Autumn Festivities

There have been a lot of happenings in the past month that have kept me pretty busy; from Apple Picking to Johnny Cake Festivals. It has been a lot of fun.

One of our biggest events for October is Apple Picking because it's fun, cheap and is a great time of fellowship. This year, as usual, we went to Jaswells Farm where we picked some of the best Empire Apples I have tasted. Unfortunately we went a little late this year for the Hay Ride but now we know for next time. We spent a couple hours picking apples, pumpkins, gourds and veggies and then returned to our apartment for the baking of apple delights and the carving of pumpkins. We also spent the afternoon playing Mario Kart Wii.

Allie and I with our Pumpkins

Hannah and I have been trying to attend more festivals and events going on in Rhode Island this year and have been getting better at including students as well just so they can get off campus and explore since they don't have cars. One of the first Festivals we went to was the Scituate Art Festival. It was huge. We were there for a couple hours and did not even see everything. There was everything from food, to jewelry, to antiques and local honey. Anything artsy you can think of, it was there. It was the perfect day too because it was one of those random weekends where even though we were in the Fall season it was 80 degrees out. Before we left though I just had to get a Funnel Cake, and for those of you who think it's the same as a Dough Boy...it's not.

Little Johnny Cakes

The latest festival we have discovered in Rhode Island is the Johnny Cake Festival. Now I had no idea what a Johnny Cake was until about last year I think. I had heard of them and knew they were made of corn but other than that, no clue. For those of you who were like me, a Johnny Cake is basically a pancake made with cornmeal and served with butter. Yes, they have a whole festival for this, although it is much smaller that the Scituate Art Festival it is a great place to find local things. It is held at Kenyon's Grist Mill where the cornmeal is made in North Kingstown, RI. There were vendors set up around the lake and mill with photography, jewelry, food and clothes. One of the most interesting two vendors was the Hannah's Farm Alpacas. They look just like Lamas but they make a funny noise. This place though makes all kinds of things out of the Alpaca wool, which apparently is very warm and expensive. They even had little Alpaca toys for kids. The other booth was the RI Spinners Guild. They were out with their Sheep wool and spinners, spinning away. I knew that they did that stuff in Scotland because I have seen it but I had no idea they still did it here. This festival was better than the Art Festival when it came to local food vendors. There were booths here with local honey, roasted nuts, BBQ sauce, spreads and milk. They even had popping corn for popcorn, which we tried and failed at.

Alpaca Toys

All in all it has been a great month and to end it we had a little Harvest Party to celebrate Fall and Halloween.

Support A Missionary

As many of you know I am currently working as a 102b missionary on Johnson & Wales campus in Providence, RI. Ever since my first year at Johnson & Wales University I have been involved with Spiritual Life; more importantly “Christian Student Fellowship”; here on campus. Through my time and involvement here the Lord has given me a yearning to reach the college students in the United States, and in particular, New England. Providence, Rhode Island, consistently comes up as one of the most unreached cities in America from an evangelistic standpoint. The International Mission Board defines an unreached people group as any people group that is comprised of less than 2% evangelical. A nation within a nation without the gospel and without hope.  According to TheAmericanChurch.org, the percentage of people that actually attended a Gospel-preaching church in Rhode Island was 1.4%! 

Rhode Island has more college students per capita than any other state in the country. Providence alone has five major schools within the city limits: Brown University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Rhode Island School of Design, and Johnson & Wales University; drawing students from all over the world. This last one, Johnson & Wales, has a student population of nearly 10,000 with less than 100 known Christians, many of whom are not connected to a church or discipleship relationship in any way. Though a completely secular school, I have the opportunity to work with the Protestant Campus Minister as a 10:2b missionary. This position is not only a volunteer opportunity to just help out with collegiate ministry but it is more of a mentorship. I will be working directly under the campus minister and will be learning about ministry, in particular collegiate ministry, and learning the different things I need to be equipped with if I am to continue a life in this area of ministry after my life at Johnson & Wales University.

College students are at formative time in their lives where they are asking many of the questions to which the Gospel directly speaks. The answers they find will shape the rest of their lives. At the same time, college students are at a time in their lives where, by God’s empowerment, they can be fully devoted to the faith as they are not yet settled anywhere. My desire is that students would come to be gripped by the Gospel and devote themselves to the Christ. Lord willing some of these students live the rest of their lives as missionaries wherever the Lord may lead them to next. We want to see some of them purposefully settle in Providence for the purpose of living out the Gospel and reaching Rhode Island. Others we pray will take the Gospel to other places in New England and the ends of the earth.

This past year I was approved by and invited to this collegiate position with the North American Mission Board (NAMB). The position is what NAMB calls an MSCV (Mission Service Corp Volunteer) missionary - a missionary opportunity requiring me to raise financial support that enables me to fully devote myself to ministry. Filling this volunteer position on campus gives me open access to the campus, to help the campus minister in the running of the “Christian Student Fellowship,” in discipling the current students, in particular the girls, and sharing the Gospel with as many to whom the Lord gives an open door.

How can you help? This opportunity is only minimally financed and I need to raise a minimum of $10,000 per year. I can only continue as I am supported by people like you. I am asking you to help support me in the mission field. Whether you can give large or small, one time or monthly, I need you. I have made an initial commitment of 2 years with intentions of staying as long as the Lord keeps me in this work. Should you desire to speak with me about this or simply have questions please contact me and I will be happy to talk either in person or otherwise. My cell number is 201-310-7577 and my e-mail is kgdeweij25@gmail.com.  If you are located internationally and would prefer to use Skype my name is futurechef10.

Will you partner with me?  Should you want to give, there is an account number with the North American Mission Board dedicated to me so that if you give to the work then you will receive a tax contribution from that organization and I will receive 100% of the money. The information is at the bottom of this post. Providence, Rhode Island, is a desperate, depressed, and oppressed place when it comes to the Gospel. I need much prayer. Please pray for me even now that God would enable me to carry out this task in the power of His Spirit.

In Christ,                                                       

Give:

North American Mission Board

Attn: Accounting - MSC

PO Box 116543                                                         

Atlanta, GA 30368-6543                                                       

Memo line: Kimberly Vroegindewey - #9732

You can also easily set up a recurring gift on the internet at http://www.namb.net/msc-recurring/

Phone: 201-310-7577

E-mail: kgdeweij25@gmail.com

Oh, The Things You Learn as a Roommate

It's funny the things you learn about someone when you live with them. Hannah has discovered recently that there are some things about me that may seem shocking or you would never expect to come from me. Some of these are: 

1. I have always wanted purple highlights. (that's right purple)
2. Some of my favorite shows are Stargate SG-1 and Doctor Who. 
3. ThinkGeek.com is a sweet site and they have some cool stuff. 
4. I think the show Top Gear is awesome and I would love to be in those cars when they go 200mph. 
5. I love British TV.

So apparently these make me geeky and that's ok.
What are some weird hobbies or things that you like? 

Book Review: Stop Dating The Church

For the 10:2b program we have a list of books that we have to read, one of them being Stop Dating the Church, although now it is called Why Church Matters.
I would recommend this book not only to people who are church hoping and think that is ok, but also to the church member. There were things in this book that I had never really thought of before or needed to be reminded of. Here is as brief an overview as I can give you without giving you the whole book, which you should buy for your own library and notes.

Chapter 1: Can This Relationship Be Saved?

Are you a church dater? Do you jump around from church to church? Are you afraid of committing yourself to one place and one group of people? If so, not only are you cheating yourself but the church community and the world as well.

• The world
• The church is the vehicle that Jesus chose to take the gospel to every generation and people. 
• God has invited us to take part in His master plan of redeeming a people for His glory through being a member of a local church. It's our duty, our calling, and our privilege. 
• The church is also the best place or us to grow spiritually. It's here where God grows us and conforms us to the image of His Son. (He is not only talking about what takes happens in the walls of a worship facility).

• The church community
• This is where we learn to love God and others; where we are strengthened and transformed by truth from the Word; where we're taught to pray, worship and serve; where we can be most certain that we're investing our time and abilities for eternity; where we can grow in our roles as friends, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. The church is God's specially designed place to start over, to grow and to change for the glory of God.

• When you stop dating the church  you are going to experience all the other blessings that Jesus promised to His followers as the fruits of the truly abundant life.

Chapter 2: He Still Calls Her His Bride

• Christ views the church (you and me) like a bridegroom sees his bride.
• We should want God's heart for the church. If Christ loves the church, shouldn't we? 
• Jesus is the only person who has the right to disown and give up on the Church. But He never has. And He never will. 
• Let's take a look at the Church from heaven's perspective:
• They are in awe of the church because the "manifold wisdom of God is being displayed, and the spiritual mystery hidden for ages past is being revealed. 
• They see an amazing family. The power of the gospel is changing lives and creating a whole new kind of humanity. We have become God's children and members of one family.
• They see a body. We're more than brothers and sisters in Christ. As we express our union with Him through service, worship, and love, we become the physical manifestation of our Savior on the earth. 
• Heaven see the Church as a magnificent temple. God is creating a beautiful structure like no other. It is not made of stone or bricks but composed of living stones. (I envisioned the most beautiful Gothic cathedral in Europe that I had seen and then magnified it because we are more beautiful than that.) The church is the temple of God, the place where He specially resides and manifests His presence. We are the dwelling of God, our lives joined together in worship and service.
• Eric Lane describes these together as: "To be a member of a family is to belong to a community bound by a common fatherhood. To be a stone in his temple means to belong to a worshipping community. To be part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, serving, witnessing community." These are the main functions of an individual Christian which are meant to be fulfilled not on our won but together in the church. 
• When we're saved from out sin, we become part of something bigger than ourselves - a family, a body, a temple. God is at work glorifying Himself and transforming lives, through the Church around the world. 

Chapter 3: Why We Really Need The Local Church

• A local church is a visible, tangible, real-world expression of the body of Christ. 
• When we fail to join a church we fail to obey Christ. 
• It is in the local church that we are attached to God's work around the world
• Think globally, love locally
• The apostles weren't caught up in the universal church but were busy planting and caring for individual local churches
• You can not separate God's big-picture plan from everyday service and involvement with people. 
• One thing the church does best is to show non-Christians that the new life made available through Jesus Christ is the foundation for a new society. By living the gospel as a distinct community, they display the transforming effects of the gospel for the world. If we remain detached from each other they will not be able to see the larger picture. 
• The local church is different from a campus ministry or bible study in the fact that the church practices Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Discipline to name a few ordinances. 
• The church is there to verify or falsify our claims to be Christians. Many Christians today claim to be saved but are not living a changed life. One of the primary signs that we are told to look for in 1 John to identify evidence of true salvation in our lives is the "Genuine love for others" (1 John 2:9-10). 
• Mark Dever puts it; "Do you want to know that your life is real? Commit yourself to a local group of sinners. Try to love them. Don't just do it for three weeks. Don't just do it for six months. Do it for years. And I think you'll find out, and others will, too, whether or not you love God. The truth will show itself." 
• This is a scary thought for many. I know it was for me a few years ago when I was first taught this, but now I can see myself staying in one place for the Church and fellow Christians.
• The church is also more than a group of Christians coming together for encouragement. It's where we benefit from the leadership of a pastor and our faith benefits from the involvement of others. Our salvation is not private but public. We need the ministry of others to: 
• encourage us
• help us to apply God's Word to our lives 
• help us see our sins
• Worship is another aspect of the Christian life that flourishes in community. We as individuals are God's temple but "we" collectively are God's temple and he manifests His presence in different ways when we are gathered to worship him. "Our corporate worship edifies and strengthens us and glorifies God in ways nothing else can."
• We need to change our attitudes about the church. We need to stop attending church as a consumer, focused on comparing and complaining, but we need to become a communer who goes to meet God and express His love to others. 

Chapter 4: Join the Club 

• What's your club? What are you passionate about? It's what you talk about, think about, and dream about. It's what you give your time to without complaint. It's what you find your identity in. It's what you're willing to sacrifice for. 
• This is the kind of passion that we need to be giving to the church. 
•  Here is what the New Testament teaches us on what a passionate involvement in a local church should look like. 
• You join
• You make the local church a priority
• You try to make your pastor's job a joy
• You find ways to serve
• You give
• You connect with people
• You share your passion
• These are also the essential elements of thriving in a church 

Chapter 5: Choosing your Church

•  What defines you? We need to be first and foremost a Christian and then a woman/man/wife/husband, whatever it be, second. Being in a place that preaches and lives the gospel has to be the priority in choosing a church. 
• When it comes to choosing a church we need to choose based on the criteria God's Word gives and not our own preferences and comfortableness.
• These ten questions are to help you focus on the issues that matter most when finding a gospel preaching church. Is this a church:
• where God's Word is faithfully taught?
• where sound doctrine matters?
• in which the gospel is cherished and clearly proclaimed?
• committed to reaching non-Christians with the gospel?
• whose leaders are characterized by humility and integrity?
• where people strive to live by God's Word?
• where I can find a cultivate godly relationships?
• where members are challenged to serve?
• that is willing to kick me out?
• I'm willing to join "as is" with enthusiasm and faith in God? 
•  Approach a church with the right attitude. Approach it with humility and ask God to help you see the good in each church. You want a church that teaches, values and lives God's word. 
• We should consider moving to place ourselves in a local church where we can reap invaluable, eternal spiritual benefits. People do it all the time for jobs so why is it so hard to do it for the church?
• Another great book to read after this book to go along with this chapter is "What is a Healthy Church"  by Mark Dever.  

 Chapter 6: Rescuing Sunday 

This was probably the most helpful chapter for me and the most thought provoking. There were many things in here that I had never really though about before. How many times have you woken up on a Sunday and been groggy, worshiped distractedly, woken up late or listened occasionally to the sermon? Well this chapter is for you then.

•  Sunday for a child of God is the best day of the week. Those hours have a strategic and irreplaceable value. They're meant to be packed with promise, full of surprises, pulsing with life. 
• It's a day to "receive and embrace as a privilege and a benefit, not as a task and drudgery." ~ Matthew Henry.
• Wow. I know that there were times in the past where I felt like the latter half of this quote.
• We need to see Sunday with new eyes. It's the anniversary of Jesus rising from the grave to defeat sin and death. It is also a day for us to come together as his people to glorify God, grow in our faith, and encourage one another, but through it all He is with us. 
• Sunday should be a day we enjoy to the fullest for God's glory. It's a chance to take a breather from all the hectic pursuits of the week and reinvigorate ourselves spiritually. It's a way to prepare our hearts for all the challenges and temptations we'll face as the rest of the week unfolds.
• Build your week around Sunday and not the other way around. Develop a plan for what happens before, during and after the Sunday gatherings. Here are some practical ways of doing this:
• Before
• Prepare our hearts
•  It begins Saturday night
• Get to bed on time
• Ask yourself what activities will put you in a God-focused state of mind
• Carve out time to read God's word and pray
• Reflect on our need for the gospel  and humbly acknowledge any known sin in our lives.
• Sunday morning
• Wake up early to not only get ready  but to also spend some unhurried moments in prayer and the word. 
• Take time to thank God for His word and goodness towards saving you, but also recount His many blessings in your life.
• Take a look at the intrusions on your Sunday morning ie: news, magazines, video games etc.
• During
• Remember you are gathering with the people of God and you have come to worship Him and He will be present by His Holy Spirit. 
• You are not here to be entertained, you are part of a congregation in front of the Audience of One. 
• Focus your mind on the truths that you sing and the Person you are singing too.
• Be careful how you hear 
• Remember that when His Word is preached in a real sense God is speaking to us. 
• How we listen and apply what we hear either honors or dishonors God.
• Listening to preaching is a form of worship.
• After
• Come on the lookout for God and leave on the lookout for people. 
• Our faith and love for God is always expressed in our love for others, so try to find people who are new in your church or who don't appear to know others.
• Fellowship with others in the church and use the time to reflect together on the message.
•  Don't take Sunday for granted. 

There is a chapter 7 but there isn't much to say about it other than the fact that we are called to love what Jesus loves and the church is what He loves. If you want to read more about His church and the apostles read the New Testament and you will see that the apostles did choose to love most what Jesus loves, and did tend His flock.  The question is, will we commit to passing on through His church in this generation the treasure of His glorious gospel?

Charles Spurgeon once referred to the local church as "the dearest place on earth." Hopefully after reading this book, the Bible and becoming a part of a local church you will understand this statement.

New England Ministry

Last week I was given the opportunity to see the affect of Collegiate Ministry in the rest of New England. On Monday we headed to Boston for a Church Planting/Collegiate Ministry panel at MIT. It was interesting. While I wouldn't say that I agreed with everything they said and at times it did feel like maybe they had no idea what they were talking about, they were excited about church planting and collegiate ministry both which gave us a positive feeling.

Later that week Hannah and I had ventured up to Worcester, MA to spend the day with one of the Collegiate Ministry leaders at Becker College. It was a very encouraging and informative day for us. We were able to see what a ministry looked like that was being pioneered and in it's 2nd year on campus. Even though there were not many students in the group, their commitment and the perseverance of the campus ministers to the growth and spread of the gospel on campus encouraged me greatly. A campus ministry is like a child. You just can't except it to be fully bloomed after a year. It takes time, care, and nourishment. It gave us a glimpse of what to prepare for when we try to begin a bible study at another campus in a couple months.

Some of the best hot chocolate ever.  

That weekend we spent in Lowell, MA with the Christian Student Fellowship at UMASS Lowell. Hannah and I were "spying" on their On Campus Retreat for ideas to bring back to Johnson & Wales to facilitate one of our own.
The idea of an On Campus Retreat is actually fantastic. If you think about it many times a school's first retreat is a Fall retreat that is usually away from campus and it would be a freshman's or transfer students first time away. If they are not fully involved yet or don't know many people, how likely is it that they are going to attend that Fall Retreat. By having an On Campus Retreat first it gives the students and opportunity to get to know each other more and connect on a personal level. They wouldn't be traveling anywhere and it would help them to get involved. We spent the day Friday hanging out at local coffee shops (Brew'd Awakening) and cafes (The Bite). We spent the remainder of the weekend hanging out with friends and fellow ministry partners. I learned how to play KanJam, which is a new favorite of mine, and I also had Chick-fil-a for the first time in my life. Was it amazing? It wouldn't say that, but it was the best fast food I have had.

All-in-all it was a very busy, but encouraging week. It was great to see all the work that has and is continuing to be done on the college campuses throughout New England to further the Gospel and make the glory of God known.