Habitat for Humanity Build!

In September a group of CSF students partnered with other college students around the area to help in building a home in Springfield with Habitat Humanity.  It was an awesome opportunity to serve the community outside of our campus walls! 

Creativity Night

     Every week a group of CSF students join together to celebrate their Creator's artistry by doing a bit of creating of their own!  Thursday nights are a joy to hang out with other believers who paint, draw, knit and sing while sharing life together.  If you are a student looking for a place to create art or crafts, come join us every Thursday at 8:45 pm in the VPA painting room!  Bring any supplies you need (and snacks are usually provided!)

Contact Bridget at bmalo2@uis.edu if you need any help finding us!

Below are some pictures of our past nights...

Fall Retreat!

As the school year gets underway and grumbling begins to occur in the pits of UIS, a light shines through the murky waters of studies.  FALL RETREAT.   Its a time for students to refocus themselves on God and to get away from school work for a weekend.  It is also a time for community and being intentional with one another.  It lasts from Friday to Sunday and is filled with a guest speaker (this year was Shane Taylor), team building games, nights of testimony around the campfire, free time to spend in community and with God, small group questions, great food (thank you Dillings!) and worship.  There were over 40 students attending this year which is one of the largest years + three baptisms!  Sophomore Allison Duncan, one of the ladies who was baptized, shares her thoughts of the weekend...


"This past weekend at the CSF Fall Retreat was the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. In fact, I think it’s safe to say it was the best weekend since last year’s Fall Retreat. That’s how spectacular and important this weekend retreat is to me. Before the retreat, I had been contemplating being baptized for a long time. And the retreat solidified so much of why I wanted to be baptized and with whom I wanted to be baptized around. God spoke to me a lot on the retreat about ridding myself of sin and using this baptism as an act of obedience and as a way to show Him that I AM ALL IN for Him! As a result, I have found myself having a crazy passion for His Word lately. All I want to do all day every day is read the Bible and it makes me so happy to think about! I am seriously excited to be born again of the Holy Spirit and to seek out ways He is moving in me! The message at the retreat was exactly what I needed to hear. The moment that stuck out to me the most was when the speaker said (referring to John 2), “Jesus sipped the cup of sorrow in the midst of a wedding of joy so that we can sip from the cup of joy in a sorrowful world.” This statement blew my mind! I realized how blessed I am! On the Sunday morning of the retreat, I woke up so happy to dedicate my life to Christ and I thanked Him so much for literally making me the happiest I’ve ever felt. He has strengthened me so much over this retreat and I will never forget any of it."


Below are some pictures of the epic weekend!

 Allison D (above) Amanda W (below) getting baptized.

 Megan W (above) decided to be baptized Sunday as well!

Freshmen Move-in Day

Every year CSF gathers together for the Cheapest Mission Trip Ever: Loving on Freshmen.  The first opportunity is the Freshmen Move-in Day, where we get to greet students as they enter their dorms.  We carry their luggage, try to get to know them and really try to connect on a deeper level in the midst of a chaotic day.  Brenna Byerly (2nd from bottom left) a senior CSF student leader, answers my question of why she looks forward to this ministry opportunity so much.

     Freshmen move-ins. Well, to put it simply, it’s one of my favorite things to do with CSF. Why? Because it gives us a chance to really be seen, for people to get to know us and especially for students to look to us as people they can really become friends with. I’m never sure if I ever really make an impression on incoming freshmen, but I do get really great chances to talk with the parents and with the housing staff. They see us walking around in our matching shirts and probably wonder why the heck we think it’s so important to help out, especially after they get used to seeing us year after year moving people in. Most of the volunteers that come offer a four hour time slot to help out. As far as I know, CSF is the only group that stays the entire 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. time. I thought we were absolutely crazy the first year I helped, but then I realized that that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be. We are called to be radical, to be different so that the world will take notice. So, you ask why we love helping freshmen move in? We do it because we’re not like everybody else. We care about the students on our campus because we know God cares for them and loves them immensely more than we ever could and we want them to know that Truth. By offering a helping hand, we get to be Jesus to people who may never encounter Him otherwise.

National Student Conference

     On August 6th a full van of students headed to Evansville, Indiana for the National Student Conference.  Every year CSF takes students to be built up and recharged for the school year ahead.  There is a main speaker and several workshops students and staff can attend at their own will.  Mark Frakes(left), a senior at UIS and student leader in CSF tells his experience at NSC this summer.
     
     The theme of NSC this year was the Story of Everything. Tim Sutherland led us each evening through different "chapters" of the Story of Everything. These chapters discussed the Trinity, creation, the fall of man, our salvation through Jesus, the Church, and the chapters that are still to be written. His message centered around the idea that God did not express or show or create love but that God IS Love. Tim challenged us to think about the idea of "God is love," we are created in God's image, and how that applies to our lives.   
     Many of the workshops that students attended focused on sharing stories and learning from the stories we are given in the Bible.  Founder of the non-profit organization Son Safaris, Fledge Fiamingo, discussed the fall of every man and what it means to be a God serving and God loving man. He did this by studying the lives of four leaders of the old testament: David, Samson, Joshua, and Solomon. Fledge explained the gifts each of these leaders had and how they used their gifts to serve God's will. He also explained their shortcomings and what they did when they fell to sin. The workshop was very enlightening and inspiring and gave the students in the workshop something to work towards.

     

The New Intern!

Hey guys, 
My name is Emily Barnett (formerly Welch) and I am interning with the campus ministry CSF this year.  I was with the ministry for a couple years while I was at UIS, and am stoked to be back as a staff member along with Todd and Gretchen Magruder and David and Lindsey Lasley.

A little about me: I was just married in May to JB (who is also involved in CSF), we live in Springfield, IL, I graduated with a bachelors degree in Visual Arts, I paint occasionally, My favorite food has been chicken and spinach lately, but I love to bake cupcakes.  I am kind of disorganized (which I hope to get better at this year) and I want to faint at the thought of public speaking.  I like pixar movies, I sing sometimes and I read even more.  I like to write, hence the blog, and take pictures, hence the pictures on the blog.  But I am mostly in love with my Savior and the story He is writing in my life that weaves into the lives of everyone else in this world.  What a humbling and amazing opportunity to be used for something greater than myself.  And on that note.. I am definitely done talking about myself.

Please subscribe to this blog to get updates about our ministry and how it is changing the lives of the students, the staff and our community at UIS.  There will be student writers and staff guest starring to keep you all updated on how the ministry is going!