Month: October 2020

October 28, 2020 The Homeschool Ministry

The Homeschool Group has now been meeting for together work time for two months.  We were able to start off the school year outside in the warm sunshine.  Since it has gotten cold (and snowed) we now have the ability to use the new combined Gathering Room to meet in.  This room provides us the space to properly social distance and be in the same room together.  Thank you to the Pastors and Nehemiah who worked hard at making this usable for us. 

Our Weekly Meeting

During our time together, the kids share things they are learning through projects and experiments they are doing.  Digestion, How Sound Travels, Places to Visit in New England and the Letter “R” are examples of things that have been shared.  This presenting helps the kids learn how to speak in front of an audience.  In addition, there is a short time of reading out loud together to help with reading and presenting skills.  The older ones read through a short play while the younger ones work on beginning reading skills.  During our worktime, the kids will give each other spelling tests and sometimes practice state capitals, but sometimes its nice just to be able to do schoolwork next to a friend! 

When work is done, we end by playing a sport or exercising together.  Throughout the fall, we learned about several organized sports, such as volleyball, football and basketball.  We may be able to squeeze in playing soccer if the weather cooperates.  A dance lesson is also in the works.  The kids are looking forward to outdoor time in the snow and on the ice when we are able.

Lending Library

We are excited to announce a new Homeschool Resources Lending Library to assist parents in teaching worldview, creation, Biblical sexuality, and various other topics to their children! 

The idea of this material is to be a supplement to the core subjects that the kids are studying.  As parents, there are topics that we should be covering that are not part of our regular curriculum. This library is meant to be a resource to help with some of those topics. These can generally be covered over a few weeks.  Winter months or spring or summer break may be a good time to cover some of these topics.

This is located in Gathering Room 1 for you to browse and checkout after church services on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, and during homeschool group time on Thursdays.

If anyone, parents or otherwise, run into any resources which you feel may be beneficial to this library please send them our way.   

Here are just some of the items available to you: 
  • The Talk: Biblical Sexuality is a series of 3 books for different ages, starting at age 6 through teenagers. The author of this series also played a part in developing Covenant Eyes. The introduction to the first book lays out reasons why this topic should be covered by parents and done early.
  • Worldviews: A Children’s Intro to Missions is a workbook the compares the five major worldviews to Christianity. It also introduces several cultures and countries where these beliefs are prevalent.  There are multiple activities, crafts and recipes as well as an introduction video for each worldview.  There are two different books, but both cover the same thing.  The Jr. Edition would be appropriate for upper elementary school, while middle schoolers would benefit from the other one.  There are scans of the activity pages, please ask for them!
  • Lots of books and videos from Answers in Genesis including: One Blood for Kids: What the Bible Says About Race, Dragons, Awesome Science: Exploring The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Meteor Craters and Petrified Forests
October 25, 2020 Shofar Missions Cebu

Greetings from the Philippines! Read the latest ministry update from Shofar Missions Cebu.

Getting Out There

After months of strict quarantines, God has allowed us to get out and see people that we haven’t seen in months. We have even been able to leave the city borders! Our trips have included updates to Shofar Cable TV in Balamban, visits to Street Level Ministries students, brief meetings with staff at schools, and fellowshipping with various churches on Sundays. God is good… we’ve been reminded of how incredibly important and encouraging it is to be among His people.

Street Level Ministries

This semester is proving to be a challenging, yet fruitful season for Street Level Ministries Cebu. Although we are not meeting in person for our weekly meetings, God has provided many ways for us to stay connected to the students. We are currently going verse-by-verse through the Gospel of Mark during our Friday night Bible discussions on Google Meet. A couple of weeks ago, Jonah and Jessica from SLM River Falls joined us for our meeting. We have been able to see most of the SLM members in person and plan to continue visiting them individually as the semester goes on. The next issue of Word on the Street Magazine will release next month. It’s amazing what God allows us to do despite being spread out across the islands!

Exploring Creation Science

It’s October, which means it’s Science Month! At the Banawa Nazarene School, that involves weekly lessons on Zoom for the Grade 4 students. This provides an interactive learning environment where students can ask questions and engage with the experiments digitally. Hopefully, a set of similar interactive lessons will be taught to the Inayawan Nazarene students next month. Schools also have the opportunity to watch lessons via Facebook Live at a set time each week. These lessons will continue for the remainder of the semester. Also available to students are Daily Bible Reading posts and worksheets online, as well as printed Explore Booklets. The ultimate goal is to equip students to know why they believe what they believe.

Prayer Requests

  1. For God’s continued protection from the virus and on our bikes as we seek to safely minister.
  2. That the SLM students would desire to know Jesus better, to wholeheartedly follow Him, and that their love for Him would compel them to reach out to other students.
  3. Fruitful ministry among primary and secondary aged students, strong internet connections, and continued growing relationships with school staff.
October 22, 2020 Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

Hello Friends,

We wanted to update you on how things are going in the coffeehouse.  We have a lot going on! Ryan stepped in as the Manager.  The mobile coffeehouse has seen a lot of traffic since the maiden voyage.  Giving us the opportunity to supply everyone with caffeine and conversation.  Another blessing is that The Blind Munchies has the opportunity to host Streel Level Ministries on Monday nights creating a space where people can get coffee, participate in a conversation and study in a warm place…

Since our last update have also had the opportunity to fund the drilling of a well in rural South Asia, We also featured Burning Dog’s Sweet Beats Latte,

Stop in on Wednesdays and Sundays for a nice cup of hot soup to get back out and brave the cold!

As always thank you for your prayers and support.

October 19, 2020 River Falls Ministry

Get the latest news from Believers Church plant and College Bible Study in River Falls, WI.

College Bible Study

We have been meeting the last few weeks “Phygitally”. This is a new word that we learned at the Burning Dog Radio Evangelism Summit earlier this month. This means that some of us have been meeting physically, and some have been joining digitally.

Being flexible and being prepared to change formats at a moments notice has been important this semester. After the first few weeks of school, the campus went into shelter in place mode for two weeks. We met digitally during this time. Some students then decided to move home for the rest of the semester, so we opened up a digital opportunity to those students.

Also, each week we continue to have new students. Normally, during this time of the semester it is rare to have new students. They already have set routines. But, due to Covid, we found students have more time. Recently, we even had a student come because of the coffee giveaway we did at Mariachi Loco the first week of school. It has been exciting to see how God is still at work during this time.

Plants for Sale

While the weather was still nice, we did an outdoor plant sale and “potting bar”. Our goal was to meet students and have a chance to interact with them while they were planting. They got to pick a plant, a pot, and then plant it with us. It was a lot of fun and we met a variety of people.

Coffeehouse

We are happy to soon be opening up a few seats in the coffeehouse. This has been a sorely missed feature for both us and many visitors. Last year we built relationships with a core group of students that would come to the coffeehouse and study. We hope this will continue this year – especially since the students are not allowed to hang out outside of their dorm rooms on campus.

Prayer Requests…

  • Pray for real discipleship to happen among the college students.
  • Pray for face-to-face connections with people in the coffeehouse.
  • Pray for insight and ideas for our short-run Bible Studies.

For Further Information

Get the latest news from Believers Church plant and College Bible Study in River Falls, WI.

October 13, 2020 Pastor Jesse Moss | Duluth

Community Group

Through the summer and fall members of the community group have been setting up at different parks and intersections throughout the city handing out hot or iced drinks as well as church information to engage the community. We met a lot of people and were able to let a lot of people know who we are. As Summer fades to winter these outreaches will change, but we aren’t done yet. Every October the Duluth Zoo hosts an event “Boo at the Zoo” where local businesses can set up stations throughout the zoo to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters and promotional materials to their parents. This year we are setting up a station for three weekends in a row. This is a large event so please pray that God would help us to connect with the right people and work through us as we put ourselves out into the community. 

Street Level

Street Level has been continuing to reach out to both the UM-Duluth and UW-Superior campuses. A couple of weeks ago we drove down to Minneapolis to join Stout and River Falls at an all-day discussion of how to spread the truth of Jesus on college campuses in our current cultural climate. This semester remains one like no other with its own unique challenges and difficulties, but also unusual opportunities. Both campuses are emptier than ever, in fact, a walk through campus might leave you wondering if school is really in session after all. This might seem to be a problem at first but God has still placed us around people and we believe He intends to use us in their lives for His purposes. Please pray that we will make good on the opportunities that God puts in front of us each day. 

Fellowship

In the past couple of weeks, we have also had the opportunity to spend time together as a church enjoying each other’s company and the beauty of God’s creation. One Sunday after church we all piled onto our bikes and pedaled out of town along the shore of Lake Superior. We ended the evening around a fire in the Street level Garage’s yard with a bowl of hot chili. (Turns out one pot of chili can feed far more people than we realized.) On another Sunday we went for a hike taking in the change of seasons. 

Church Service

We are still in the midst of our series going through Revelation on Sunday morning. It has been a great series, one that has addressed things that many long time Bible readers simply breeze by. On Wednesday nights we are rotating through sermons through the book of Jeremiah and occasional videos and discussion.   

October 10, 2020 Pastor Justin Thomson - Duluth

(The following account is entirely fictitious. All names, statistics, & quotations are purely fabricated).

Chapter One: The ROOKIE

Chet Baxter learned to play baseball before he could hold a Popsicle, which came as a surprise to no one. His granddad helped build the St. Louis Cardinal’s dynasty in the 1920’s. His father, and two of his four uncles played farm league for West Texas in the early/mid 50’s. His Aunt Nikki fell in love with Ted Williams watching him play for Boston, and from that point forward, only wore red socks. Growing up in a family like his, Chet was destined to play ball.

When he was a sophomore in High School, Baxter could throw a 96 mph fastball. By the time he graduated he’d racked up more base-hits, RBI’s, and home-runs than anyone in conference history. With a .315 batting average through 52 games, he turned heads at the collegiate level. In 1973 he moved to Rhode Island to play shortstop for the minor-league Pawtucket Red Sox.

In December of 1974 Chet Baxter signed a rookie contract with their major league affiliate in Boston. Beantown was talking, the Baxter family was proud, and Aunt Nikki got a team-issued pair of red socks for Christmas that year. With the minor leagues behind him, and the major leagues in front, Baxter was in route to a future place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Chapter Two: The INCIDENT

In the fifth week of spring training, however, everything came to a screeching halt. During a routine team practice, Baxter was hit with a knuckleball from teammate Jerry Billingham Jr.

A veteran “southpaw” from Indiana, Billingham thought little of the incident. When it struck him in the thigh, Baxter hardly reacted. A quick tip of the hat asking for pardon, and Billingham was ready to keep practicing. Baxter, however, couldn’t shake the thought of it. Though it had left a visible welt on his leg, it was the mental sting that hurt more than anything.

It wasn’t the first time Baxter had been hit by a pitch in practice. This was now the fourth instance since February, and that didn’t even include the times he’d been ‘grazed’. “Baseball isn’t supposed to be a contact sport” he kept telling himself, “Nobody in the major leagues deserves to be treated like this”. Baxter couldn’t help but to wonder whether these injuries were intentional. Was Billingham doing this on purpose? Did Coach Jackson tell Billingham to do it? Is the whole team in on this? Chet Baxter no longer felt welcome in Boston.

Chapter Three: The DECISION

Finally convinced that the entire franchise was against him, Baxter walked out on his team that day. He not only broke the contract he’d signed with the league, but the hearts of the people who loved him in Boston as well. When he left the field, he altogether left the game. In a single moment he erased everything he’d ever accomplished as an athlete since before he could hold a Popsicle. All because of a knuckleball.

With her authentic red socks, even Aunt Nikki shows more love for the sport than her forlorn nephew.   

Kevin Wilhelm, mayor of Boston said, “Boy, we all thought this kid was going to win us a few games. This is a big disappointment for us all. Big disappointment”.

Brian Campbell, a columnist for Sports Illustrated wrote about it. “I don’t know how he (Baxter) got this far in the sport with that kind of attitude. Who in the world doesn’t get hit by an occasional pitch? Whether it’s your boss or your brother, your coach or your colleague, your priest, your wife, or your dog, somewhere along the way, you’re going to get hurt. Again and again at that. But for God’s sake, you don’t just walk away from the game”.

Red Sox Head Coach Darrel Jackson said, “Well, it’s his career to flush if that’s what he wants to do. But if you don’t want guys like Fisk (Carlton) or Yaz (Carl Yastrzemski) on your team, I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking”.

Chapter Four: The END

Finishing first in the American League East that year, Boston ended their season by squaring off against the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. By winning the pennant, his former teammates proved that the Red Sox didn’t need Chet Baxter at all. It was Chet Baxter who needed the Red Sox.

And although this account was purely fabricated, it’s based upon true story after story after story. Unfortunately, there are real “Chet Baxter’s” out there, and the church has seen plenty of them. They’re the ones who got swept away in a game they never really wanted to play. People who broke their contract and walked off the field. People who abandoned their team and disappointed their family. All because of a stray “knuckleball”.

What would make you break your contract, give up on your team, and leave this stadium?

“I actually called him about a week after that. He wouldn’t answer the phone. None of us knew what happened. I found out later that it had something to do with that knuckleball, but none of us can say for sure. It didn’t make sense to any of us. I’ve hit all the guys. Some of them have even taken it in the head, but we still like each other. I guess some people are just cut out for the game and others aren’t”

–Jerry Billingham Jr.