Covenant Membership
JFBelievers Duluth celebrated the first official covenant membership retreat. Over the past year, we’ve been studying, praying and seeking what God would have for us in regards to membership and the final weekend in February our new covenant members escaped to northern MN and made it official. We blissfully enjoyed games, each other’s company and nature. We continue to have covenant member only gatherings on the first Wednesday of each month and started a new series thru a book called Life in Community by Dustin Willis with great discussion on how significant community has been in our own lives but also on our desire to go deeper with each other; being careful not to rest on our laurels.
Campus Ministry
UW Superior has persisted with weekly Bible studies and recently had the opportunity to host Erin Bottomlee from Kentucky as a guest speaker. UMD Street Level has benefited from becoming an official on-campus organization this semester. This official status has opened up opportunities for greater promotion and an on-campus meeting space. UMD weekly studies have extended on from last semester going through parables and we’ve seen some new faces this semester for our weekly gatherings. UMD is gearing up for next month when guest speaker Annemieke from Amsterdam will come to discuss her ministry in the red-light district. This event will be promoted widely across campus to students as well as other Christian organizations.
Remodeling
JFB Duluth’s coffeehouse, RavenFed, recently underwent some remodeling work. The kitchen countertop space has been largely expanded as well as new seating arrangements for the coffeehouse itself. We were even able to incorporate some crown molding from prior sections of the building into the new countertop which fit in well with the ambience. RavenFed continues to be a staple for our weekly fellowship time and this remodeling project serves to enhance that mission.
Missions
In our efforts to reach both locally, domestically and internationally we are sending 4 people from Duluth in a joint venture with Menomonie to Louisiana in mid-March. Moreover, an additional group of 5 Duluthians are training to prepare for Philippines trips this summer. This past month we started a new series called Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt which we will cover each month on the third Wednesday evening. This series will consist of video and small group discussions on how to become disciples in our everyday lives here in the Twin Ports helping us to better fulfill the mission in our backyard.
-Matt