Month: September 2022

September 25, 2022 Shofar Missions Cebu

At the end of August, we were invited to attend Youth Ignite – a large gathering of youth from around Cebu City. It was a day of worship, guest speakers, and breakout sessions with the aim of igniting young people’s faith in Jesus and helping them grow as disciples. Some Street Level students from both Toledo and Cebu joined. We set up our booth and handed out WOTS magazines and fliers to let people know about Shofar’s ministries. Britt was invited to speak about discipleship at one of the breakout sessions. After that, we went to the airport to catch our flight to the USA while the students finished out the event.

While we were in the USA, we were thankful to join one of our favorite Believers Church events – the annual campout! We played volleyball, badminton, hiked the trails, and enjoyed catching up with everyone. Laura taught a science lesson to the home school group, and Britt joined various Street Level activities. We were also able to spend some time with our families. Thanks for welcoming us back! It’s always encouraging to come back and see what God is doing in the Midwest.

We arrived in Cebu a few days ago… 

On Friday, Laura was able to visit two schools and continue scheduling opportunities to teach Exploring Creation Science lessons throughout the semester. Students returned to the classroom on August 22 for the first time since March 2020. This has also provided new opportunities for Laura to spend more time at the Inayawan Nazarene School. 

On Saturday, we installed Street Level Radio at Carol’s Carenderia – an eatery that’s located across from E Mall – a crossroads of students from many universities! We have a few technical glitches to work out, so we’d appreciate your prayers to get the station up and running! This semester, we’re adjusting our Street Level meeting day in Cebu City to see if we can reach students that can’t come on Fridays. The Toledo group continues to meet each Friday and had a steady group of students meeting while we were gone.

September 19, 2022 River Falls Ministry

With the UW-River Falls students back on campus; we have been spending the month of September out meeting new students and connecting with past students.  Street Level Ministries, The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse, and Street Level Radio have joined forces to do this.

STREET LEVEL MINISTRIES

Street Level Ministries will continue to meet this semester on Monday nights at 6:30 pm at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. Early in the month, we headed to the student involvement fair to connect with interested students.  Also, on Thursday nights, we have been holding events for people to have an opportunity to get to know us more. We did a bonfire on campus, a grill out and games at the coffeehouse, and are planning a trail walk. So far, we have interacted with a variety of people, and we hope to have some get connected with us.

COFFEEHOUSE

The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse, Street Level Radio, and Street Level College Ministry hosted a coffee giveaway on campus.  The Menomonie campus let us borrow the food trailer, and we set up games for people to hang out and play. We set up right next to the UW-River Falls University Center and gave away about 20 gallons of Cold Brew.  This allows us to share information about Street Level and Believers Campus Church.

BELIEVERS CAMPUS CHURCH

This year Believers Campus Church is in a meeting room next to the university cafeteria. It allows us to have a lot more visibility on campus.  (Also, there is a fireplace, so in the middle of winter that is where you will probably find me sitting.) We are starting the semester by going verse by verse through the book of 1 John.

PRAYER REQUESTS

  • For God to connect the students with us that He is calling to be a part of Street Level
  • That God would be stirring the students’ hearts on the River Falls campus to want to know and be disciples of Him
  • For continued vision, direction, and wisdom from God

September 13, 2022 Believers Church Duluth

What’s new in Duluth? Well, we are trying many new things this fall, but our mission remains the same – reach our communities and specifically, the college campuses for Jesus. This time of year always marks an increased effort and focus in this endeavor, and this year is no different. We are ready to see what God has in store for us this semester.

Campus Ministry

We started a couple of weeks ago with Believers Campus Church at UM-Duluth. Since we are not an official student organization on campus yet, our only way to let students know we exist has been to hand out flyers, which is a daunting task when the campus is so large and there are only a few of us. We would appreciate your prayers in this task – that we would meet the right students who God has been working in already and that want to know Him. In a few days, we will be able to set up informational tables on campus too, which we plan to do weekly. Our services have worship and verse-by-verse Bible teaching, which is currently in 1st John.

On the UW-Superior campus, we are offering a 15 minute micro Bible study on Mondays at 4pm. This campus is much smaller than UMD, and many students go home in the evenings so we are hoping with the time change we will be able to reach a group of students that we have not been able to yet. Our topic for this micro study is “Crazy Things that Jesus Said”. This past weekend we held a garage sale at the Street Level House and had our coffee trailer out too. We gave away drinks to students, sold some great junk, and got the word out about church and Street Level.

Church Outreach and Fellowship

Speaking of coffee, as a church, we are currently gearing up for one of the largest outreach events we do with our coffee trailer. One of the local parks next to UMD hosts a festival with food and craft vendors, music, and other activities. This event will be a group effort between the community group running the coffee trailer, and the college group serving up root beer floats right next to the trailer. We hope to not only serve a lot of coffee and root beer but more importantly, engage with the community by sharing who we are and ultimately who Jesus is. We would appreciate prayer for this event – for good weather and good conversations.

Looking back on the last month, we really soaked up all summer had to offer by getting outside every chance we had. Wednesday nights we could be found at various parks in the area as we discussed the previous Sunday sermon. We also had a men’s and women’s study and just finished up the books we have been going through – “Disciplines of a Godly Woman” and “Disciplines of a Godly Man” respectively. One of our favorite destinations as a church is Gordy’s Hi-Hat in Cloquet – a great diner with the best burgers and fish and chips in the area… not to mention ice cream! We made one last trip there for the season, but before we feasted, we played an intense game of kickball on a real baseball field. I won’t mention names, but certain people may have ended up in the dust after colliding on first base. No bones were broken, just bruised egos. In other sports news, we went tailgating at UMD’s first football game of the season, which was a good time of fellowship.

It was really good to be with our brothers and sisters in Menomonie at the church campout this past weekend. I personally was struck by the amount of grace God has given – to be a part of such a community and involved in all the things we get to be involved in. I thought of how close I was to missing out on all this – how many little things God wove together, while I was totally unaware, to get me to where He needed me to be. And He’s done that for each one of us! My point is that God is really great and really big and the fact that He wants to use us at all is astonishing and it is an opportunity I don’t want to miss out on. 

September 10, 2022 Pastor Jesse Moss | Duluth

In Luke 14, Jesus is amassing great multitudes who are traveling with Him. Christ, realizing that the vast majority of the supposed “followers” were unqualified and ill-prepared, turns to them to explain that most of their lifestyles were incompatible with following Him. He explains that the cost required to go where he was leading them was great, far greater than many were willing to pay. Jesus will take you on the journey of a lifetime if you will let Him, but it will cost you. Much of what you are tempted to hold onto in a life of following Jesus is going to have to go. For years this reality has been illustrated in many different ways. Below is my attempt to do so.

The glow of the alarm clock read 4:57. Three more minutes until the alarm would sound, but I didn’t need any alarms this morning. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I had been awake for hours waiting for an appropriate hour to get out of bed. I had been waiting for this day for years. I was finally going to meet Chris Carson (Kit) and begin our accent up Mount Telos. I had been watching his videos for years and after two years on a waiting list, my turn to join his troupe of five other climbers had come. I glanced to the corner of my room and saw the heap of supplies all strapped tightly to my pack. I wasn’t sure it would fit in the trunk of my car but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything I could bear to leave behind, after all, climbing Mt. Telos was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.


I turned the alarm off at first blare, jumped out of bed, and begin getting ready. Six minutes later I was ready to go, hefting my massive pack onto my shoulders. I sure hoped Kit would be impressed with all my new gear. It had cost quite a bit, but I wanted to ensure that there was nothing that I was going to regret having left behind. I wanted to be ready. I ran out the door banging my tent pole on the top of my door as my collapsible camp dishes knocked over my coffee mug sitting on the counter.


My bag didn’t quite fit in the trunk, but no matter I got it in the back seat and on the second good shove was able to get the door to click shut. I turned my key and looked down at the clock, 5:11. I was going to be way too early, but oh well I guess that just mean more time to spend with Kit before we started our climb. The closer I got the more the peak towered above me. Pictures didn’t even begin to compare. As I pulled up to the shack that functioned as our point of departure, I realized I was alone. Kit was nowhere in sight. I pried my bag from the back and prepared to make a good first impression.


After what felt like hours, my four climbing companions arrived. I noticed smugly that none of their packs were even close to the size of mine. They must have forgotten all the important stuff. Well, I certainly wouldn’t be sharing. I had everything that I needed. Kit pulled up and jumped out of his car. As he approached, I noticed him eyeing all of us up. I thought I caught a snicker forming.


“All right,” he said, “start by dumping all your stuff out so I can get a look at your gear. I need to know you are ready and bringing what you need to make it to the end” I smiled knowing that out of the five of us I certainly had what it took.


We emptied our bags as he started his inspection at the opposite end of the line where a meager pile of supplies laid. Kit dug through slowly and silently eyeing each item and begin to form two piles. I figured some gear must not have met his required standards. He repeated the process without words all down the line and then stood before me. I couldn’t help but grin, I bet I had some stuff that even the great mountain man Kit had never seen. He had to be impressed, I had even managed to squeeze in my collapsible camp oven to make a proper celebratory dinner at the peak. I bet no one had ever brought a solar-powered laptop before, but if I was going to climb Mt. Telos I was going to be sure the whole world knew about it.


His eyes went back and forth between me and my impressive mound of supplies with no words. Finally, a grin broke across his face as he said, “Son, is this some kind of joke.”


“No sir” I replied. “I come prepared, you just wait and see”


I could tell he was taken aback by my uncommon forethought. He dug through my pile and to my delight I was the only person who had only one pile in front of them.


“Okay, the pile on your left is what you are taking, the pile on the right you can leave behind. And you,” he pointed his finger at me, “I don’t know what on earth you were thinking, but you can’t take any of that crap you with. You won’t make it 50 feet without collapsing.”


Was this some sort of joke? I had been planning this for years. How could I climb the mountain without my canon, or my go pro, or my picnic blanket, and what about my 3,000-foot rope. Surely, he was mistaken. I waited for the punchline but after a few moments, it was clear none was coming. My heart dropped. How could I have been so mistaken? How could I have been thinking wrong for so long? Here I had thought there was no climber better in all the world than Kit Carson, but it turned out he was nothing but a fraud. He had no idea what he was doing. How could I have ever trusted him?


He looked at me and said, “If you want to make it up this mountain, you’ll do exactly what I say. I know what I am doing. No one has ever done this on their own. You need to leave all that behind and I’ll give you my backup gear to use. You can leave all your toys here in my shack. Reaching the end requires certain things, and you’ll have to leave everything else behind.”


I just shook my head. “Fine then,” he said, “but you aren’t going to come with me if you want to try and climb this mountain your own way with all of that junk, you’ll do it alone.”


He was right. He didn’t own this mountain. I would just go on my own. I had what I needed. Kit could do things his way and I would do them mine. The rest would depart at first light the following day. But there were still a couple hours of daytime. After the way I had been treated, I was going to set out on my own. I didn’t want to lay eyes on Kit ever again. With indignation, I gritted my teeth and begin to carefully repack the contents that Kit had so foolishly dismissed.


I hoisted my pack on my back and left quickly. I was going to show him. After a few steps, I slowed my pace. It was a long journey after all. As the sun sank, I continued on. Growing weary but still determined. As the base camp disappeared from view, I let out a sigh of relief. I could finally lighten my pack. Not much, and I didn’t need to, but I might as well be comfortable as I go. I removed half my rope, and my collapsible oven, I wouldn’t need an oven if I was cooking just for myself anyways, and stowed it behind a tree hiding it from sight so that Kit wouldn’t think he was right.


As time stretched on, my legs grew weaker. My arms ached. Every step seemed like it would be my last. My knuckles glowed white as I gripped my pack. I noticed many of the things I had strapped on seemed to have fallen away as I had gone. The path too narrow to allow the width of my belongings to traverse. I remembered Kit’s words, but what remained of my pack was too precious to let go. I marched on.


Hours went by, perhaps days, and I had lost any understanding of time. The path continued to narrow and my belongings had been stripped back to just a few. I took one more step and was tugged to a stop. Try what I may, no amount of twisting and turning would let me continue. Not with the shreds of my pack still firmly strapped to my back. If I was going to continue on. I was going to have to let it go.

Dismay filled me. I had worked so hard and come such a long way, but the cost of moving forward seemed too much to bear. One more step meant leaving everything behind. It meant admitting my failure in humiliation. I had worked too hard and too long to let go now. My fingers were wrapped so tightly around the straps that it seemed impossible to pry them away. Yet to move forward would require just that. If I was going to get where I was supposed to be, I needed to say goodbye to that which seemed impossible to relinquish. What was I going to do? The cost seemed impossible to pay.

Now you are left with a question, “will you reach the top?” Jesus will take you on the adventure of a lifetime, but it’s going to be costly. There are things currently in your life, relationships, character traits, long-held beliefs, that your fingers are wrapped around in refusal to let go. You can cling to those things if you want to. But remember if you do, wherever you’re going, you just might be going alone.