Updater Feb. 19, 2010

There are many reasons to praise God, but here's a really good one: The H2O Project at UW-O has been a huge success. TCFers (and friends from Converge, another campus ministry) have been in a flurry of action over the H2O booth -- which is replete with lots of signs showing dirty and clean water, reminding people that 1.1 billion people drink water that is dirtier than what's in our toilets, and the toilet itself is there to grab attention AND to collect the money in! As of last night, there were over 95 participants signed up for the Challenge, which means that more than 50 people from OUTSIDE of TCF and Converge signed up. From the dollar-by-dollar donations at the booth, we have raised over $300, and the donations from those that took the Challenge should pretty easily make up the rest of our $1500 goal.

It has been a CHALLENGE to go for 10 days (so far) with no drinks other than water. The caffeine depravity is a regular topic of conversation among TCFers. I have discovered about myself that a tall vanilla latte is the answer to many of my problems, bad days, hurts, and desire for relaxation! By extension of the H2O Challenge, I am very intentionally practicing letting JESUS be my all in all. Praise and more praise to Him -- He IS sufficient in my weakness.

On the Women's Ministry front: I meet with 5 girls weekly for discipleship and accountability. This semester, we are doing an exercise in time management; I am leading them each through the Pauline letters of the New Testament, starting with Galatians; and I am going to follow God in obedience as He points out ways for me to show them tough love and grow them in places where, perhaps, they aren't yet asking to be grown (or are trying to avoid it).
We are also in the final stages of preparing for our Women's Retreat: STRONG Women, an Oshkosh Staycation, which is coming up February 26-28. More on this later!

TONIGHT is our first Friday Night Party. We have invited our neighbors (mostly Greek Fraternities and Sororities) on Algoma Blvd. over for FREE spaghetti dinner tonight at the Go House!!

PLEASE pray that our neighbors would come and be blessed by some free, yummy food and that they would feel comfortable as our guests.
Pray for our conversations with them to be full of acceptance, love, and light, and that relationships would find a solid foundation in the brief time we have with our guests.
Pray for my discernment and wisdom with ALL the students, but especially the 5 that God has placed most specifically under my care -- Abby, Angie, Courtney, Sam, and Vicki.
Pray for the continued success and completion of the H2O Project!

Thank you for being my prayer partners! Can you also partner with me financially this week? If so, please click the link on the right hand side of the page, or send a check payable to WCCM, 833 Wright St., Oshkosh, WI 54901.

Joy and peace by yours in Christ,
Katy

Updater Feb. 13, 2010

The gears have ground back into motion here at UW-O. We've just finished the second week of the semester (though it was MY first, as I spent the first week celebrating my mom's retirement with her and my sisters in the Bahamas!). Here's a quick update:


This past Tuesday night was the kickoff of the H2O Project. Many TCFers have committed to giving up all drinks except water for 2 weeks. The money we would have spent on those drinks is donated to a mission in Haiti that digs wells. $1500 will buy one well, and bring clean water to people who didn't have it even before the recent earthquake. Not only are WE taking this Challenge, though, but we are manning a booth in the student union for a couple of hours a day, raising awareness of the need for clean water, and asking students to give a dollar. 1 dollar will buy clean water for 1 person for 1 year. Amazing, isn't it? We also give THEM the opportunity to take the Challenge with us -- I think we're up to about 30 participants from the UW-O student body at large (some of them are even going to try giving up beer for two weeks)!! Through this Project, we are not only helping the people of Haiti, but moving hearts on campus to sacrificially give, AND pairing "good deeds" with the Name of Christ in the minds of students at UW-O.

The larger picture for TCF this semester is to continue expanding our knowledge of Lifestyle Evangelism (again, this is the sort of evangelism that happens through true and deep relationships and showing how Christ is relevant today, not through tracts and hit-and-run gospel sharing). Our knowledge will be grown by EXPERIENCE this semester -- as well as the H2O Project, TCF has its Arms Open Wide in many ways, including:

• Dorm parties, where each Lifegroup (there are 4) will pick a dorm and a way to bless the students there. No strings attached: this is just a way to get to know some new people and answer to a need that they have, even if it is just to offer a reprieve from their stressful studies.
• Mission Trip to Galveston, TX to work with One Mission-Galveston on Hurricane Ike relief. We are inviting the Greek Organizations on campus and will take our mission field with us.
• And, perhaps most importantly, each student in TCF is being encouraged this semester to get involved in another on-campus organization of their choice (and to their benefit) where they will have the chance to truly get to know their peers and engage them in friendships that will shine the light of Christ into their hearts.

Please pray for us!
That we would be successful in showing Christ's relevancy, character, and purpose.
That we would love students with His Love and accept them the way He accepts us.
That the hearts of students at UW-O would be soft and open to us and Him or that we would know the words to say to soften them.
That we would meet our goal of $1500 for clean water in Haiti!

Thank you for all manner of your support! Remember, God makes it possible for me to continue this work through your financial partnership. This is your work too! If you are able to give this week please click the Paypal button on the right of the screen, or send a check payable to Wisconsin Christian Campus Ministries, 833 Wright Street, Oshkosh, WI 54901.

Many blessings to you friends!
Katy Ahlrichs

Word of the Week: Repentance

“Repentance”
re-pent-ance [ri-pen-tns] –noun

Definition: Feeling remorse for past sins against God, resulting in a sincere desire to change one’s future behavior.

For the first few years that I was a Christian, I was confused about the word repentance. At the time I was unknowingly confused, but looking back I really had no idea what the word truly meant. I understood that repentance meant that I needed to feel regret for my past sins. But what I didn’t understand is that true sorrow leads to a drastic change away from sin and towards God. The awesome thing about repentance is that God wipes away our past sins and is delighted that we’re making conscious decisions against sin. True repentance is not something that can be artificial. According to Romans 2:4, it’s God’s kindness that should lead us to repentance and it’s not something we can create in ourselves.

There’s no question that our sins anger God. He hates sin! But there’s nothing that makes Him happier than to see us completely turn away from our old self and make a new future in Him. We deserve the wrath of God and judgment for every sin we’ve ever committed. But Ephesians 2:4-6 says: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus.” What a glorious God we have that shows grace to us despite our pasts!

To a non-Christian, the word repentance probably sounds pretty “religious.” It’s not used too much outside Christianity. But the best way that we can teach people about repentance is to live it out! Share with others the things that God has taken you out of and has brought you to repent of. When others see us (Christians) repent of our sins and make a complete one-eighty away from sin and towards God – they will not be able to mistake it for anything but repenting of our sins to Him!

Acts 3:19 “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”

by Kyle Ackerit

Word of the Week: Testimony

Testimony

“I am a living testimony.” “Let me share my testimony with you.” “How can you be a living testimony?” In fact, what is a testimony ?

Definition from Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

· Pronunciation: \ˈtes-tə-ˌmō-nē\

· Etymology: Middle English testimonie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin testimonium Decalogue, from Latin, evidence, witness, from testis witness

· Date: 14th century

1 a (1): the tablets inscribed with the Mosaic law (2): the ark containing the tablets b: a divine decree attested in the Scriptures
2 a: firsthand authentication of a fact: evidence b: an outward sign c: a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official
3 a: an open acknowledgment b: a public profession of religious experience

By definition the word testimony has several different meanings. However the same principle applies to all definitions. That is sharing what you have experienced or know. A testimony for a Christian is how they came to know Jesus, or what he has done and is doing in their lives. It is a relationship worth sharing with other people, so that they may come to know Jesus themselves.

Being a living testimony is acting on that relationship by letting other people see love, acceptance, patience and other characteristics of Jesus. It is being an example of how God is working in your life.

People who aren’t Christians may look at this word and not quite understand what’s going on (“Do they think they’re in a court of law? Are they CRAZY??” Others may see it as another way for a Christian to try and force them to believe in what they do, but it doesn’t have to be like that. A testimony is not meant to force you to believe in anything. It is simply an explanation to why a Christian may seem different from everybody else. It’s a way for you to get to know them and if it peaks someone’s interest that’s awesome. An explanation of the way YOU use the word “testimony” may be necessary, or you could try saying something like “this is what Christ has done in my life,” or “having a relationship with Jesus has changed me this way.” Rather than being confused by the Christianese you’re speaking, the person you’re talking to will probably simply accept this as a straightforward and honest way of communicating who YOU are, and they’ll learn about Jesus in the process.

by Angie Paddock

Word of the Week: Christianese

Christianese

christianese: (kris'ch nez') n. 1. Language spoken by church goers that is seldom understood by anyone else.

This year the “Word of the Week” will focus on “Christianese.” The hope is that through this study of “Christianese” we will become more aware of the Christian subculture language that we use everyday, and the shortcomings we create for ourselves by trying to use it on people who don’t speak it.

Titan Christian Fellowship is focusing on having our “Arms Open Wide” – but if we speak a language that doesn’t translate on the far side of communication, we have probably only confused and frustrated our hearers who can only see how different we are from them – and how different they would have to become in order to fit into the (exclusive and seemingly archaic, irrelevant, and very strange) Christian world. Our hope this year is to put forth a face, demeanor, and language of acceptance that “outsiders” will feel so comfortable and welcomed by that they will not even notice, at first, that they have already stepped closer to the light – they will just they have some pretty cool new friends who happen to be Christians that they feel comfortable around and want to spend more time with.

For this week’s Word, “Christianese,” I’m going to write a quick blurb – pretend it’s a part of a conversation I’m having with you. Pretend it’s part of a conversation I’m having with a nonChristian who wants to know why I’m wearing a shirt that says “Arms Open Wide” on it.... As you read, watch for “Christianese” terms. Ask yourself: how do I understand this word? How does the person I’m talking to understand this word? Will they see the love of Christ in this word, or will they see the love of Christianity? Would some one on the “outside” that I’m trying to welcome in feel welcomed?

Remember, those on the “outside” are those that
• know nothing about Christianity
• know just enough about Christianity to not want to have anything more to do with it

The world needs Jesus. So many people today are living to satisfy the flesh and are so engrossed in sin that they can no longer see the light to be saved by. Those of us who are born again need to evangelize them, by teaching them the Truth and inviting them to church so that they can experience the freedom we know. They can have faith in Jesus just as we do and can kill their old self and become a part of the living body of Christ. By our testimony and witness they will begin to see the hope of salvation, and they will repent and be saved.

I confess, it almost sounds pretty normal to me. I wouldn’t even think it weird if you said this to me. I’d probably say “Amen! Let it be! Go Jesus Go!” But can you begin to see how it might cause some one else to run the other way? Do you begin to see how someone who has been a part of the church in the past and left it might avoid ever talking to you again?

Friends, if we’re going to make others feel welcomed and accepted, if we’re going to get them to walk into our wide open arms and into Christ’s, we must not box them out with our words.

The Go House

TCF's Go House

Welcome Week 2009

The last couple of weeks have been swallowed up by work on the new campus house -- but we are FINALLY seeing light at the end of the tunnel (at least for the projects we hope to complete this year). There are rooms that are CLEAN and functional with furniture and curtains! SUCH PROGRESS! We've even had numerous gatherings there and welcomed a few freshmen to campus at our cookout yesterday. This is the BEFORE picture. See the AFTER picture of the GO House in the next entry.

But it's here at last: the end of summer and the beginning of new year of ministry at UW-O. Freshmen moved in yesterday, all the returning students came back today. TCF helped move people in and invited hundreds of people to join us for our week of activities!

We have a Breakfast for Returning TCFers , the Taste of Oshkosh (the organization fair), and the Faith Community Cookout all tomorrow; a Video-Scavenger Hunt on Wednesday, Game Night on Thursday, a House Party on Friday, Ultimate Frisbee and "Night at the Northwoods" on Saturday, the kickoff service for 180 Church on Sunday (180 is the Wisconsin Christian Campus Ministries church, like TCF is one of two WCCM campus ministries), and a party for the Packers/Bears game Sunday evening. Whew!

In the meantime, the students (including Rob) start school on Wednesday! Pray for sanity!

Pray for us and the incoming students! May they be inspired and obedient to God's call to search Him out -- to try something other than the typical party scene. May we be welcoming and wise in our words and actions as we seek to introduce students to Christ and get them hooked on Him!