Black Friday Challenge: Spend Less, Give More!

Join me for my 4 day fundraising challenge to raise $2,500 between Friday, November 27th (Black Friday) and Monday November 30 (Cyber Monday)!

Thank you in advance for your gift to my ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship!  Financially, it’s been a difficult year, but I’m full of hope for what God wants to do through this ministry.  And I hope you are too!

Your gift in response to this challenge will help me get closer to closing a $5,000 funding gap that I have this year.  It would be awesome if the Lord made it possible for me to finish the year “in the black”!

 

Here’s what your gift will go towards:

Training students how to lead Bible studies

Mentoring key student leaders

Cultivating the values of social justice, evangelism, leadership, community and scripture

Enable me to spend more focused time with students, faculty, and staff

Resources and supplies related to the ministry

 

I hope you can help me meet my goal of raising $2,500 in 4 days!  Follow this link to donate online using credit card or electronic transfer (debit) now!

And if you’d like to join as a regular monthly donor, follow go here.

Many blessings and thanks,

Jen

 

Eunice '13 helping out during an outreach even in the JRC

 

 

Love Campaign

A short update on our “Love Campaign” – we had a great response to our interactive exhibit!  Many students stopped by to share thoughts about the different aspects of love that we covered throughout the week – forgiveness, community, grace, and compassion.  Check out some pictures below!

Love Changes Everything

During the month of November, we hosted a series of large group talks at CW (Community Worship) called Love Changes Everything.  The focus is on how the love of Christ must compel and inspire us to transformation.  The first week, alum and former staff at Grinnell Tim Lin came and spoke about love having vision, and not just being warm and fuzzy.  The second week, Andy Hamilton from the athletic department shared from the parable of the Good Samaritan and encouraged us to think practically about serving others.  The third week, Iowa Area Director Jon Hietbrink came and encouraged us to think about our stories and share them with others as an act of love.  During the final week, I challenged people to rethink the parables of the lost coin, sheep, and son – do they really know God’s powerful love that can change everything?  And will they celebrate someone who comes into the family of God and has experienced this life changing love?

After four weeks, we’re in our final week – tonight we’ll do some sharing and story time, hopefully with some great testimonies of how God’s love can change and transform us!

 

 

Website and Email Trouble

After my most recent update in October, my husband and I found out that the server that hosts both our email and my website (http:jen.weinman.cc) was dying. We’ve been blessed by the generosity of others in that using both of these has been (for the most part) free. Of course, with that can often come some hiccups. Hence why some of you received a multitude of error messages and bounced emails if you tried to respond to my last update. I’m so sorry for that, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Sorry for the inconvenience!

We’re currently still working on getting my email and website transferred to a new server. In the meantime, I will be posting here and using a different email: jnweinman@gmail.com. I will let you know when my regular email and website are back up and running.

Hope you’re doing well!
Jen

Urbana 09 is Coming!

We currently have 21 Grinnell students registered for Urbana 09!  I’m super excited to be spending time several key leaders during a specific track for student leaders – Sarah, Kodi, Carlos, and Stephanie will be joining me during that time.  Please pray for us!  I’m thankful that so many students are taking a risk and giving up valuable time with friends and family to spend time at Urbana.

Here’s a video to let you know what Urbana is like.  If you’d like to “join” us for Urbana, you can register or you can volunteer.  And if physical presence isn’t an option, check out the webpage – I’m sure there will be some telecast posted there like last time.

A Student Story: Kendall

Here’s another story told by a student named Kendall.  She’s leading in multiple ways this fall.  Please pray for her!

 

My name is Kendall Hiedeman, and I’m a third-year psychology and sociology double major.  One of the things that I am doing with GCCF this year is leading a bible study on south campus with my roommate, Nikki.  This year we’re studying Mark.  Although Nikki and I went inviting for our bible study at the beginning of the year, we did not know many people living on south campus who’d be interested in attending a bible study and we had no idea if any of the people we’d invited had any real interest in attending, so we were pretty nervous about how well our bible study would go.  But God really showed us that we didn’t have any reason to worry about people coming to our bible study, and blessed us with lots of first-years and a really great group of regulars.
One of the hardest things for me about leading bible study — that I discovered last year as I led, also on south campus — is that it’s harder to get things out of bible study yourself when you’re the one leading.  This year, however, I’ve seen that complete change for me.  Even though I’ve already studied the passage in leadership meetings and in individual prep time, the people in my bible study ask questions that I’ve never thought of before and have answers that I never could’ve thought of on my own.  I have been learning so much from our bible study, even though I’m the one leading.  For example, we were studying the passage in Mark 3 where Jesus heals a man with a shriveled hand on the sabbath in the synagogue, and — although I’d studied this passage my first year at Grinnell and in leadership meetings and on my own beforehand — I’d never really realized just how awesome it is that Jesus becomes “angry and deeply distressed at [the Pharisee's] hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5).  How cool is it that Jesus is so passionate about healing people that he gets angry when people have any hesitations about him doing so?  We’ve also just had some really great group prayer time at the end of our bible studies, and have had people finding some really awesome connections between the passages we’ve been studying and their own lives.  God has really been reminding me of something that I think I forgot through the course of my first year leading last year — how he can use studying the bible in community to teach people more about Him.

Another thing that I am doing with GCCF this year is leading the worship team.  I’ve been playing the piano for the worship team since about the middle of my second semester at Grinnell.  This is my first time ever being on a worship team, and this semester has been my first time ever leading a worship team.  Benjamin Hering led last year and let me “practice” leading last year, but we lost two veteran singers and our bass player last year, so this year has been a completely different experience — and I didn’t realize it would be so different until I started doing it!  Community Worship has also relocated to Forum South Lounge, so was another big adjustment that we had to get used to.  There has been a lot of craziness and stress trying to get adjusted to a new space, a less-experienced worship team, and to being the leader — I had no idea that worship team leaders had to make so many decisions all the time, theologically and relationally and otherwise — and I was really nervous about worship team for the first few weeks.  But, God is really great about meeting us exactly where we need to be met, and He used conversations with other leaders, GCCF members, and previous worship team members as well as words of affirmations from our guest speakers to show me that people were being blessed through our music, and that we were working together really well as a team.  God has helped me to recognize the things that I need to do to help the members of the worship team build confidence and cohesiveness, and He’s given me great words of affirmation to speak to the members of the worship team and great opportunities to speak them.  God’s really been growing the members of worship team into great leaders of worship and has, I believe, really been using our music to bless the people who attend Community Worship.

October Prayer Update

Jen & Jerod Weinman PRAYER REQUESTS & PRAISES I’m excited that students are eager to see their peers transformed by Jesus, the college renewed by the Holy Spirit, and people sent out to change the world for the glory of God!  Here’s a few snapshots of what’s been going on and how you can pray! ATHLETES BIBLE STUDY This fall, we have 6 different Bible study groups gathering every week, with a new ministry to athletes!  Greg and Enoch (above) will be leading that group – please pray for them as this is truly an unreached and often misunderstood population on campus.  Pray for key athletes that we’ve already connected to like Delmy, Carlos, and Malcolm, that they would be encouraged by this community, and that the group would continue to grow! FRIENDS OF 10/10 During the heaviest party weekend of the year, we were there ministering to our peers.  A group of GCCF students stayed up until 2 AM handing out water bottles, graham crackers, and helped their friends who were in difficult situations because of intoxication.  It’s one of those things that receives little gratitude, but it was a blessing to serve in such a unique and needed way.  Pray for more opportunities like this! FC09 A month ago, we brought 16 students to our annual fall conference.  It was a wonderful weekend.  Our theme was “A House of Prayer for All Nations” and it really sparked both prayer and personal examination for several students.  One Grinnell student recommitted her life to Jesus, and several others committed to allowing the Lord to dwell in their “house”! LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING After being inspired by staff from CA,  in November we’re starting a large group series called “Love Changes Everything.”  The main message of the series is how the love of Christ inspires transformation within us; causing us to change the way we live, the way we treat others, and change the way we understand Jesus’ love for us.  Also  a Bible study will also be hosting some discussions, interactive displays and prayer that they are calling the “Love Campaign” on east campus. Pray that the love of God would truly transform Grinnell. Donate Now: Did you know you can donate online now? Just click on the logo below!   Greetings! FINDING GOOD SOIL & SCATTERING SEED: A LESSON FROM MARK 4 I’ll confess that campus ministry is not always easy – this fall has been particularly difficult for me as I’ve dealt with miscommunication with leaders, disappointment with God (and myself), and my own struggles as I continue to learn how to balance everything in my life.  One particularly discouraging week in early October, after dealing with several difficult situations with some students, I was feeling like things were beginning to unravel.  That Friday, I ran into a sophomore named Phyllis who had been trying to start an investigative Bible study for non-Christians (known as GIGs), a place for them to ask questions and figure out who Jesus is for themselves.  Her initial nervousness about leading the group had transformed into eagerness and enthusiasm, and because I still hadn’t had a chance to hear more about the GIG she had started, I invited her to come to our daily prayer time after her next class. After waiting for Phyllis, she eventually showed up and brought a friend with her named Amy.  It was obvious that Amy had been crying and was extremely upset.  Phyllis just asked us to pray for her friend because Amy was going through a tough time and didn’t know how to pray.  So, another student leader and I prayed with Phyllis and Amy for a while.  It was amazing!  After a particularly difficult week full of self-doubt and meager faith, I felt like God really led each of us to be there to be part of that simple act of prayer. I ended up spending several hours with Amy over lunch learning more about her until I eventually found out that she has been part of Phyllis’ GIG!  I couldn’t believe it and felt so blessed to spend time with her.  During our whole conversation, it seemed the Lord was teaching me about the passage in Mark 4 we were studying that week – that we should scatter seed on good soil;  that we must plant and the Lord will grow.  Phyllis had found good soil and was scattering the seed, and the Lord was causing it to grow and take root through prayer.  I had seen the Lord at work right in front of me! About a week and a half later, Phyllis rushed up to me in between classes while I was in one of the academic buildings and said very excitedly, “Jen, guess what?  Amy made a decision for Christ!”  Praise the Lord, I was so happy! Phyllis continued, “Pray for her, because it’s a little dicey…” After talking more with Phyllis, I ask that you also pray for Amy – I think I often forget that there is a cost to following Jesus, and Amy is confronting that very personally right now.  Please pray that her decision to follow Jesus would really be solidified in her life, and that the Lord would continue to lead her.  Pray particularly for her boyfriend, who has responded negatively to her decision. Pray for other opportunities to sow the word (Jesus) – for Kodi as he continues a GIG with a Buddhist friend, and for me as I try to lead a GIG with a senior that has been burned by the church in the past. URBANA 2009 Urbana is a tri-annual missions conference hosted by InterVarsity for college students that encourages them to discover their calling from the Lord, through scripture study, worship, and interacting with missions agencies from around the world.  It is one of those life changing events you never forget!  So far, we have 18 students registered for Urbana, which is awesome!  We hope to recruit at least ten more.  We’ve been very blessed by the generosity of many donors in the past that have helped us establish a special scholarship fund for Grinnellians.  If you had a great experience at Urbana and want to give specifically towards helping students get there, please go here. LAST WORD Thank you for partnering with me in God’s transformation of the campus of Grinnell College. Thanks for your support and prayers – I could not do this without you!  I am pleased to share that I have made progress in my fundraising since last spring!  I’m overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and generosity. I still need to raise about $5,700 to reach my fundraising goal for this year.  If you’d like to give a special gift to help meet this need,that would be wonderful.  If you’d like to begin giving on a monthly basis, I encourage you to consider EFT, which is an automated way of giving. As usual, I would love to hear back from you about what you’ve been up to!  And if you have any questions, you can just reply to this email. Blessings in Christ, Jen Copyright (C) 2009 *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend

September Update

WE MOVED! We moved earlier this summer – our new address is:  1327 Elm Street, Grinnell, IA 50112 Let us know if you’re in town for a visit!   PRAYER REQUESTS & PRAISES ~ Praise God for the 50 students who have showed up to various Bible studies this semester! ~ Pray for safe travel to and from FC 09 from Sept 18th-20th. ~ Pray for me as I continue to figure out how to balance my busy schedule. ~ Recruiting for Urbana 2009. Donate Now: Did you know you can donate online now? Just click on the logo below!     Jen & Jerod Weinman   Greetings! A FRESH START Another fall semester has begun and I can’t believe how much has already happened!  GCCF started off the semester with some new leaders and with that, some fresh ambition and vision.  I’m excited that students are eager to see their peers transformed by Jesus, the college renewed by the Holy Spirit, and people sent out to change the world for the glory of God! For us, this has led us to focus more on our small group Bible studies that meet in dorms around campus.  This fall, we have 6 different groups gathering every week, with a new ministry to athletes!  Greg and Enoch (pictured above left) will be leading that group – please pray for them as this is truly an un-reached and often misunderstood population on campus.  Pray for key athletes that we’ve already connected to like Delmy, Carlos, and Malcolm, that they would be encouraged by this community, and that the group would continue to grow! FC09! Today marks the beginning of our Fall Conference 2009 in Boone, IA!  We have 16 students from Grinnell attending, with a large number of freshmen and international students.  I’m excited for our theme this year – A House of Prayer for All Nations, from the book of Isaiah – and hope that it will spark a greater devotion to prayer in students’ lives.  Please join me in praying for safe travel, a fruitful and joyous experience, and for growing connections and community amongst our group. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and thoughts during the fall semester.  Be on the lookout for a more detailed newsletter in October – hopefully with some great FC09 stories! Blessings in Christ, Jen Unsubscribe *|EMAIL|* from this list. Copyright (C) 2009 *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

NSO is here!

PRAYER REQUESTS & PRAISES ~ Pray for our returning leaders! ~ Pray for good connections as we meet first years and invite them to GCCF events and Bible studies. ~ Pray for renewed commitment to Jesus. ~ Pray that we would have 30 students attend fall conference! ~ Recruiting for Urbana 2009. Donate Now: Did you know you can donate online now? Just click on the logo below! Greetings! New Student Outreach! I can’t believe summer is already over and new students are arriving on campus!  This is my favorite time of year as we go out and meet new people and reconnect with folks from last year.  It’s exciting to share about GCCF with curious newcomers and remind returning students of who we are.  We had a lot of fun helping students move in to the dorms yesterday and even met a few students interested in GCCF! Please pray for us as we we meet people during the upcoming weeks – pray in particular for several events we are hosting in an effort to welcome students to campus.  We’re hosting a game night the first weekend of class, as well as some fun activities in various clusters around campus.  Pray that we are able to invite people well and make good connections! Thank you for your encouragement, thoughts, and prayers! Blessings in Christ, Jen Unsubscribe *|EMAIL|* from this list.   Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

What I’ve been up to…

The last week and a half has been super busy here on the prairie – the semester is about to start back up, which means hoards of students are about to descend on my backyard.  I’m excited, but a little weary – I love summer!  It went by way too fast.

I won’t bore you with a recounting of my summer, you can just look back at all the posts and that pretty much covers it.  But I will share some pictures of what I’ve been up to!

That’s my friend and co-worker Sarah – funny enough, we went to the same high school back in MN and she graduated with my sister.  We didn’t meet until, oh, six years later?  Small world.

I’ll explain these huge displays sometime soon, but for now, maybe you can all guess what we’re up to.