isuwesley.org | United Methodist Campus Ministries » Featured Articles http://www.isuwesley.org Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:22:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Merge http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/12/01/689/ http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/12/01/689/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:05:57 +0000 admin http://www.isuwesley.org/?p=689 If you are new to Merge, we hope you have started to feel at home here. Our doors are open every day, and we encourage students to make use of the space throughout the week.

 

Every Sunday we offer a free home-cooked meal to students, you are all welcome to attend. Getting connected to a smaller group of people, helps connect you to the ministry as a whole.  This semester’s small groups include: Poverty Alleviation Group, Ecology Theology and Soup & Study.

]]> http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/12/01/689/feed/ 0 Spring Break | Miami | Habitat for Humanity http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/11/30/spring-break-miami-habitat-for-humanity/ http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/11/30/spring-break-miami-habitat-for-humanity/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:21:53 +0000 admin http://www.isuwesley.org/?p=653 Spend your Spring Break helping the Greater Miami Habitat for Humanity!

We will leave on Friday, March 9th and return on Saturday, March 17th.

To Go:

  1. Attend Meeting on Sunday 1/22/12; 6:45pm-7:45pm
  2. Turn in 2 Forms ~ Emergency and Liability
  3. $80 due by February 1st (scholarships available)

Pick up forms at worship, in Jennie’s office, or find them online at: http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms/colchal/forms.aspx

This trip is very budget friendly. We’ll travel in big vans and eat picnic lunches and cost-efficient dinners. The Miami Habitat for Humanity will organize our lodging and our work schedule. We will have fun activities planned for Sunday and Monday as a free day to go to the beach! Our focus Tuesday-Friday (and the purpose of the trip) will be construction work at the Habitat for Humanity site. We may or may not have time to go to the beach on these days. We’ll begin our journey home Friday,  and arrive Saturday night.

]]> http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/11/30/spring-break-miami-habitat-for-humanity/feed/ 0 Why I’m at Merge http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/05/03/why-im-at-merge/ http://www.isuwesley.org/2011/05/03/why-im-at-merge/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 16:05:30 +0000 admin http://www.isuwesley.org/?p=270 Throughout high school, your parents and teachers do everything they can do prepare you for college and life on your own, but the one thing they don’t tell you is to expect the unexpected.  There’s people all around you, in the dorms or in your classes, that spend their time in ways one couldn’t even imagine.  Few college students take the time to go to church, and most of them can’t even fathom the idea.  This was a foreign concept to me because I’ve spent my entire life in the Methodist church.  My parents woke me up every Sunday morning to go to Sunday school at 9am, my small town friends all spent their Sundays occupied with worship, and I was part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes throughout high school.  So when my dad stopped by the religious ministries table on my college visit to pick up some information, it didn’t surprise me at all because that’s what I’ve always known.

By the time my first Wednesday on campus rolled around, I realized it was time to go to Merge even though no one else seemed to share my willingness to try it.  I walked in feeling alone and timid, but left feeling hooked.  I learned many names that were soon forgotten, saw a smile anywhere I turned, and joined in a little small talk here and there, but more than anything I sensed God’s presence in a way that made me feel at home.  The service was not unlike many other contemporary services I had been to, but something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on was happening in that gym that gave me the idea that I would be spending a lot more time there over the next four years.

The rest of my first semester flew by in a whirlwind of ups and downs.  I was stressed, exited, scared, and having fun trying new things.  However, I could always count on that one brief hour that brought me back down to earth on Wednesday nights at 9, and during the weeks that I missed it, I felt as if I was living in chaos.  As I continued to grow in the ministry, I met more amazing people.  I soon found that Jennie was just like a friend, wrapped inside a pastor, wrapped inside a blessing, and each week she seemed to speak directly to me.   Going to worship was no longer enough.  There was so much to get involved in through Merge, and I tried to tell myself that I was only a freshman but God wouldn’t accept that.  First He pushed me to join a bible study that was amazing, and then He tested me with the 24-7 prayer room that opened my eyes again.  Still He wasn’t satisfied, so He put the Miami Habitat for Humanity spring break trip right in front of me and wouldn’t take no for an answer no matter how much I debated.  I reluctantly got into a van in which I knew less than a third of the people and embarked on a 26 hour journey to Miami that changed my life.  I came back a changed person with dozens of incredible new friends and an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world and I haven’t looked back since.

College is still a whirlwind that shows me something unexpected every day, but now I find peace not only in that weekly hour but also every time I grab lunch or watch a movie with a friend from Merge or study in the basement of the church.  The Wesley Foundation is no longer just my church; it is my home.  There are few days I don’t spend time within its doors or surrounded by the students of the ministry, and for this I feel truly blessed because I know despite whatever college throws my way I am growing as person each and every day with an amazing family by my side.  Now I only hope that I can continue to help this ministry grow as much as it has helped me.
Mary BeckerIn Christ, Mary Becker

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