Winter is wonderful as evidenced by the many delightful opportunities God has brought our way over the past handful of weeks.
Fellowship
There have been impromptu gatherings of assorted folks from our fellowship where we got to enjoy the things our Creator and the local and neighboring communities teamed up to offer. Earlier last month, a small group went ice skating at the Bayfront ice rink and ended up playing a rousing game of hockey. The following Sunday after church a few went together for a free self-guided tour of Glensheen. Some members were at a missions meeting and came over to catch the tail end, then we all went to VIP pizza for dinner to finish the day. OneLife recently invited the Duluth couples to join them and the homeschool group to go snow tubing in Wheeler, which was a blast – what a beautiful place to enjoy the outdoors with great friends!
Street Level
Street Level Superior recently had the opportunity to travel to Menomonie and join the other campuses for a missions presentation and Broomball on a warm(ish) January weekend. A YWAM missionary shared her experiences of work in various Asian nations and the path God took her on to get there. The next day, only minor injuries were sustained as everyone came together for a mighty clash on the ice with an activity best reserved for the young – broomball. I’m pretty sure they had a good time based on the stories told the next day. Street Level also partnered with a local Christian high school to fold and staple the next issue of Word on the Street right on the UWS campus.
WOTS Folding & Stapling 
Street Level Broomball
Outreaches
Who knew the Zoo could be such a valuable place for outreach? The Community Group got the opportunity once again to set up a booth at Duluth Zoo during their Winter Wonderland event. It was a bit quiet as the temperatures were scarce, but this provided a great opportunity to meet local families and even get to know the always-helpful Zoo staff! We also had a nice time chumming with each other and the neighboring monkeys.
Despite generally high covid cases in the area, God paved the way for us to visit a local nursing home and teach Bible studies on a few Sunday afternoons. The Community group is on rotation for this every other week with different volunteers leading and assisting. It’s a privilege to see people we would otherwise possibly never meet, to share God’s word with them, encourage them in their faith, and help them get to know Jesus better.
Teaching, Videos & Discussion
In light of the current overall push to “distance” and “isolate,” a string of Monday night classes was particularly helpful. The first three Mondays in January, we went through a book called “Evangelism as Exiles” by Elliot Clark. This dovetailed with our recent trek through 1 Peter well, as the book draws heavily from this text. The author challenges us to consider carefully our motivation and approach to sharing Christ with those around us and increase our awareness of what really holds us back. It might be the opposite of what we tend to think. This is an excellent read, and we only covered the first three chapters. Pray that God would use it to shape the way we think and how we act around our fellow humans.
On Sundays, we’re continuing through the last chapters of Romans and considering how our strength and freedoms in Christ intersect with our fellow believer’s sensitive consciences and weakness. On various Wednesdays we’ve been gathering in small (or micro) groups to review and discuss the sermon from Sunday. This is immensely helpful in re-orienting our brains toward what the Holy Spirit has to say to us and see clearly how these truths impact our lives.
We hadn’t been in it for a while as we took a break to go through 1st and 2nd Peter, but on a recent Wednesday, we took a refreshing dip back into the book of Jeremiah. This was looking at the sad state and fate of faithless Zedekiah (and the people of Judah as a whole) who refused to listen to God through Jeremiah, and the silver lining of redemption for one sinner who would repent.
Please pray for upcoming events – There is a big push to minister to the UMD student body starting mid-February, and a Street Level missions trip departing in March. A potentially busy summer is on the horizon, so pray for God to help us all keep our heads in the game, moving forward, following His will, and for boldness to take advantage of the opportunities He provides.
-Karla