Author: River Falls Ministry

February 20, 2024 River Falls Ministry

This winter has been a season of newness for River Falls. We are thankful for everyone’s support and prayers as we started Church on Sundays.

Here is a snapshot of what we have been up to over the past few months.

Believers Church

Believers Church River Falls continues to meet at Juniors on Sunday evenings. We incorporate fellowship time into every Sunday by having a small meal together before. On New Year’s Eve, we also had a game night together.

Additionally, we have been diligently putting up posters, getting out into the community, and finding other ways to let people know we are around. Over the past few months, we continued to meet new people and have had a few return visitors.

Street Level Ministries / Believers Campus Church

Street Level ended the fall semester with a gingerbread house-making Christmas party. The talent levels varied, but we had a great time in fellowship before most of the students went home for winter break.

At the end of January, a new semester began. We continue to meet each Monday in the student center (Pete’s Creek Corner) on the UW-River Falls Campus. Also, we have been setting up regular tables on campus to let people know what we have going on. Throughout the last few weeks, we have also seen a few new faces at Street Level.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

We brought the coffeehouse into the local community and onto both college campuses in River Falls during the last few months. In January, we were able to do a coffee giveaway in the community at Dick’s Fresh Market. It was one of the few frigid days this winter, but we still had the opportunity to talk to a few people and invite them to Sunday church. Recently, we gave away coffee on the CVTC campus and hot chocolate on the UW-River Falls campus. We connected with students interested in learning more about the Bible studies and events we have going on.

Prayer Requests

  • That God will be working in the River Falls community and for the right people to connect with us
  • For maturity/growth in the people that have been joining us
  • For vision and direction from God as we reach out to the community & campuses in River Falls
November 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

It has been an exciting time to be in River Falls this past month as we start a new season of ministry. Continue reading to find out more!

Believers Church – River Falls

We started meeting together for our first, open-to-the-public, church services. Located in one of the conference rooms at Junior’s Restaurant in town, we have now met a couple of times. We come together to pray as a community, eat a light meal, and then worship and study the Word. Pastor Jonah has started teaching from the Gospel of Luke. So far a few new people have joined us from the local community!

Believers Campus Church

On Wednesdays, we continue to study the book of Exodus. Through this, we are learning to apply God’s word to our lives and learning how these historical events are remarkably relevant to us in our walk with God today. There has been a consistent group of students who continue to attend on a weekly basis. We even had a guest teacher this last month, Pastor Ben.

WOTS Table on Campus

A couple of us went down to the University Center on Campus and set up a table to promote the newest issue of Word on the Street magazine. We asked students to select three words that best describe their generation. It was fun to engage with the students and see the words they chose. The top selected word was FOMO; an acronym for “Fear of Missing Out”. One of the college students who has been regularly attending Street Level also joined us for most of the time.

Movie night – The Chosen

Last Friday, we had our first movie night of the semester. Gathering at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse, we ate popcorn and snacks and watched a couple of episodes of Season 2 of The Chosen. Even though many people were gone on break, we had a few people come. It was a nice time to hang out and fellowship.

Please continue to pray for:

  • For people to desire a real relationship with God, to get plugged into a local church community, and to contribute to the work of God’s Kingdom above and beyond when it is convenient.
  • We would meet new students and people from the community, and God would bring them into the meetings with open and hungry hearts.
  • The students would not get overly busy and distracted over the holidays and the second half of the semester.

September 20, 2023 River Falls Ministry

There is an ongoing debate in River Falls about what the best season is. While we may not agree on what the best season is (…of course it is summer…), we can all agree that we look forward to the college students returning to town for a new school year. With the return of the students, we have been spending time focusing on meeting new students hoping to build relationships with them.

We kicked off the school year with a couple of coffee giveaways on the UW River Falls campus. Some returning students and a few people from Menomonie joined in to help. Also, we were able to do a couple of tables on campus. We met a few new students during these events that have since checked out Campus Church or Street Level.

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Campus Church

We are back to regular meetings for Campus Church and Street Level. Campus Church is meeting in the same room as last year, right next to the dining hall on campus. During the last few weeks, a number of new people stopped in and checked out the service. Many of them stayed around after the teaching to hang out and get to know us.

Street Level UWRF

Street Level started meeting on campus this semester. We gather around a few tables in the University Center and have a Bible discussion. We have also had some new students attend Street Level the last few weeks.

Bonus: Some of us also got together to go on a hike near Glen Park.

Prayer Requests:

  • That God would be working in the college-age people/students in the River Falls area
  • Developing relationships with new students
  • Continued vision and direction for the ministry

https://www.streetlevelministries.com/uw-riverfalls.html

May 11, 2023 River Falls Ministry

We wrapped up the spring semester by hosting various outreaches and events. During this time we met a few new faces and said goodbye to some recent graduates. We are looking forward to seeing what God has for us this summer. Want to know more? Keep on reading.

Street Level Ministries

  • Moriah Sharing at the Street Level Summit
  • A small group at the Street Level Summit
  • Packing up for the Summit
  • Friday Night of the Street Level Summit
  • Friday Night of the Street Level Summit
  • Friday Night of the Street Level Summit
  • Dinner for Street Level
  • Weirdo’s at Street Level

Throughout the semester, our Street Level meeting discussions surrounded service to God and practical participation in the Body of Christ. Our hope is to see people step forward in their relationship and service to God.

Also, in April, we hosted the other branches of Street Level on the UW-River Falls campus for a spring summit. We spent Friday night and Saturday together. Friday was a members-only meeting, and we discussed what is currently happening within our branches and what is ahead. On Saturday, a larger group met together and discussed the topic of True Christianity. Jonah, Jesse, and Ben taught and we followed up with small group discussions… I have been grateful for the summits. I think it’s been a good opportunity for everyone to grow closer together and for the River Falls students to connect with their peers who are also passionate about serving God.

During the summit, we also set up the Menomonie coffeehouse trailer for a coffee giveaway in order to meet people and bless the campus. Unexpectedly we ended up meeting a number of people in the community too due to a big Earth Day event on campus.

As we closed out the semester, we had a few of our people from the group graduate. We had the opportunity to pray over them and send them off at our last Street Level meeting of the semester.

UW River Falls Campus Church

  • UW-River Falls Campus Church
  • UW-River Falls Campus Church
  • Shiloh giving announcements
  • After service Fellowship
  • Last Campus Church of the Semester
  • Last Campus Church was at the Coffeehouse

Campus Church has been a good way to meet people due to our location. God blessed us this year with a room that is visible to all students coming in for dinner. Due to this we continued to meet new people throughout the semester, and hope to grow some of these relationships by staying in touch with these people over the summer.

This summer we will start meeting in Glen Park of River Falls, as soon as the weather allows. We also hope to be able to bring along the new coffeehouse trailer to the studies (Duluth’s old trailer). There is a little work we would like to do to it before we bring it out, but we are excited to use the new-to-us coffeehouse trailer! Our hope is to engage the people God puts in our path and invite them into our studies and discussions.

Thank you to all those who are praying for River Falls and all the Menomonie folks who have been able to help out on Wednesday nights and outreaches. We are thankful for your willingness to engage and support the ministry in River Falls.

Coffeehouse

  • Coffeehouse Outreach during the Summit
  • Coffeehouse Outreach during the Summit
  • Coffeehouse Outreach at Kinni Clean-Up
  • Coffeehouse Outreach at Kinni Clean-Up
  • Coffeehouse Outreach at Kinni Clean-Up
  • Coffeehouse Outreach at Kinni Clean-Up
  • Coffeehouse Outreach at Kinni Clean-Up
  • The Chosen

We were able to do a few coffeehouses outreaches this last month. Our neighboring business, Blooms of Happiness, had its grand opening ribbon cutting. They are located at the opposite end of our building. During the event, we offered free Italian sodas and coffee to anyone who came in and let people know about their new business. We’ve been getting to know the business owner since she moved in just a few months ago.

The coffeehouse was also invited to bring the trailer to campus for a UW River Falls Kinni clean-up. Some of the group participated in the clean up, and others helped sell coffee and engage those passing and those helping in the clean up.

We also completed watching season one of The Chosen at the coffeehouse this last month. During these events, students from campus typically join us including our regulars from Street Level and Campus Church.

Prayer Requests

  • Students in Street Level over the summer to stay connected and engaged with God
  • Transition to Summer outreaches and fruit from the opportunities God provides.
  • For the future of River Falls as students are transitioning out of Street Level due to their graduation.
  • For people with hearts to want to know God stepping into service, and desiring growth in their relationship with Him.
March 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

We have been well under way this semester here in River Falls. Some of us have been on mission in Louisiana, while others participate in local community activites. Continue reading to find ouut more!

St. Patrick’s Day Coffeehouse

For St Patrick’s Day, the River Falls community had their annual soup crawl downtown. A variety of local businesses participate in this event and there are a couple of competitive games to be had. One is to go aorund downtown River Falls to all participating local businesses and find the leprechaun. The other is to participate in a soup crawl with various local business providing the soup. The winners recieve a prize. The Blind Munchies Kiosk was set up downtown at Veteran’s Park for the afternoon. It turned out to be cold and brisk St. Patrick’s Day event!

Street Level and Believer’s Campus Church…

We continue to meet regularly for meeting regularly every Monday at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse and Wednesday night at the Falls Room on the UWRF Campus. Check out some photos here:

River Falls on Mission and Spring Break

Some of us from the River Falls ministry went down with the rest of the Street Level group to help get the work started in New Orleans for the New Orleans Baptist Church! Meanwhile the rest of the River Falls students went their separate ways on break. 

Prayer Requests

Please continue to be in prayer for:

  • Students in Street Level to have a heart to submit their lives to God in service and commitment.
  • For the rest of the semester, that the group would be able to build new relationships with students and community members.
  • For future outreach events such as showings of “The Chosen”, coffee giveaways, and our upcoming Street Level Spring Summit.
February 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

Find out about what we have been up to this last month in River Falls – including coffee giveaways, plant sales, broomball, and even a showing of The Chosen.

Street Level

Street Level and The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse teamed up to do a few outreaches this last month. We started by doing a coffee giveaway on the River Falls CVTC campus. We didn’t bring the trailer this semester (It is the middle of winter), but we set up our kiosk inside. We also hosted a plant sale geared toward college-aged people in the community at the coffeehouse. We had about 60 people stop in and were able to invite many of them to the events we have going on.

Additionally, Street Level attended a few events on the UW River Falls campus. After preparing 5 gallons of Sweet Iced Latte a group of us headed to campus for Midnight Mayhem. This was a late-night event that the university hosted. We were one of a number of campus organizations that contributed to the event. There was everything from bouncy houses to wheelchair races. The following week a few students set up a booth at the Involvement Fair.

We also got to join the other Street Level locations for a fellowship event. A bunch of us piled in the church van for our annual (or something like that) Street Level broomball tournament. Twin Ports, Menomonie, and River Falls spent Friday night hanging out together followed by a Bible study and broomball on Saturday. We may have broken a record number of brooms this year.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

Just this last Friday, the coffeehouse had the opportunity to host a showing of The Chosen. People from Campus Church, Street Level, and a few new faces joined us. We hope to do this more often, so keep your eye out for future dates.

Prayer Requests

  • Pray that we would continue to meet new people in the community that have the desire to know God
  • For maturity and commitment in the group
  • Continued vision and direction for the ministry