of Georgia talk about how to be successful in life.

Although he grew up going to church, John became serious about his faith after becoming involved with Priority Associates and getting to know Brent.

"Brent puts things into perspective," says John. "You realize that at the end of the day, no matter how shady some of the other people are in business or how cutthroat it is, everything's going to be all right."

At Starbucks, Brent asks John to coordinate these same outreach lunches in downtown Raleigh next year. They acknowledge the large time commitment, but John knows the payoff of the lunches.

"You can make time for what's important," says John, agreeing to the challenge.

Encouraging business people to become volunteer leaders is one of Priority Associates' long-term goals. The 6 full-time staff members in Raleigh cannot reach all 125,000 business professionals in downtown Raleigh on their own; they are always looking for dedicated men and women to help reach their peers through evangelism and spiritual mentoring.

Like John, brothers Miller and Michael Lawson are committed to making God their business.

Thwack.

With a crisp swing, Miller sends the golf ball flying toward the 7th hole at the Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh. A good shot. Michael and Brent stand behind, admiring Miller's shot while talking quietly.

"Golf is a universal language of business," says Brent. "When you do a normal thing that everybody does, like golf, it builds trust."

About once a month Brent plays golf with the brothers, who usually try to bring one of their non-Christian friends.

The guys talk about work -- they own a local insurance agency. They also talk about their marriages and the weekly Bible-discussion group the 3 started. Now Miller and Michael lead the group on their own.

Brent understands the time pressures on professionals and has found that men who wouldn't normally take time to meet him will openly talk about their lives during the 4 hours on the course. Eighteen holes later, Brent hopes the guys have not only worked on their golf swing but on living an authentic and vital spiritual life as well.

The Lawsons, much like John, are eager to learn. But not everyone Brent works with is as ready.

Brent met Jesse Schlegel at another monthly Priority Associates lunch. Brent and Jesse get together occasionally, like Tuesday morning at Panera Bread bakery-cafe. Brent asked Jesse if he read the book he lent him. Jesse admitted to only reading the preface. Neither hides the fact that Jesse is struggling to make time with God a priority.

Brent knows that Jesse's influence and leadership abilities could be used significantly if he surrendered to God's control and learned how to integrate his faith and work. But Brent also realizes that the successful salesman in the technology industry has never really seen a need in his life for a daily walk with Christ.

"Jesse had a lot of material success early in life," says Brent. "In the business community, you are dealing with people who have big egos and make big money. You can't come in and say, 'Let me tell you what to do.'"

So today Brent offers simple suggestions to Jesse about praying for his family and recording prayers in a journal.

Leadership, Brent knows, must begin at home. He intimately understands the struggles Jesse is facing in balancing work, family and faith.

Before becoming a Campus Crusade staff member in 2002, Brent had a well-paying job as a financial analyst. But pressures at work and a 75-minute commute left him with little time at home and quickly took a toll on his marriage.

"You think your life is fine," says Leigh, Brent's wife of 9 years, "then you wake up one morning and realize you and your husband aren't communicating in the way you should and you're missing something."

Brent often came home late, leaving Leigh frustrated and alone.

One morning, Leigh walked into the living room and found Brent face down on the rug praying. For about a year, Brent had been wrestling with the desire to make ministry his full-time career.

Brent finally knew that this was the direction God was taking their family, but lack of communication left Leigh unsure and unready. Seeing Brent on the floor shocked her, but also got her thinking.

"That was the beginning of me realizing that [going into ministry] was what God wanted, not just for Brent but for me too," says Leigh.

Leigh grew up in a Campus Crusade staff family -- her parents worked with Athletes in Action, the sports division -- so once she and Brent decided together on full-time ministry, Campus Crusade was a natural fit.

The couple pursued marriage counseling and began to rebuild their relationship. As Brent seeks to create leaders today, he makes time to focus on his ministry at home with Leigh, including his 7-year-old son, Jackson, and 4-year-old daughter, Pressley. Just like Bible study and evangelism, these are priorities Brent models for the guys he works with.

After nearly 3 years in Raleigh, the Perkinses plan to move back to Georgia in a few months. They want to start a Priority Associates ministry in downtown Atlanta among professionals in their 20s and 30s, since no one with Priority Associates is currently focusing on this group.

Brent is eager to challenge and equip more businessmen to change their world.

"God didn't want me out of the business community," says Brent. "He just wanted me to play a different role."

Brent is no longer a businessman. But he is in God's business -- helping men to know Jesus.

URL: http://www.ccci.org/ministries/priority-associates/helping-others-know-jesus.aspx