April 29, 2018
Street Level Radio
We are praying God does work in the people we talked to! Please do so as well. We believe at least 3 people came to the concert that we handed a flyer to, so that was really neat.
See above for some pictures of all of our broadcasts for the last month. Stay tuned for more updates.
April 28, 2018
The Homeschool Ministry
The Homeschool Group has been busy during the last couple months! We’re talking Children’s Museum and the Como Zoo.
In February, we spent the whole day playing at the Children’s Museum in Eau Claire. There is so much to do there- a water play area, art room, building a house (hard hats included), working in a grocery store, and crawling through an over-sized digestive system!
Laura Hartung was able to squeeze in a science lesson during her time here in March. The kids learned about plants and photosynthesis, even down to the microscopic level using a special microscope. Thanks Laura!
Our most recent trip found us piled in the church van, complete with 4 car seats! We headed to cities to see the animals at Como Zoo. We had to trudge through the snow to find a picnic table, but the sun was out and it was warm! The kids (and parents) loved seeing the animals- giraffes, lions, polar bears, tigers, orangutans, gorillas, puffins, sea lions and much more!
Our favorite time of the week is definitely recess, when we all get to play together on Thursday afternoons. We often went sledding during the long winter, and walking on paved trails during the muddy season, but now we are looking forward to playgrounds, kite-flying, soccer and the like now that spring is finally here.
April 25, 2018
Shofar Missions Cebu
The month of April seemed to fly by… and that is NOT because we spent a good portion of it in an airport or on an airplane! Laura and I both enjoyed our time in the United States, but as we rode to the airport early on a Thursday morning, we knew it was time to get back to work in Cebu. Thanks for hanging out with us, taking us out for pizza and fish fries, and loving on us while we were back. We were especially thankful to attend the Covenant Conference and be among our brothers and sisters.
Upon arriving back to Cebu, we have been busy preparing for the team’s arrival! This has ranged from getting vehicles up and running all the way to buying plane tickets. While they are here, we will spend some time in Manila ministering to children and youth through summer day camps. We’re also planning various Street Level Ministries outreaches in Cebu City – live broadcasts on Street Level Radio, distribution of Word on the Street Magazine, and a Friday night dinner and bible study. God willing, we will have a movie and junk food night at one of our SLR install locations! The team will close out their time in Cebu with Shofar Camp. Last week was the first registration deadline, and we went from 0 to 70 youth registered in just one day! There are also 11 Filipino leaders who have stepped up to be counselors; a few new and a few veterans. Please keep this event and the rest of the team’s endeavors in your prayers. Satan doesn’t like what we’re doing, and we know there will be battles to come.
Aside from team prep, we have had two summer SLM meetings at Elicon House. Many students are gone for break, but there are still a good number of them around for summer classes and work. We took a break from “The Story” and have been going through Francis Chan’s BASIC series. Most of our core students have been unable to attend but we have had two new students come. BASIC has been a nice change of pace and has produced some good discussions about what it actually means to fear God and follow Jesus as a college student. Please keep these students in your prayers, that we would have hearts to minister to them, and God’s direction for the upcoming school year which starts in June.
In other news, we swapped out one of the SLR antennas in the hopes of expanding the station’s range. It was fun to do something outside of the ordinary and we were especially thankful there wasn’t much traffic that day! We also sent the latest issue of WOTS to print and are starting on the next issue. There is only one Filipino writer left, so please pray for the next issue and that God would stir the hearts of students to be a part of WOTS! Last but not least, we’re also planning to present the Shofar Science/Creation curriculum to a few new schools for the upcoming year!
Stay tuned here and on the blog for updates while the team is with us. Thanks for your prayers and support!
– Brittany
April 22, 2018
Nehemiah Deacon Ministry
We have been busy here in the Nehemiah Ministry. Busy is good right? It’s good when you are busy about kingdom building and kingdom pursuits. Recently we have been doing some remodeling and updates to some of the rooms in the Street Level house. Carpet, steps, paint, and lights to name a few. As you ladies can probably tell, we’ve installed a new stall and three new toilets in the ladies bathroom. We have just finished re-surfacing that bathroom floor to match the men’s room. Also, the conference room now has a wonderful new floor too.
Many of you have commented on how nice the dungeon/boiler room looks. It’s amazing how much “stuff” we had packed down there over the years. Simply cleaning it out has done much to allow for better and more efficient working space. That room is an ongoing project that can always be improved upon. God has been good in supplying the materials and ability to do all of this. We have some exciting new projects coming up this year that include new carpet in the sanctuary, a new canopy over the front patio, and replacing the steps in the back of the church. The ladies bathroom will also see new light fixtures to match the men’s room. We have many other plans under way for 2018 as well. We are both thankful and grateful to serve our fellowship in this ministry. Please keep the Nehemiah Ministry in your prayers.
April 19, 2018
River Falls Ministry
We’ve all been very happy to see the days getting longer here in River Falls. It’s been wonderful starting our evening gatherings while the sun is still out, rather than in darkness. As summer approaches we are beginning to wind down Street Level and are preparing for the best weather of the year.
Upon writing this, we only have three remaining Street Level meetings this semester. Our Tuesday meetings have primarily remained in our “The Story” series, with the 2nd half of the semester almost exclusively looking at the New Testament idea of “church”. We’ve defined what a church should look like, discussed the church’s mission, and it’s necessity in the life of believers. It’s clearly been a challenging topic to broach, as there are many misconceptions in concerning the reality, role, and importance of “church”. The struggle to live a “Christian” life while at the same time actively disengaging from the local body is something that we are finding all too common.
We’ve been please to have recent visitors from the other Street Level chapters join us as guest teachers over the past few weeks. Brittany of Street Level Cebu joined us during her time back in the US, and Ben and Sasha of Menomonie were also with us recently. It good to have these people with us so they can share what their groups are doing, and also help paint a clearer picture of God’s work through Street Level abroad. We have also recently been enjoying some “local” connections also. Our advisor David visited a few weeks ago us to say hello to the students and sit in on a Bible study. Additionally, we are gearing up to attend a campus event at which a Christian professor will be speaking on the topic of intelligent design. Several campus ministries are praying and advertising for this event.
Soon, many of the individuals were are engaged with weekly will be leaving for the summer. Although we will miss these them and the familiarity of our weekly gatherings, we are turning our attention to the next three summer months. The specifics are yet to be finalized, but we are praying, discussing, and keeping our eyes open to see what God has waiting over the next hill.
JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook
April 16, 2018
OneLife Couples Ministry
OneLife has been focusing in on two aspects of our ministry. First the continued development of our own spiritual lives, and second, the planning and preparing for reaching out to the people of our city. On a twice a month basis, we have been splitting up into small groups to gather at local hot spots for coffee and lively discussions about the Bible and Sunday sermons at JFB. This has been really enjoyable and insightful. One great benefit is that it puts us out there in the public. We sit in the middle of things and speak openly. We want people to see that it’s cool to talk about church and Jesus in a public setting. These are real discussions (what I learned was… what did you learn…). We laugh, we talk serious, we fellowship together. I’ve been enjoying them. Members of our group rotate leading the discussions so it keeps us all sharp.
Along side these coffee talks, the members group has been getting together for planning and learning. Once a month we read and discuss the book Discipling by Mark Dever. This book has been really nice to read together. It speaks to our personal growth as well as our interpersonal relationships. And once a month we plan the schedule and calendar event. For instance, we plan to go camping together this summer and to bring a few unique features to the Church camp out this year. Stay tuned…
For this summer we have been planning ways to be in our neighborhoods for the good of the community and the Kingdom of God. We all have neighbors who are in need spiritually, physically and emotionally. As we have been learning in the Saturate series, there very natural avenues we can use to connect with the people who live around us. We hope to see God work in the everyday stuff of life. As we develop friendships with our neighbors, we hope to provide grander neighborhood cookouts and gatherings to deepen those connections. We pray to see what God will do in us and through us as we seek to get into the mess of life around us. All I can think about right now is t-shirts, bbq’s, lawn chairs, conversations and sun. Pray God works his wonders out before us as we move ahead in this.
We are a group of young couples (some with small kids) who are seeking strong marriages, strong relationships, and missional avenues to serve God through serving each other and serving our neighbors. Are you a young couple and looking to get deeper fellowship? Email us at onelife@jfbelievers.com for more information.
