Category: River Falls

Church Plant and Street Level Organization in River Falls, WI

July 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

Find the latest news from JFBelievers church plant and Street Level college ministry in River Falls, WI.

2nd Annual Rummage Sale

After a lot of preparation, we hosted our second Rummage Sale on June 30th. Thanks to plenty of donations from Menomonie and River Falls fellowships, we an even better sale than last year. Despite the ominous forecast, wonderful weather made it possible for a huge amount of the inventory to be put outside. A good crowd came this year, some mentioning they came last year. Once again the mobile coffeehouse joined us, giving people a chance to buy a cold coffee and chat. Thanks to Menomonie Street Level we had plenty of help on hand to staff the sale and engage the visitors. When it was all said and done, we were able to send three vehicles of goods back to Menomonie for Street Level’s next sale.

River Falls Days Coffee Giveaway

This year we stepped up to do our first event associated with River Falls Days. River Falls Days is the abnormally well attended and enjoyed “city days” of River Falls. It was decided our best avenue to connect with the community was to do a coffee and cold brew giveaway. We avertised with posters throughout town during the week leading up and handed out a couple of hundred flyers at the city parade. We opened up early on Saturday, which turned out to be another day of fantastic weather. About 40-50 people visited throughout the day, many hanging out with us to chat (the air conditioning helped) and ask questions about the ministry. In addition to giving away coffee, we had a drawing that people could enter for some coffee-related prizes.

The Ministry Ahead

We look forward to at least one more summer month to enjoy getting outside, grilling, and meeting new people. As God continues to lead the ministry and grow his church, our job is to keep pace with him along the journey. We believe there is plenty of new opportunity on the horizon, and we’d like to be there ready to experience every bit of it. Please pray that we are faithful in the next month of work, preparation, and ministry and that we see the fruitfulness that only God can bring about.

August Schedule

Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal

River Falls Ministry Online

June 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

During this last month, in River Falls, we continued to meet for the Sunday evening Bible Study and meal. We have been going through the book of Ephesians for the majority of the studies. Since the school has been out, we have been a smaller group. This has allowed us to spend more time discussing the text as we read through it.

Within the next few days, we will be holding our Rummage Sale (June 22) with the help of Street Level, Menomonie. The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse trailer will again be joining us this year. During this sale, we hope to meet people and engage with them. The last few weeks we have been preparing for the sale and gathering items for it. Thank you to everyone who contributed items.

We also spent time on converting the location we have been meeting in into a non-profit coffeehouse. The faux brick facade received the 2nd coat of paint, Blind Munchies Coffeehouse mural has been completed, and we started working on our menu sign. Check out the mural we have been working on with the Creative Team from JFBelievers, Menomonie.

This next month we look forward to a coffee giveaway during River Falls Days. We will be giving away hot coffee and cold-press at the soon to be Blind Munchies location.

Please pray for our upcoming outreach events; that we would meet new people and have the opportunity to engage with them. Also, for the transition of the current meeting space into a coffeehouse. We hope this will give us further opportunities in the community. And for our Sunday evening Bible Study that the people would be growing in maturity.

July Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
  • Saturday, July 13, 7am-3pm: River Falls Days Coffee Giveaway

River Falls Ministry Online

May 20, 2019 River Falls Ministry

Get the latest news from Street Level college ministry and JFBelievers ministry in River Falls, WI.

Classes at UW-River Falls have wrapped up, which means that most students have moved back home for the summer. But before everyone moved away, we took the opportunity to bring the mobile coffeehouse down to campus. During finals week, we were able to do a coffee giveaway directly outside the University Center. We advertised our Bible studies and Word on the Street while just engaging with people about the woes of finals and what they looked forward to for the summer.

For our final Street Level meeting of the year, we got out of the building and took everybody down to one of the many parks in town. We grilled out, went for a walk along the river, and chatted about summer plans. It was a time for us to reflect and be thankful for the friendships and participation that God has allowed us to see over the past school year.

Our main focus this summer for the ministry will be our Sunday 5 pm JFBelievers Bible studies, along with events focused on reaching out to the city. Our first big event will be our (second annual) rummage sale on June 22. As with last year’s sale, Street Level Menomonie will be assisting us in taking donations and helping us work the sale. Additionally, we will have the mobile coffeehouse on-site.

Please pray for the outreach, that we would build relationships with people in the community, and that the upcoming rummage sale would be used to bring people in.

June Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
  • Saturday, June 22, 8am-3pm: Rummage Sale

River Falls Ministry Online

April 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

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.

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
March 20, 2019 River Falls Ministry

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

February 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

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