Month: May 2022

May 25, 2022 Street Level Radio
  • Making new tags for the station
  • Remote Broadcast @ UWS
  • Remote broadcast at Roadside Cafe
  • Group mixdown meeting

Recent Changes

Recently, Burning Dog Radio underwent a merger and name change. Street Level Radio merged with our sister station in the Philippines – and it’s been awesome. Brittany and Jael have joined the ranks and we’ve been able to meet as a whole group, have training sessions between our locations, and do remote broadcasts. Though some of these things were already happening, the goal here will be to be more of a unified front as Street Level Radio gets out there. Now Street Level Radio exists in Menomonie, River Falls, Duluth, and Cebu City! Please pray as one of our goals is to reach students and to continually point to and support Street Level Ministries.

Listener Data

An example of our listener data.

Now that we are one station and streaming online, we can get a view into who is listening. Since March, we have had listeners in the US, Philippines, Ireland, China, Russia, India, Japan, Korea, Ghana, Germany, Finland, UK, Ecuador, and Portugal. This data is available because we use a service called Radiomast that tells us based on location who and how many listeners we’ve had using the stream.

Tech-side

As you may have noticed, we have a new website. There are two players – with a Philippines-specific stream to facilitate the time difference. On the Philippines stream, you will also hear sponsor promos for each location hosting a station location, as well as some Original Philipino Music throughout the day.

Many thanks to the tech people helping out to update the technology used at all these locations. (which also includes River Falls and Duluth)

Getting Out There – and Prayer Requests

Please pray for the station at all of our locations, that we are able to successfully get out there and engage people on our campuses and cities. Along these lines, we could use prayer for our choices in merch! Thanks for all the prayer and support of the station, in general, it is greatly appreciated!

May 25, 2022 Shofar Missions Cebu

Read about what’s been going on at Shofar Mission in the Philippines.

Street Level Ministries

For the past five weeks, Street Level Ministries has been meeting simultaneously in two different locations on Friday nights. We have been watching short biblical teachings ranging in topics by various pastors, then coming together for dinner and a discussion. There has been a steady group of students attending in Toledo City, with fewer students in Cebu City. Britt joined the Toledo group twice so far and plans to attend once a month. Both cities have been blanketed with posters and banners. Some upper classmen are in Cebu City for limited face-to-face classes, so Britt has been hitting the streets to distribute fliers and WOTS.

We recently hosted a remote radio broadcast at Roadside Café and gave away free coffee to students. The merging of stations with the USA has been a move in the right direction. Jael has been learning production from Pete and gaining experience going live at remote broadcasts. Recently, Althea, a new member in Toledo, has stepped up to volunteer for Street Level Radio. We’re also on the verge of installing the station at two local business who would like to be sponsors. One of them is near our office, and the other is across the street from a local college.

The WOTS volunteers have been meeting weekly, finalizing drafts for Issue 90, and practicing writing. We distribute at many businesses throughout Cebu City, which allows us to reach a variety of people. The owners of one of the businesses that wants to sponsor the radio station got a copy of WOTS before the station was pitched to them. Because of that, they were familiar with Street Level, which made them even more open to sponsoring the station.

Summer starts at a different time for each university, so we’re continuing on with our weekly dinners and discussions. Everyone is hoping that next school year will bring students back to universities for face-to-face classes.

Exploring Creation Science

Since returning to Cebu, Exploring Creation Science lessons have been in-person with a school staff teaching digitally to the students. During lessons, Laura has been teaching the topic and learning objectives that are to be covered in that day’s lesson…so she is the science teacher for that class period. This means she preps or adapts a previous lesson to fit the grade level and learning objectives. Many schools in Cebu City remain online, however, school staff have all been able to report since April 1 (previously the government limited the number of employees allowed on-site).

Banawa Nazarene School was approved by the Department of Education for limited face-to-face classes during summer school (they are hoping for school year approval, but that is another application). The School Administrator offered Laura a weekly two-hour schedule and has begun advertising summer Exploring Creation Science Lessons. Both Inayawan Nazarene and Southern Bethany plan to offer summer classes and have extended invitations for us to join. Classes at Southern Bethany have a few weeks left to go, otherwise, everyone else is switching gears and getting ready for summer school! We are in communication with a couple of local shelters for children that also have schools. One has requested lesson information and topics, and the other one we will meet with this week. One school we proposed lessons to last January in Toledo recently received approval for limited face-to-face classes this August. We will be visiting them at the end of this month, as well as connecting with the pastor from the Universal Church of Christ Church & School.

We will be sharing this video more as we start teaching more lessons face-to-face!

Local Churches

A few weeks ago, we joined a Sunday morning gathering of all the Nazarene churches in our region. They were celebrating their 75th anniversary as a denomination in the Philippines. We stayed for lunch and fellowship with church/school staff from both the Nazarene locations we work closely with. Laura taught Sunday school at the Banawa Church of the Nazarene (teaching some of the students she has in class), and this past Sunday we worshiped with Capstone Generation church. They are sending a team of 60 people on a mission trip to another island (Leyte) this week. Please be in prayer for them!

Prayer Requests

  • Growth in biblical understanding and discipleship among the Street Level students
  • Continued guidance with the potential Street Level Radio sponsors and smooth installation
  • Pray for all the local churches and schools we work with. Specifically, a prayer of thanks for those schools approved for face-to-face summer school classes!
  • Pray for team preparations, especially for our upcoming trip to attend the Toledo Ministerial Fellowship Meeting. Pray that God would stretch time that day when we present August missions team events and talk to the pastor of the Universal Church of Christ School.
  • Pray for the meeting with school staff at St. Bernard School in Toledo the same day we are there. We plan to discuss teaching in-person lessons since they are approved for face-to-face classes.
May 19, 2022 River Falls Ministry

Keep reading for the latest news from Believers Church ministry in River Falls.

It was undoubtedly bittersweet to see the end of the school year. It’s been a year to be thankful for: the first year of the on-campus church, consistency in first-year students, and many new visitors. We are grateful to be a part of what God is working on in River Falls and trust he will continue show us the way forward.

Campus Church

We had our last church service on campus and have now shifted Wednesday nights to the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. We were able to finish up our year-long verse by verse study of the book of John, which was a challenging feat but worth it. Being on campus has been an excellent opportunity to connect with people: some from Street Level and others who saw posters, social media, and yard signs. We will be live-streaming Believers City Church Rewind discussions during the summer and meeting in the coffeehouse and parks around town.

Street Level at UWRF

Over the last month, we have been working toward closing out the semester well and preparing for summer. We had our end-of-year Street Level party last week, which involved grilling out at the coffeehouse and playing various games. Some students will be around the River Falls area through the summer. We look forward to seeing them continue to get plugged on Mondays. We’ll be meeting outside as much as possible and hope to continue to build relationships with those who stick around as well as any new people God brings into our lives.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

We recently joined the community at another “Taste of River Falls” event at a local winery. It was a chilly day but a few Street Level students braved the cold to help serve in the coffeehouse trailer, which we were able to borrow from the Duluth fellowship. Thanks, Duluth! We are still meeting people in the community who haven’t been into the coffeehouse, so it’s been an excellent opportunity to spread the word. We are always looking to open the door to more interactions.

Prayer Requests

  • Outreach and fellowship plans for the summer and planning for fall.
  • Students home for the summer.
  • Continued growth and maturity in the group.

Further Information

May 13, 2022 Believers Church Duluth

Up here in the northland, it’s that time of year again—a change in season. The hustle and bustle of the church have shifted gears as students have wrapped up their studies, and we begin to head into summer. 
So what have we been up to? Here are some of the highlights. 

COLLEGE MINISTRIES   

Campus Church at UMD finished up for the semester with a couple more information tables and the continuation through Exodus. Street Level spent the last few studies in Elizabeth Elliot’s book “Discipline” and then wrapped up the semester with a hangout night at the garage. We played the game fishbowl, had pizza, and concluded the night by moving some stuff for the upcoming church garage sale into storage. 

OUTREACH 

Street Level Radio did a few live broadcasts at UWS before the semester concluded. Amongst those were the jazz lunches (UWS’ very own jazz bands playing music in the main hall, where students get food during lunchtime). 
The community group went to the Zoo! Complete with the coffee trailer and bunny ears, we engaged with the community at the local Zoo’s Easter event. We also got the opportunity to set up an information table for the church at a Mercyme concert held at the DECC. 

CHURCH

On Sundays, we continue to go through Matthew and have small group discussions of those sermons on Wednesdays. It’s been helpful to go deeper in those studies together on a personal level. Also, as a church, we took some time to have Easter dinner together. Complete with an Easter egg hunt. What was the prize for the most eggs? You didn’t have to do the Macarena. Yes, you read that right. 

Now, it’s a neat thing to step back and see how our building has changed as we grow. Recently our balcony got some new renovations. It has a brand new window out looking into the sanctuary. In addition, it has a whole new multi-purpose layout that can serve as a workspace and host families during the church service. 

LOOKING FORWARD

As we move into summer, we look forward to Street Level joining the community group for some of their various activities. This includes a book discussion on “Evangelism as Exiles” by Elliot Clark and some of the other events (i.e., church rummage sale, park-point rummage sale, and Coffee-on-the-curb). 

One of the first things I notice about our church is an enthusiastic spunk for Jesus. We greatly want to be used by God. Please pray for us as we head into new adventures together this summer. Pray that we don’t lose our spunk and that we would be a compassionate people to those around us, passionately seeking to be where God would have us be. 

May 11, 2022 Pastor Justin Thomson - Duluth

Long before King David had selected his “Thirty Mighty Men”, we see the young shepherd choosing “five smooth stones”. David’s men would eventually become the stuff of legend, remembered by name (II Sam 23), and revered for their heroism. By contrast, the stones he chose are all but forgotten, left behind long ago in the Valley of Elah. And yet, it was through David’s use of those five stones, that fear was vanquished, the foe was conquered, and God’s people were liberated.

Much has been said about “The Thirty”; too little perhaps, about “the five”.

Scripture doesn’t provide too many specifics about these unnamed stones, but the few details we’ve got are adequate to provide us with helpful insight & encouragement into our own life & ministry. Let’s remember what we can about these significant little chunks of geological anonymity:

“And David chose five smooth stones from the brook” -I Samuel 17:40

THERE WERE FIVE.

History verifies that one single stone was enough to slay the giant, yet David didn’t have peace until he’d chosen the fifth. He picked the amount he was comfortable with. Six would’ve been too many, four, too few. David needed five. Confident of his selection, he was ready for the fight.

Which stone it was that dealt the fatal blow isn’t revealed. Was it the 2nd one taken from the brook? The 4th? Scripture keeps that detail a secret. All we’re told is that, as David ran toward the Philistine, he simply “put his hand in his bag and took out a stone” (I Sam 17:49). It didn’t matter to David which one it was, for they were all equally suited for the task. He only needed to know that it was indeed one of the five.

Every stone serves its purpose, even the ones that are never taken out of the bag. Sometimes it’s our collective solidarity, rather than our individual accomplishments that God intends to reward. The Holy Spirit isn’t required to honor one above another who all serve the same Master (read the parable of the “Laborers in the Vineyard” Mt.20:1-16).

THEY WERE SMOOTH.

These stones had no rough edges. They had pushed against each other for so long now, that little friction remained between them. Sharing the same river for so many years had made them ready to serve the same mission. They fit well together in the shepherds’ pouch. Each one fit snugly into his sling. They would serve his purpose, even at high velocity. They could be trusted.

Not all of those who serve the Great Shepherd will endure their time with the sheep. If we aren’t willing to bear with one another long enough to knock off the sharp corners, we’re likely to be overlooked at a time of special selection. Our Master won’t send us out from His sling until He’s sees that we’re no longer jagged. He intends to hit His mark. If you don’t suit His purpose, He’ll pick a different stone.

The choicest servants that Christ can find are those who work together the longest. The current here is unapologetically swift at times, but there is only one surefire way to make a rough stone smooth.

THEY CAME FROM THE BROOK.

There are countless stones, in numerous brooks, all over the face of the earth. Yet God, for thousands of years, had His eyes on these five. Specially designed at the beginning of Creation, and strategically placed at the time of The Flood, these 5 stones had a long wait for glory. Thousands of years would pass before they’d finally be discovered by Jesse’s youngest, and brought to center-stage. Until then, they’d have to endure lifetimes of insignificance & anonymity.

Little is accomplished in the Kingdom of Heaven without great patience. A driving need for immediate gratification, recognition, & significance has led many of her servants into exile. But those who patiently remain in their place, are best positioned to be most useful to the coming King, whether we realize it or not.

ANONYMITY PREVAILS.

Those of us who crave recognition among our peers ought to be cautious. By chasing public acknowledgment, you may just forfeit your opportunity for true greatness. Be content with anonymity if that’s what God’s chosen for you.

Concentrate on unity, humility, & endurance instead. Only then will we become the mighty men and women we long to be. Only then will you live a life worth remembering.

“David prevailed…with a stone” -I Samuel 17:50

May 1, 2022 Benjamin Morrison

Theology can be an intimidating subject for many of us.

The definition of the word theology is simply “the study of God”. For many of us this conjures up images of dusty old books, hours of dense reading, and an impractical vocabulary of big words that we’re convinced not even the theologians themselves actually know the meanings of.

Do you resist studying God? Do you prefer more practical matters? Do you pride yourself on being more relatable than the typical “theologian”?

Whether we realize it or not, we all have a working theology that we practice by the way we think and live – and that makes each of us a theologian.

Check out the following blog article on Renew.org on why theology can tend to be a more intimidating topic for many of us than it should be.

Theology Is Intimidating—But Not for the Reason We Think – Renew