Author: River Falls Ministry

River Falls Ministry Update

March 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

We have been well under way this semester here in River Falls. Some of us have been on mission in Louisiana, while others participate in local community activites. Continue reading to find ouut more!

St. Patrick’s Day Coffeehouse

For St Patrick’s Day, the River Falls community had their annual soup crawl downtown. A variety of local businesses participate in this event and there are a couple of competitive games to be had. One is to go aorund downtown River Falls to all participating local businesses and find the leprechaun. The other is to participate in a soup crawl with various local business providing the soup. The winners recieve a prize. The Blind Munchies Kiosk was set up downtown at Veteran’s Park for the afternoon. It turned out to be cold and brisk St. Patrick’s Day event!

Street Level and Believer’s Campus Church…

We continue to meet regularly for meeting regularly every Monday at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse and Wednesday night at the Falls Room on the UWRF Campus. Check out some photos here:

River Falls on Mission and Spring Break

Some of us from the River Falls ministry went down with the rest of the Street Level group to help get the work started in New Orleans for the New Orleans Baptist Church! Meanwhile the rest of the River Falls students went their separate ways on break.

Prayer Requests

Please continue to be in prayer for:

Students in Street Level to have a heart to submit their lives to God in service and commitment.
For the rest of the semester, that the group would be able to build new relationships with students and community members.
For future outreach events such as showings of “The Chosen”, coffee giveaways, and our upcoming Street Level Spring Summit.

River Falls News February 2023

February 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

Find out about what we have been up to this last month in River Falls – including coffee giveaways, plant sales, broomball, and even a showing of The Chosen.

Street Level

Street Level and The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse teamed up to do a few outreaches this last month. We started by doing a coffee giveaway on the River Falls CVTC campus. We didn’t bring the trailer this semester (It is the middle of winter), but we set up our kiosk inside. We also hosted a plant sale geared toward college-aged people in the community at the coffeehouse. We had about 60 people stop in and were able to invite many of them to the events we have going on.

Additionally, Street Level attended a few events on the UW River Falls campus. After preparing 5 gallons of Sweet Iced Latte a group of us headed to campus for Midnight Mayhem. This was a late-night event that the university hosted. We were one of a number of campus organizations that contributed to the event. There was everything from bouncy houses to wheelchair races. The following week a few students set up a booth at the Involvement Fair.

We also got to join the other Street Level locations for a fellowship event. A bunch of us piled in the church van for our annual (or something like that) Street Level broomball tournament. Twin Ports, Menomonie, and River Falls spent Friday night hanging out together followed by a Bible study and broomball on Saturday. We may have broken a record number of brooms this year.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

Just this last Friday, the coffeehouse had the opportunity to host a showing of The Chosen. People from Campus Church, Street Level, and a few new faces joined us. We hope to do this more often, so keep your eye out for future dates.

Prayer Requests

Pray that we would continue to meet new people in the community that have the desire to know God
For maturity and commitment in the group
Continued vision and direction for the ministry

The Luxury of Time

February 10, 2023 River Falls Ministry

I recently heard a song with the lyrics, “The time has passed for choices…” I imagine the writer was expressing something each of us will experience at some point: the realization that we’ve run out of time. We all know the feeling. Maybe it’s the deadline for that ten-page paper that just came too fast, or perhaps something more difficult, like realizing we’ve crossed the point-of-no-return and ruined a treasured relationship. Whatever the case, we can find ourselves bankrupt of the time that once seemed a luxury.

For Tomorrow We Die

The world apart from Christ has conflicting notions about how we should use our time. On one hand, the message is, “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” On the other, we see countless schemes teaching us how to work hard now so we can relax in the future (some call it retirement). While we Christians likely presume we have a different way of doing things, it’s entirely possible that we’re not handling our time in the way God intends.

Spending Time

If we stop and think about it, most of us treat our time like our money. We’ll “spend” time on what like to do and what makes us feel good. And, for those of us who think we have a lot of time, we’ll spend a lot of it on a lot of inconsequential things. We can act like ridiculously wealthy billionaires with a near infinite amount to spend. But this thinking is wrong. No matter who we are, all our spending eventually catches up with us – we all eventually run out. And if we’ve handled it poorly, that’s when regrets and questions set in: “Why did I procrastinate?”, “What was I thinking?”, or “If I could only go back in time, I would do things differently…”

Buying Time

Unlike money, we can’t save up time – we can only learn how to better spend it. The Apostle Paul taught the Ephesian church how to think about their time:

…“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:14–17 (NKJV)

To redeem something means to buy it back, to regain possession of it. So when Paul says redeeming the time he means for us to make a lifestyle of wisely taking back our time for the will of God.

When it comes to doing the will of God, our excuse can never be that we didn’t have enough time. It can only mean that we didn’t figure out how to use it well. God has given each of us the same amount of time every day: 24 whole hours. The time He gives you will match the tasks He gives you. It is possible by God’s Spirit to learn how to redeem the time, and it is possible to understand what the the will of the Lord is. If we don’t seek these things out, we’re likely headed for serious regret. I wonder, when your time has passed for choices, will you be eager for the Lord’s review of your life or will you be embarrassed for how you spent it?

Questions for Reflection

Have I ever critically examined how I budget my time in a given week?
Am I seeking to understand what the will of the Lord is for today? (Ephesians 5:17)
Are there ways I’m spending my time right now that is setting me up for certain future regret?
Imagine myself 1 year from now: is how I’m investing my time going to give a return for God’s Kingdom?

River Falls News January 2023

January 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

Coffeehouse Under Construction

January is typically the month when we prep for the spring semester. We have been working nights at the coffeehouse, doing minor construction projects and plant preparations for the upcoming sale. There is also now a new shelf in the kitchen area to add some appreciated extra space! We also took the window out of the kitchen door and added a drink pick-up spot for customers hanging around the coffeehouse.

Sledding and Limited Injuries

We joined up with Street Level Menomonie & Twin ports for a sledding day. There were some epic “sled-less” options to take down the hill. The massive TV box, a giant painter’s cover, and even a chariot were some favorites. We made it mostly unscathed. Don’t worry, Justin still has all his fingers, and Ben fixed them up pretty well (Thanks, Ben)!

Spring Semester Starts Monday

We are looking forward to students returning back to campus in a few days. A few outreaches are already planned on both the UW-River Falls and CVTC campuses. The coffeehouse kiosk will be set up on the first day of class to giveaway coffee at CVTC, and then again a few days later at UW-River Falls. We hope God uses these and other outreaches lead to new connections and relationships.

Prayer Requests

For us to meet new people, college students, and non-college students alike
Upcoming outreaches – at CVTC, UWRF, and the plant sale at the coffeehouse
For consistency and growth with students at Campus Church and Street Level

https://streetlevelministries.com/uw-riverfalls.html

https://www.jfbelievers.com/riverfalls/

River Falls News December 2022

December 20, 2022 River Falls Ministry

As you read this, the students at UWRF are finishing up fall finals, and we are finishing up our last few meetings before we welcome in 2023. Keep reading and find out what the River Falls ministry did over the month of December.

Believers Campus Church

Earlier in the month, we had the pleasure of having Pastor Tim come visit us and teach the book of 3 John. Last week we met for our last on-campus Believers Campus Church for 2022. We added a few holiday decorations to the room and went through the book of Jude together. This week we plan to join the Menomonie church for the children’s Christmas play. Over winter break we will change things up a bit and will meet at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse at 6:30 pm to join in the weekly “Rewinds” of the Sunday messages from Menomonie.

Street Level Ministries

We also just finished up our last Street Level for the year. We spent the evening watching a movie, eating pizza, and enjoying snowmen in a hot tub (aka hot chocolate with ice cream). It is finals week, so it was fun to end the year with fellowship. We will be spending the break still meeting, but working on projects around the coffeehouse.

Prayer Requests for 2023

For direction for direction from God for the ministry as a whole as we go into a new year
Reaching out and connecting with college age individuals in the community
For the students during break that they contiue forward in their walk with God

River Falls News November 2022

November 19, 2022 River Falls Ministry

We have had a lot of fun opportunities for fellowship and outreaches in River Falls over the last Month.

Outreaches

We brought the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse trailer to the River Falls CVTC and UW River Falls Campuses to give away coffee and cookies. This allowed us to invite students to Street Level and Believers Campus Church. It was the first time we set up at the CVTC. They let us set up outside the main entrance, and we interacted with many of the students and staff.

Street Level Ministries – UWRF

At the end of October, a few of the people in River Falls attended the greater Street Level Summit. We hopped in the church van and drove up to Duluth for a full and eventful weekend. The summit included a number of sessions focused on the life of Jonah in the Bible. This study led us to discuss God’s calling and direction in our lives. We also attended Believers City Church in Duluth that Sunday. And the weekend was completed by an outreach event on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus involving costume kickball. It was great to fellowship with the other locations.

Street Level River Falls continues to meet on Monday nights at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse for a meal and Bible Study. We had a few extra laughs on Halloween. Since it was during one of our regular meeting times we decided to have a costume-friendly Bible study and game night.