Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Community, wise spending, and yummynesss: a good stewardship dinner (Katy)

Has your conscience ever been a little uncomfortable when, after a large group where we talk about participating in Social Justice, you go out to BJs & Bubble Tea, Applebee’s, Texas etc… and spend way more then you want on food you don’t need? Or do you feel left out after Large Group because your new and never know where the fellowship is going, or know you can’t afford to go anyway?

We want to be able to be able to enjoy each others’ company on Friday night after large group, with out excluding people, and with out spending tons of money that will not end up going to Kingdom work. Good Stewardship Dinner or GSD (better name suggestions are welcome) is an answer to this dilemma that we are going to be trying out this Friday, October 3rd.

This is what it is going to look like. This Friday after Large Group we are going to have a ministry fair for kids who did not go to Chapter Retreat from 9:00-9:45ish, and at 9:45 we are going to start loading cars to head to Good Shepherd Church 74 Conklin Ave, Binghamton. Instead spending your usual $5-20 at a local restaurant, we are going to charge $7 for a simple yet delicious spaghetti dinner that a group of kids from the fellowship will have prepared. From 10:00-11:30pm we will hang out at church and have dinner and fellowship together before returning to campus.

This will be a conscious decision on our parts as individuals and as a community to do something perhaps a little less chic then going to a restaurant, so that we can steward our money better for God’s purposes. For this GSD we are going to be giving all the proceeds to Love146 (formerly the JFCI) to support their work providing aftercare and therapy for young girls who have been rescued from forced prostitution in South East Asia. (Check out Love146 at http://www.Love146.org) If the same number of people who went to Applebee’s last large group go to GSD instead, we will raise enough money for 2 girls rescued from sex slavery to receive after care treatment. If half of the large group goes (60 people), 5 girls will be able to receive after care, and if the whole large group goes 10 girls will have that opportunity. This includes medical care, education, psychological counseling, as well as providing for safe homes for these girls. (For more info on sex trafficking, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfg6cMxtUNg&feature=related or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uun92FyJ95Q)

If you always hang out with the fellowship after large group, we ask that you set your plans firmly on GSD this Friday. If you have never hung out with fellowship kids after large group, this would be a great week to start! You will be able to sign up for a ride at Large Group, but please be sure to join the face book event page (LINK HERE) and RSVP just so we have an idea of how many rides and how much food we will need. This might also be a good event to invite friends who can’t make it or don’t feel comfortable attending large group.

If you have any questions, comments, ideas, concerns or questions, leave them here, or let me (Katy, kmcfadde@hotmail.com) know.

We hope that you are excited for this, and that we will see you Friday night with $7 cash!

In Christ

-Katy

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

i just wanted to say... (Pam)

hey all!

this blog was created in order to help the fellowship be on the same page and for you guys to understand how we're thinking through things... so, i wanted to share this with you guys (because one should never wait to encourage or edify others):

i just wanted to say that i feel so incredibly blessed to be serving with this year's e-board.
katy, joanna, steve and sunroot... you guys have affirmed me in who I am as a daughter and leader and servant in more ways that you know. you guys bring so much to the table (your God given gifts, your ideas, you vision, your passions) and i love diving in together, not being afraid of change, doing radical stuff and figuring it all out with you guys.

hey everybody, don't hesitate to encourage and build each other up! we live in an increasingly depressing, lost and deteriorating world and we can't afford to not do the best we can to share the love that God has unconditionally shown us.

okay so here's my challenge to you: think of someone and go encourage them. go! now! = )

bouncing around with joy,
pam.

Monday, September 22, 2008

are YOU up for it?! (Carrie)

Hello Fellowship! Carrie here.

I need to warn you all -- we have entered a competition! I told the IV staff of the RPI/Russell Sage fellowship (near Albany) that we were hoping to take 50 people to EXPEDITION, our great fall conference. Schools from all over Upstate NY gather together to grow in their ability to encounter and know God through Scripture. Anyway, she told her fellowship, and they are absolutely determined to beat us and have the most people there. They are convinced they can beat 50. I think we can have more than them. What do you think? And hey, RIT often has the most, so they are in the running too. The registration is now LIVE and you can register at: www.ivcfnynj.org/expedition.asp. See you at Expedition!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

New wine skins (Katy)

Hello InterVarsity! This is Katy McFadden (Outreach Coordinator) writing.

Some of you may be wondering why e-board is making a blog. So right off the bat, I thought I would give a brief explanation:

The days where every one in the fellowship knew every one else have long gone and the transition is pretty scary for us (as e-board and as a community). It is way more comfortable to be in a group where everyone can know every one else. It’s easier logistically, and it’s what we are used to. Being bigger requires more diligence to make sure that every one is included in the Body, more faith in God that He will do things out of our control, and most formidably, it requires change. (Scary, right?)

Daunting as it is though, we are never the less committed to the growth of the fellowship. If we do what we are supposed to be doing, InterVarsity will be a place where people encounter the God who brings transformation- and the more people who are involved, the greater number of people there are who are being transformed. We also know that to do what God has called us to do on the campus (to see the campus renewed and people sent out from here to change the world) we need as many people as we can get.

So, as we commit to the constant growth of this fellowship, we also commit to follow God in the inevitable changes that will occur. Always checking and replacing the wine skins so as not to loose new wine.

So here is a new wine skin. We (E-board) want everyone in the fellowship to understand why we do what we do- the method to our madness. At the same time having one on one conversations with everyone, taking big chunks of time at Large Group meetings, or having lots of people sit in on e-board meetings are impractical. Our hope is that this blog will give you valuable insight as to how decisions are being made, offer transparency in our leadership, and let you get to know us so that if you have a suggestion or question you will feel comfortable talking to us about it- even if we aren't already friends. We will try and update at least every week, and rotate who writes so you can get a sense of what we are all like.

E-board is super excited about this year, and we hope that comes through in our blogs, and gets you excited too!

With much love

Your Out-Reach Coordinator

-Katy