Month: April 2021

April 28, 2021 The Homeschool Ministry

When I first started thinking about homeschooling and how it would look for our family, I knew core subjects, like math and language arts would be covered.  I knew we would be doing science experiments in the kitchen and studying maps hanging on the wall.  However, one area I did not really think about was P.E.  I mean, kids run around a lot, does that count? 

Over the past year, I have come to the realization that physical education is more important than what I originally thought.  If we, as parents, want our kids to be used by God in the greatest way as adults, we need to train them physically as well as spiritually and academically.  I feel that we as homeschoolers, are in the best position to do this because we can build it into our daily family life in ways that work for us. 

Consistency in any area in a child’s life will greatly affect his or her life patterns as an adult.  With that in mind, think of how a daily exercise routine now could affect a lifetime of physical fitness.  Spending time on activities that your family enjoys will keep your child motivated to be physically active, even into adulthood. 

If you would like further information on why P.E. is important and how to make it apart of your family’s life, here is an article from a homeschool blogger that can help you get started. 

April 25, 2021 Shofar Missions Cebu

Keep reading for the latest update on life and ministry in Cebu.

Shofar TV

Thank you to everyone who has been faithfully praying for this ministry. God has done far more than we could imagine – just like He promised in Ephesians. At the end of March, He let us install Shofar TV at Toledo Cable. Viewers in Barili, Aloguinsan, Pinamungahan, Toledo City, Lutopan, and Balamban can watch on Channel 46. We had a great time getting to know the staff and technicians at Toledo Cable. Here’s what some of our viewers have said:

“Blessed day…I’m always watching Shofar on Cebu Cable.” – Cebu Cable Viewer, Carcar City

“Me and my wife are now viewing your programs. Thank you very much for the enlightening presentations for who God is…we like the Bible study every 5pm. God bless to your ministry.” – Toledo Cable TV Viewer

“I’m very glad that Shofar TV is now available on Toledo Cable. God bless.” – Toledo Cable TV Viewer

Street Level Ministries

On the same day we installed Shofar TV, we held an outreach to college students in the heart of Toledo City. Knockbucks Café graciously allowed us to set up our Street Level Ministries booth outside the coffee shop. Two SLM members and one of their friends spent the entire day with us. We gave away free coffee drinks and WOTS to UV students and fliers for Shofar TV for those passing by.

Since so much is online now, we’ve connected with the SLM groups in the USA. At the beginning of April, Ben and Sasha joined us for a Friday night meeting. This past Friday, SLM River Falls joined us and Justin led the Bible discussion. A couple of the Cebu students woke up early to connect with SLM Menomonie and Twin Ports for one of their Monday night meetings. We were also able to get together with all the WOTS writers for a Writing Workshop. A few non-WOTS writers from the Philippines even joined. Bantayan, Cebu, Luzon, and Panay Islands were represented!

Exploring Creation Science

While we were in Toledo, Laura was able to leave information about Exploring Creation Science and Explore booklets with the owner of Knockbucks, since his kids attend two different schools in the city. Hopefully, this will lead to new relationships and opportunities to teach lessons to students in Toledo. On the way back to the city, Laura got to catch up with Teacher Chinling at Southern Bethany.

Since schools still aren’t meeting in person, lessons continue online. In April, students learned “All About Weather.” In May, special lessons will be taught for students who in Grades 6 and 12. This lesson helps them to think about what challenges they’ll face as they move up or graduate. In June, lessons will be about examining the evidence (think: DNA hair samples and fingerprints). New Explore booklets will also be developed to supplement online lessons and/or as an option for those who can’t watch online.

Daily Life

It’s hard to believe that a year ago we were locked down – seriously, we couldn’t leave our house without a quarantine pass. Things aren’t that strict anymore (thank you, Lord), which has helped us do some of those “normal things” we used to do. We celebrated Laura’s birthday and even got a surprise visit from Orchids, a former WOTS writer, whom we haven’t seen in over a year. John, a former SLM member stopped by, so celebrated his birthday with KC.

We still bike a lot. Sometimes we get caught in the rain. That’s okay. It makes you stop and look around at the things you get used to seeing all the time.

Here’s a new Bisaya word for you: “alimungawan” (ah-lee-moo-ngaw-on – 5 syllables). The literal translation is “absentminded” but it’s much deeper than that. It describes the disorientation you feel when you wake up – almost like sleepwalking. Just picture a little kid waking up from a nap and walking around (crying) looking for her mom.

Laura keeps planting things (cherry tomatoes soon!) and Brittany hasn’t stopped baking. Sometimes, we grill out with neighbors. We also got to go back to church for the first time since January!

Church at Living Word I.T. Park in Cebu City

Thanks for all your prayers. We’re praying for you, too. Kita ta unya, puhon (we’ll see you soon, Lord-willing).

April 23, 2021 River Falls Ministry

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

College Ministry Summit

The River Falls Ministry had the opportunity to host a discipleship “summit” for college students last weekend. With support from Burning Dog Radio, this one-day summit brought together the college ministries from Menomonie and Superior/Duluth to discuss the topic, “Thinking Critically About Today’s Culture”. We watched a documentary about the quickly-changing culture on American college campuses and discussed how we should live and minister in these environments.

We are looking forward to another connection with the Menomonie group again next week when many of them are coming over to join us for a “Semester-End Cook Out”. Next Tuesday, we’ll put up a tent in front of the coffeehouse and hang out with students as they tackle their final week of classes. We’re hoping to connect with some people that are staying for the summer and invite them to our hangouts and Bible studies.

Summer is Coming

The spring semester is wrapping up quickly and we are excited to be preparing for summer. We are getting ready to be outside more than ever. We hope that the vast majority of Street Level nights will be outdoors. The plan is to meet in parks, do hikes, and even get out of town while the weather is nice. Additionally, we are moving our meeting night from Tuesday to Monday in hopes to make more connections with the Menomonie/Superior groups (who also meet Mondays).

Other outreach ideas we have in the works: Potential coffee kiosk in the park on a set weeknight, rummage sale, River Falls Days coffee giveaway, and a joint Street Level camping trip. We are looking forward to getting out there as the weather opens up and COVID slows down!

Prayer Requests

  • “Semester-End Cookout” with Street Level Menomonie, Tuesday, April 27
  • Summer outreach planning and connection with the community

Further Information

Believers Church River Falls

Believers Church River Falls

April 22, 2021 Nehemiah Deacon Ministry

Bathroom upgrades

Hello from the Nehemiah Ministry. This last winter has been filled with some major improvement projects. First off, we started digging into the Street Level house guest bathroom to perform a full renovation. The original 1990’s model bathtub/shower, sink basin, toilet and linoleum floor all went away. We took the subfloor out right down to the studs and reinforced it with 2×6’s. Next we laid down some new subfloor, cement board, and finally topped it all off with floor tiles. We installed a new shower pan, all new drain lines, a new toilet, and pedestal style sink too. We also replaced the baseboard heater, and light fixture as well. There was drywall installed on the walls, which of course includes mudding, taping and painting. We also installed new cement board on the walls for the shower, then surrounded it with new tiles, and finally a nice chrome shower curtain rod. Boy it’s styling’!

Cement Work

While all of that happened, we prepped the church lawn for a new cement pad for the coffee trailer to rest on. We used a work night to dig it up and set the forms, and on the following Saturday the cement truck arrived to pour the new cement. Voila, a nice new cement pad for our coffeehouse and customers to enjoy. A much cleaner and tidier look for our church too. We also capped off the coal room roof behind the church with a layer of cement to keep the water from leaking into that area. That way we will have more, much needed dry storage space.

Church and Campground

We have also been working on making the gathering room divider doors easier to use. They are aged and tend to bind up while moving them. After some bracket modifications and adjustments, we’ve got them sliding very well. Nehemiah also replaced all of the old sanctuary chandelier CFL light bulbs with brighter more energy efficient LED bulbs. Truly a bright idea! We have been working on some new “weatherproof” galvanized steel sliding doors for our campground outhouse. They can be slid open when people are camping, then slid closed to keep out the weather when people are away.

There are many more projects to come for the Nehemiah ministry. Thank you for allowing this ministry to serve our church body in this capacity. Thank you for your prayers and to Jesus all the glory!

April 13, 2021 Believers Church Duluth

Greetings to all from Duluth; spring is finally here, and it’s a beautiful 45 degrees and cloudy. Unless of course you’re in Menomonie, River Falls, or Cebu where its likely 40 degrees warmer! We have found that springtime in Duluth, though a bit dreary, makes summer all the sweeter. All jokes aside, we have had some beautiful days, great opportunities to get out and meet people, and have had a very busy month.

All About Missions

Street Level Duluth got to join up with Street Level Menomonie to drive down to Tennessee to roof a church. They drove straight through and had a full week of hard work, good fellowship, and sleeping in the church. It sounds like it was a great time to serve together and get to see what God is doing in another part of the country. They were able to get a large roof done along with a few other projects despite having some rather precarious weather. While they were hard at work in Tennessee another group from the church got to drive down to Louisiana camper-style to serve a few different churches. It was also a full week of fellowship and getting to serve others, whether we were sanding a floor, painting, siding, digging a hole, taping and mudding with a bazooka (wait, what?), or installing the worst designed door-closers ever!

I am sure both teams would agree that it was great to be able to get out and serve Jesus on a mission trip somewhere different, even in the midst of a pandemic.

However, this is never to be to the neglect of our mission here, at home, in Duluth. So, on Easter weekend we had a chance to get out and serve our community by setting up a candy giveaway tent and the mobile coffee trailer at the zoo for their annual Egg-stravaganza. I believe there were roughly 1,200 people that came to the event, all of whom walked by our tent/trailer and received information for the church, whether by flyer or word. It was a large group effort to prepare for and execute the event as the opportunity came suddenly, just weeks before the event date. The event went very well, and there could be more possibilities of setting up there for future events.

All About Service

We have continued to get into a groove with new service opportunities between community group, media ministry, and repair/rehab. The Easter outreach provided a great opportunity to see these three groups work together to put on the event. We all have a part to play, whether designing a flier, printing them, prepping the trailer, bagging candy, loading the trailer, planning the event, or handing out the candy/coffee and engaging with people. Though these ministry groups serve different purposes, it is important to remember that we are on the same mission with the same purpose. We have also been continuing our Sunday lunches and get to serve through the kitchen to ensure we have a chance to spend time together and share a meal together safely.

All About Teaching

We have still been going through the Anatomy of a Disciple Series on Sundays, continuing to learn how God, through His word, often uses body parts as an analogy of how we should be living as His disciples and as part of His church (the body of believers). On Easter, we heard an Easter message from Pastor Jesse about resurrection, and how no other event in history had as far-reaching implications as the resurrection of Christ.

We are continuing to rotate through Jeremiah, men’s and women’s studies, and “Horizontal Jesus” by Tony Evans on Wednesdays. We just finished a six-week Friday night marriage study going through the book “Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas. It is a really good book that looks at how your marriage should be focusing more on serving God than serving yourself or simply having a “nice and happy” life. Though our marriages should be creating happiness and joy, that is not the primary purpose of it.  

Prayer

You can continue to keep us in your prayers, we may be a small fellowship, but we have big plans to be making more of an impact in our community, and Satan does not like that. Please pray that we would stand firm in our faith, resist the devil in our thought life, and have boldness to engage with our community, neighbors, co-workers, and each other. Also, that we would do what we do because we love God and each other and want to see His will done in our lives and in the church.

Adam

April 10, 2021 Pastor Jesse Moss

For a recent church promotion, we needed to come up with a tagline for our church. Being that this would be used in advertising it needed to be a simple phrase that not only accurately presented who we are as a church so that visitors are given a correct representation, but also clearly depicts the vision and mission of who we as a church strive to be. There are all kinds of common catchy slogans out there. Church websites are full of terminology designed to be engaging, encouraging, and inspiring. What could be said in a short memorable phrase to highlight what it is that marks Believers’ Church – Duluth as different from the many other churches out there? We chose “Real Life Christianity that Matters”.

Real Life

We can live out our Christianity in a way that looks great to all of those around us. To do so we just need to make sure we can convincingly play pretend for the duration it takes to fulfill our religious obligations. Just be sure to put on the right Christian veneer, say the correct Christian phrases, and do something that will positively attract the attention of those around you. The problem is to live as Christ has directed requires the power that is available only through Him. It cannot be faked forever. Knowing this we can be tempted to relegate contact with the Christian community to just a few short hours and surface-level interactions. Never long enough for the real us to be seen and always in carefully controlled spiritual settings so the real us never comes out.

That may sound extreme, but that is the inauthentic and fake Christianity that our world often offers. We have always endeavored to be a church that is unsatisfied with that kind of Christianity. We do not want to be a church that offers some sort of staged, canned, version of Christianity, but instead real people in real life. Real Christianity must be all-encompassing. It doesn’t simply engage on the step through the church doors only to be disengaged on the step out.

Simply put, if our Christianity does not impact all areas of our life it is not real Christianity.  

Being real necessitates an uncomfortable level of authenticity with one another. I am to know your weakness you are to know mine. We are to be involved in one another’s lives to such a degree that we know the good, the bad, and the ugly. It won’t always look perfect, but would you rather possess fake perfection or authentic relationships? We will see each other succeed and we will see each other fail. It is in the church where it is safe to be real with each other and allow our imperfections and sin to be seen because it is in the church that we know the solution for those failures.

Being authentic should never excuse our own sin, laziness, or half-hearted efforts. God desires to take the “real” us and turn us into something unrecognizable. Let Him do that work in you. It is when we take it unto ourselves pretending that God has already done that work that we can present a plastic version of ourselves. Instead, let’s let our Christianity be in “real life.”

Christianity that Matters

I recently heard a pastor speaking about how in a way, the great epics and fantasies of our modern culture put our Christianity to shame. In these fictional stories, there are great quests with huge implications. They either slay the giant or they are killed. The heroes either endure necessary agony to the end or all of the land will suffer. They are on a mission and the completion of that mission is “do or die”. What they are doing matters to them, to their kingdom and the world. Those are the stories that we entertain ourselves with. Then we come to the church, the place where the mission of God is to be clearly displayed and we are disappointed.

We have a King who has commissioned us. We have a King who gives us a purpose. No mission (real or fictional) is more dire than the mission of Christ. I think many people look at the modern-day church and see it as a joke, and many times rightfully so. Our world is familiar with a kind of Christianity with no passion, no urgency, no zeal. They are familiar with apathetic Christians who go to church, but their faith doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t compel them. Real faith matters. It should persuade us. Christ and his purpose matter most. If that is not the Christ you know and if that is not the mission you have been given, it is not real Christianity.  

Real Life Christianity that Matters

That is the version of Christianity that we offer as a church because it is the type of Christianity we see Jesus offer in scripture. It won’t always be pretty, but it will be real. Its scope will go beyond that of Sunday morning service, and involve itself in all of our life. It’s that kind of Christianity that matters. It’s that kind of Christianity that gives us something to live for. A passion worth dying for. I hope it describes who we are as a church but the fact is we have room to grow. Let’s be a church that strives to be real together, to allow Christ access to all of our lives, and then to live as though this is what matters most because that is the reality.