Thank you for your prayers for the River Falls outreach ministry. We continue to meet Sundays for a Bible Study, Tuesdays for Street Level and have been working on building updates. Here is a little bit about what we are doing during these times.

Sundays

We have continued through the book of Ephesians on Sundays. Through this, we are learning about what our lives should look like knowing what Christ has done for us. After the study, during our meal and fellowship time, we have been able to start grilling out now that the weather has changed.

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Street Level

On Tuesdays, during Street Level, we have been watching and discussing a series by Mark Driscoll called “Christians Might Be Crazy”. It gives us a chance to review some of the perspectives non-Christians have about Christianity and how this can change how we relay the gospel to them. We are also hoping to do some outreaches on campus this next month before the students will be going home for summer break.

Building Updates

The last few weeks we continued to work on the “coffeehouse” appearance of the space. A few people from Nehemiah helped us with some new flooring for part of the space. Also, we put up some new brick-like wall paneling. We plan on continuing to develop over the next few months.

Prayer

Please continue to pray for the outreach that we would continue to build relationships with people in the community, that we have clear direction for our summer outreach, and that we would have continued direction with the building updates.

May Calendar

• Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
• Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study
• Thursdays: 5-9pm & Fridays 9am-3pm: Open Hours for Study

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook

The River Falls Outreach is looking forward to upcoming Spring weather as well as a new season of ministry. 

Sundays

On Sundays we have been studying the book of Ephesians, learning about our place in Christ and our potential place in the Body of Christ. We continue to watch videos teachings from Menomonie about once per month. As spring and summer approach (!) we are considering what we will be changing for our community outreach. Last summer we focused on weekly grill outs at the Street Level location. We may continue on with the same, but are praying for the right ideas.

Street Level

Street Level we recently finished a very practical study of Ruth. We discussed ideas of God’s faithfulness, God’s leading, and our loyalty and consistency. We also discussed what it looks like to let God lead us into relationships. While the Ruth studies have been one half of our time, the other half has been spent in various videos discussing broad topics of central Christian belief. The content captures common views of the world on each topic while seeking to engage a conversation based on logic, the Bible, tradition, and personal experience.

Building Updates

Spring Break is upon us next week at UW-River Falls, so Street Level we will be down for a week. During this time, we will be working on several updates and building improvements. These changes are being put in place in order to further develop our “coffeehouse” appearance and presentation. The majority of the work will be done behind the counter in the coffee area, but some aesthetic additions will be done also. We will depend on some help from Nehemiah and Creative Team from Menomonie. More details to come in the near future.

Prayer

If you are considering praying for the outreach in River Falls, here are some requests. 1) That we have a clear path forward through our building updates and the results will be effective for the Kingdom. 2) That we continue to build and strengthen relationships with individuals that attend. 3) We are prepared to alter the outreach for the summer in order to best engage the community.

April Calendar

• Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
• Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study
• Thursdays: 5-9pm & Fridays 9am-3pm: Open Hours for Study

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook

Street Level Happenings

Now that the students are back from break, we are meeting again on Tuesdays. This semester we plan on going through a few different series. The first one is “7 Big Questions”. In this series, we get a chance to discuss questions people have about Christianity and life for example “Why does God allow pain and suffering?” and “Is Christianity too narrow?”  We are also going through is the book of Ruth. As we go though this book, we are discussing and learning from how she modeled following God.

We also had the opportunity to do a table this month at the involvement fair. Usually, the spring involvement fair is a bit quieter than the fall one, but we did get a chance to talk to a few new people and interact somewith the other organizations on campus.

Word on the Street

Some Street Level members had the opportunity to meet up with Word on the Street writers from Menomonie and Duluth for a workshop.  We got together at Midtown Global Market, brainstormed ideas, fellowshipped, and discussed the next issue of Word on the Street. Thanks Menomonie writers for put this workshop together!

Sunday Evening Bible Study

We continue to meet Sunday evenings for a Bible study and dinner. This month we finished the book of James. Through James we discussed what genuine faith looks like. It challenged us to look at ourselves and see if we are actually living out what we say we believe. The next book of the Bible we look forward to going through is Ephesians.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us. As we said in January, we are looking into making a shift in our ministerial approach in River Falls. We have continued to move forward with that and ask that you would continue to pray for discernment, direction, and clarity on it. Please also pray that we would meet new people in the community and that people would be growing in their relationship with God.

March Calendar

• Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
• Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study
• Thursdays: 5-9pm & Fridays 9am-3pm: Open Hours for Study

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook

River Falls Ministry News

Read the latest news from Jesus Fellowship of Believers community ministry and Street Level UWRF campus ministry in River Falls, WI.

Street Level Student Magazine

Over the course of the last few years of ministering on the UW-River Falls campus, we’ve tried several different methods and outlets. For example, one of our most consistent outlets has been a River Falls-specific version of “Word on the Street Magazine”. WOTS, as it’s called, began as Street Level outreach to the UW-Stout campus many years ago. It has always sought to offer readers a challenging perspective on culture and Christianity, as well as offering a regular place to serve.

Similarly, in River Falls the magazine offers an opportunity for students who want to step up and out to do something for the Kingdom. We’re thankful for the common goal it provides a small team of us to work in unison for each issue. In addition, it keeps us “getting out” in the community – at the moment we regularly distribute at 9 different locations in town. Soon, we’ll release the next issue which will have several pages of content from River Falls writers.

Sunday Evening Bible Study

Our Sunday evening Bible study continues ahead each week, meeting at 5pm followed by a meal. We’re currently moving through the book of James, in which we are discussing how to “test” the quality and legitimacy of our faith. For example, last week we read how there is a vast difference between the world’s wisdom and God’s wisdom. James makes it clear that it’s our choice as to which wisdom we pursue. There never seems to be enough time to talk through everything a chapter presents to us each week. However, we do our best to cover the central issues of Scripture and echo it’s invitations and challenges.

What’s Upcoming

On the near horizon, the Spring semester begins here at UWRF. In other words, the town will get busier and louder, and we hope the ministry does as well. Additionally, we are planning to make a substantial shift in our ministerial approach in River Falls. As we pray and follow the Lord into this change, we would ask also for your prayers for discernment, direction, and clarity. More news to come!

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook

Happy Holidays! God has been at work this last month in River Falls. We continue to meet on Sunday for the community study, and on Tuesdays for Street Level. During this time we have had the chance to get to know new people and some people have moved on to other things.

STREET LEVEL HAPPENINGS

On Tuesdays during Street Level we have been going through a few different series. In one we are discussing people in the Bible and how they followed God. We have also been going through a series that challenges us to think about what we believe, for example “Do you believe there is God?”

A few other things we did were an outreach on campus and aChristmas Party. We brought the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse down to campus and gave away free coffee. It was cold, but we had a lot of fun and were able to talk to a few people about who we are and why we were giving away coffee.  Some of Street Level Menomonie joined us for our Christmas party. We ate together, played games, and had a chance to fellowship together.

Many of the college students will be going home for the next few weeks while they are on Holiday break. We pray that God will use this time to bring them closer to Him.

SUNDAY COMMUNITY STUDY

On Sundays we have been going through 2 Thessalonians. We continue with our weekly format of teaching followed by discussion and then transition to a meal.

We also had the opportunity to get together and do a workday with Nehemiah. The improvements made have been really appreciated! We installed a new sink faucet, mounted our speaker system, put up a coat rack, painted our bifold sign, and more.

Please pray for us as we go into the new year that we continue to have guidance from God for the ministry, and pray for the people that they would grow to know God at a deeper level.

JANUARY CALENDAR

• Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
• Tuesdays: Street Level Study is off until 1/29

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook

River Falls Ministry News

Read the latest news from Jesus Fellowship of Believers community ministry and Street Level UWRF campus ministry in River Falls, WI.

Street Level UWRF

Street Level, an official student organization at UW-River Falls continues to meet each Tuesday evening. We’ve spent the last month studying the life of Jacob. Among other things, it showed us what it means to follow God with obedience and humility while acknowledging that he is in complete control of our lives. We are now beginning a two-fold path of further Bible study alongside a new video series. The Bible study will now focus on the book of Ruth, in which we find a woman’s life guided by the hand of God through both difficulty and success. Our new video series will focus on big questions about life and God, such as “Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?”. Our intent is to honestly discuss the larger questions which many people ask whether or not they are believers.

Street Level on Retreat

At the end of October, we joined the Street Level chapters from UW-Stout (Menomonie) and UW-Superior for our annual Fall Retreat. This year, we all traveled to Luther Park in Chetek, WI for a Friday and Saturday. Even though the weather was damp and chilly, the main building had a fireplace, and there was plenty of “Round the World” ping-pong to keep people warmed up. The retreat focused on “Four Questions About Discipleship”, in which we explored the call and nature of following Jesus. We were thankful to have Pastor Justin Thompson from Jesus Fellowship of Believers Duluth join us for teaching alongside the three Street Level directors. The challenging topics of the weekend included “What is the cost of discipleship” and “What does a disciple do?”.

Community Bible Study

The JFBelievers River Falls community outreach continues to meet every Sunday at 5 pm. We continue our journey through the New Testament, verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter each week. We’ve recently finished the book of 1 Thessalonians, in which we spent a lot of time discussing the second coming of Jesus, and what it means to be ready with our lives. We always end our time with discussion – we believe talking through and thinking through the Word can best lead to its application in our lives.

Early Thanksgiving

Last Sunday we turned our post-Bible study meal into an early Thanksgiving dinner. Almost everyone brought something to the feast: stuffing, cranberries, and even special-recipe cinnamon bread. While the Bible study is certainly central, these times of fellowship have been one of the key ways we get to know each other and talk about what’s happening in our lives. Apart from the person-to-person friendships, care, and prayer, the gatherings lose the fellowship that is characteristic of the New Testament.

December Calendar

• Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
• Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study (until December 18)
• Thursdays: 5-9pm & Fridays 9am-3pm: Open Hours for Study (until semester’s end)

River Falls Ministry Online

• River Falls Ministry Website
• JFBelievers River Falls Outreach Facebook
• Street Level Ministries UWRF Facebook