October's update

What happened in October?

Have you ever felt like God is gone? Like he is not listening, or like he is up there while we are down here struggling and dealing with injustice? Well, that is what Habakkuk is about.

  

We learned:

1.  That everybody has times in which our faith is challenged.

2.  That what burdens us may be our ministry (1:1)

3.  That God listens to our complaints.

4.  That God is always working and with us.

5.  That sometimes we may not agree with His ways.

6.  That we need to see what he has done for us and remember.

7.  That because of what He has dome we can believe on what he will do.

Fall retreat

On October 8th, our ministry in Oshkosh and our ministry in Madison met at Camp Grow. We learned about the majesty of God, and how to defend our faith on campus. Here are some of the picture of the retreat:

D-Groups

Ministry Update (September 1st Half)

September is going well. God has been showing His work and using this ministry for his purpose.

We continue to study the "I am" statements in the D-Groups. On 09/10, we had our Movie Night where Peter made the popcorn, and we watched "The Bounty Hunter'.

On 09/11, we had our first Hotdog Giveaway. While the Badgers were getting ready to beat the Spartans, Our students were getting ready to show the love of God and share hot dogs, Most of the students of the house participated on this event.

As most of you know, on 09/14, one of our students broke his leg. I still in the hospital but God has shown His love for him through the other students living in the K-House. They have visited him in the hospital and today we will have our D-Group at the hospital, as one of the students suggested.

On 09/18, we had a great time giving more hot dogs away.

I'm happy to see this ministry been used by God to work through the students and our supporters. Thanks!

The "I AM" Series (Part 1)

Jesus has been called many things. Some people say He was just a good man; others say that He was wise teacher; others say that He was a man that became God; some teach that He was a enlighten (a Buddha), or that He is one of many gods.

This September in our D-Groups, we are letting Jesus tells us who he is by studying His "I am" statements  in the Gospel of John. On 09/01, we started the series with "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35) and "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). We learned that Jews saw bread as divine provision and essential for life. We also learned that Jesus is the giver of life. We discussed how Jesus is our "daily bread," can give us life, and resurrect any part of life or relationship that may be "dead."

Yesterday, we studied "I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7) and "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). After Jesus had healed a blind man, and the Pharisees had “examined” the healing, Jesus talks to the blind man, and talks about spiritual blindness (John 9). Then, in the first 21 verses of chapter 10, Jesus continues to talk about spiritual blindness, salvation, and spiritual leadership.

We learned that the sheep pen was a walled enclosure preferably near a place providing water, it was roofless, walled by stone, and had only one door; and that sometimes flocks of more than one shepherd were kept overnight in the same fold, with one shepherd taking care of the animals, then in the morning the sheep would be carefully counted when the shepherds came to reclaim their flocks.

We discussed how Jesus compares the idea the Pharisees had about salvation thru works to "a thief and a robber" (John10:1). We talk about how sometimes we try to "jump the wall forget "the gate."

Then we talked about how Jesus is our "good shepherd." We talked about the leadership that is not committed to Jesus (the hired hands), that run away when they "see the wolf coming." We learned that since we are called to disciple other, we are also called to follow Jesus example and be "good shepherds" and not "hired hands." We also discussed how we need to depend on Jesus as a sheep depends on its shepherd. We need to have a relationship like the one described in chapter 10: "I know my sheep and my sheep know me," "and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

The verse that brought more interest was John 10:16, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." Can you see why?

August is gone

On August 15th, our K-house residents moved into the house. Since then, we have been building relationships thru fellowship events and our D-groups.

Fellowship and the strengthening of relationships are vital for our Christian walk and our ministry. These were the Fellowship Events we had last month:

Get 2 Know U Night (08/18)
We invited the students to enjoy some food and to introduce themselves to the other students and to our staff and family.

Movie Night (08/20)
I made some poporn, and we watched the Book of Eli. I almost burned the popcorn, but we enjoyed the movie.... and the popcorn.

Koinonia Meal (08/22)
JD and the K-House residents enjoyed lasagna (made by JD), and talked about house living (rules, chores, etc...)

Game Night (08/27)
With the companionship of brownies and cookies, the students and I had the opportunity to play board games and get to know each other.

We introduced our Ministry!
On August 25th, we started our Discipleship Groups(D-Groups) by talking about and studying our purpose statement:

"To Make Disciples who Love God, Love Others, and serve the World."

We are following the great commission (Mat 28:18-20) by making the disciples and "teaching them to obey everything" He has commanded us.

What did Jesus commanded?

• To Love God: Mark 12:28-31.
• To Love Others: John 13:34-35 (1 John 4:19-21),
• To Serve Others: Mathew 20:25-28.

2010 Fall Semester Schedule

Fall Semester is almost here, and students are preparing to start the semester with the right foot. Well, we are too. Following our mission: To make disciples that love God, love others, and serve the world; this is how the Fall Semester events and groups look like:

Discipleship Groups (D-Groups), Wednesdays @ 6:00PM

Beginning this Fall, our meetings will be moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays. We will enjoy some snacks, worship, prayer, and Bible study. You are welcome to invite friends to these events.

Fellowship Events

Fellowship and the strengthening of relationships are vital for our Christian walk and K-house living. That's why we will have the opportunity to do so with monthly events. Here are some of our fellowship event:

Movie Night @ the K-house: Come join us to watch one (or two) movies together while enjoying popcorn and fellowship. (Second Friday of each month)

Men's Hang Out with me, and a Women's Hang Out with Justine. (Third week of each month)

Game Night @ the K-house: Come and join us to play some board games, card games, or/and video games. Enjoy some baking goods and fellowship. (Fourth Friday of each month)

Hot Dogs Give Away!!!
On those days that the Badgers Football Team are playing in Randall Stadium, we will be out front of the K-House giving away Hot Dogs and connecting with students. You are welcome to come and hang out, or help out!

We are looking for other ways to serve our community. If you have any ideas or questions, send me an e-mail to Khousecm@gmail.com.

Events and Conferences for the Fall Semester

August 2010

7th-11th - National Student Conference, Evansville, IN

15th - K-House's Residents move in, All day

18th - K-house D-groups start @ 6:00PM

September 2010
11th - Hotdogs Giveaway, Sun Devils @ Badgers
25th - Hotdogs Giveaway, Governors @ Badgers

October 2010
8th-10th - WCCM Fall Retreat @ Camp Grow, Green Lake, WI
16th - Hotdogs Giveaway, Buckeyes @ Badgers

November 2010
13th - Hotdogs Giveaway, Hoosiers @ Badgers
7th-11th - National Missionary Conference, Evansville, IN
27th - Hotdogs Giveaway, Wildcats @ Badgers

December 2010
15th - K-House's X-mas Party.
17th-20th - International House Of Prayer's trip, Kansas City

Work Day @ the K-House

My back, legs, and arms still hurting, but we got the job done thanks to a great group of people.

In addition to JD, Jeremy and I, we have members of Westwood Church and Footville Church of Christ. (Thank you guys!)

We started around 9:00AM and finished around 3:30PM.

Here are some of the things that were accomplished!

We cleaned up and extended the parking lot. We took the weeds out, filled up the end of the parking lot with dirt, and finished it up with wood chips.

We power-washed the exterior of the K-House.

We cleaned up the inside too.

We did some landscaping!!!

We also did some organizing.

We did some cooking, eating, and fellowship...

But most importantly, we served God!!!!

Support our ministry by joining our different Partnership programs. To get involved, check out the "Getting involved" page.

Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ,

This fall, Justine and I will be following God’s call in our lives as we enter full time ministry. I am thrilled to be joining the staff of Wisconsin Christian Campus Ministries (WCCM) as a campus minister at UW-Madison and the Koinonia House.

Our church, Footville Church of Christ, has been very supportive throughout this new journey, and our elders will be setting me apart for this work in an ordination ceremony on June 27th at the church (117 Church Street, Footville, WI) after our regular service, which starts at 10:30 am.

I am writing you to invite you to come to the ordination ceremony, and to be part of this process. Let me tell you a little bit about where we have been and where God is taking us.

For the past 3 years, I have been preparing to do ministry full-time by serving in our church, working in counseling, and going to Rock River Christian College. I’ll be getting a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies with a Minor in Ministry at the end of the year, and I’m looking forward to put all these in practice at the Koinonia House and UW-Madison’s campus.

Justine and I are about to welcome our new son, who is due this month. She is looking forward to stay home with the kids and to help on the development of the Prayer Partner program and the women’s ministry at the campus.

We are blessed with the opportunity to do this mission work without having to leave our friends, family, and church. What I love about ministry is to be part of the miracles that God makes in people’s lives. I love to see how God changes our hearts and how He repairs lives.

I believe God has called me to train disciples, to encourage the lost, and to counsel the hurt. This humbles me. Understanding that God, who created the heavens and the earth, wants to partner with me to do His work gets me every time. So, that is what I want to do: to partner with Him on evangelism, ministry, and discipleship, and that is what we will be doing at the Koinonia House and UW-Madison campus.

On campus, we will encounter many students from different walks of life, professions, and beliefs. We will focus on both, witnessing to the unchurched and providing help and encouragement to Christian students. Campus Ministry is similar to a contemporary church, except the focus is college students.

“The university is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world.

Change the university and you change the world.”

- Dr. Charles Malik, President of the U.N. General Assembly

We believe that Dr. Malik is right, and God has called WCCM to partner with Him on doing just that. WCCM has been sharing the love of Christ on campus for the past 9 years. This love has changed leaders that have gone to influence their fields and communities.

Here are some of the ways we share the love of God with college students:

• Weekly meetings involving worship, prayer, and teaching from the Bible.
• Small Bible studies where students are encouraged to go deeper into the Word.
• Retreats and Mission Trips, where student encounter God in different ways.
• Praying meetings, conferences, and many other activities that fulfill the Great Commission.

We want to extend God’s invitation to us to you. Just like the apostle Paul invited the Philippians and the Corinthians to partner in God’s ministry through him, we want to invite you to partner with God through His ministry in UW-Madison. There are various ways you can do that:

• Let us know of current or graduating students, so we can invite them to our meetings!
• Join as a Prayer Partner; praying for our ministry, events, students, and staff; organizing or participating in prayer meetings; and/or asking others to pray for us.
• Join as a Development Partner; helping us develop new partners; organizing or hosting events to introduce our ministry to others, like house parties, bible studies, etc…; and/or introducing us to others to partner with us.
• Join as a Ministry Partner; getting involved with our frontline ministry; providing food for our meetings; volunteering to serve the students in different events; hosting dinners for the students, and/or any other way you may think of!
• Join as a Steward to Student Partner; providing the financial support that allows us to continue ministering to the students. Every $40.00 per month commitment brings us 1% closer to our total budget, which includes: retreats, teaching tools, outreach events, and other vital things.

Please, join us on June 27th @ 10:30 AM for the ordination ceremony, and take the time to send us an e-mail at KhouseCM@gmail.com, let us know how God wants you to partner in His ministry!

Making Disciples who love God, love other, and serve the world,

  

Pastor Martin Reyes

Campus Minister @ UW-Madison

608-314-4031

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