UWCCF Communiqué

Campus Challenge Help Needed!

2005-12-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I'm Jonathan, the chairperson for Campus Challenge 2006. Many of you have been to Campus Challenge in previous years and know how God has used this conference to help people grow and understand better their role on campus. This year is no different. Our theme is "Whatever you do…" and I know that God is going to use the May long weekend to gather our fellowships together and challenge each one of us to boldly go and do His will in our campuses. But we still need some more help to organize this conference. Please consider helping by filling one the following roles:

Webmaster (someone to design and update the website)
General Manager (someone to help manage the overall flow of events at CC)
Handbook (someone to oversee the design and production of the handbook)
Registration & Transportation (someone to help coordinate these 2 things in the 2 months before CC)

Please pray and think about filling one of these roles or helping out in some other way. If you do want fill one of these roles, please email jon.chant@gmail.com for an application form. If you're interested in helping out in another capacity, just simply e-mail me back with what you're interested in doing. Also, if you want to come to any of the planning meetings, our next meetings are on January 7 & 21 at AFC (Victoria Park & Finch in Toronto). Thanks!

I hope all you had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

In Him,
Jonathan

Offering Update

2005-11-28T18:24:00.000-08:00

Offering Target: $2075.00
Offering Total: ???

prior to 11.18.05 ~$280.00
11.18.05 $13.51
11.25.05 $4.24

11.27.2005 Members' meeting minutes

2005-11-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for attending and contributing your feedback and suggestions at the members meeting. We certainly hope to continue receiving feedback from various parts of the body!

Please see Meeting Minutes here.

11.27.05 Members Meeting (SLC 2143 @ 21:30)

2005-11-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

Members Meeting is a time for members of the body to come together and provide input so that we obtain feedback to evaluate specific ministries. As an integral member of the body, your input is extremely valuable. We hope to see you there. Below is a rough outline of what to expect.

Members Meeting Agenda:
2130 - 2140 Fill out feedback surveys
2140 - 2145 Progression of the Night
2145 - 2225(2345) Evaluation of Fall Term
2225(2345) - 2245(2315) Presentation of ideas for Winter Term
2245(2315) - 2300(2330) Prayer in small groups

Progression of the Night.details:
1. Explain format of the night: ~67% evaluation of Fall term, ~33% preparation for next term
2. In order to respect time (ie. end on time), please come with pre-meditated feedback comments and thoughts.
3. Do you want the meeting to go til 2300 or 2330? Times will adjust accordingly (in brackets)

Evaluation of Fall Term.details:
- this last term (cell groups, small groups, friday night, prayer, appreciation luncheon, etc.)
- re: Prayer: what have you learned and extra ideas on what to do (eg. more group praying? certain areas to pray for? etc)
- re: all ministries, a) what was effective about it? b) what can be improved?

Winter Term Ideas.details:
- we spent Fall term soul searching to see how Christ lives in me. Now we switch gears to seeing how Christ lives in us.
- WHY: God has called us into fellowship (Acts 2)
- WHAT to foster the "family" attitude as we strive to become a generation, unified by the Spirit, on the quest of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
- HOW: (the followin gis a list of how this 'family' attitude can be built up) - In addition to list from Com mtg..
1. Friday night programs: challenge one attitude (eg. what is my attitudes towards smoking) - to begin to form an opinion on a topic of interest. ie. at any point in the night, we shoudl be able to pray, 'God change my attitude towards... [topic for tonight]' This MUST be clearly articulated to members before during and after the friday night mtg times... each week will present a different attitude.. unless one topic is being explore over more than 1 wk.
- One person to share testimony of what God has done or said to them in the last wk
- Different peoipel to close us in prayer
- 5 minute reflection (Personal Opinion: this term, since the focus is more on 'us' rather than 'me' i'm thinking that we replace this with the testimony sharing time - maybe we can have the same person close us in prayer)
- communion - (Personal Opinion: we should do this for sure!)
2. Website: for the dissimilation of information...
3+. Lifesong, cell groups, small groups, many more... please come with input about which ministries specifically we should grow in accordance with our goal of building that 'family' this term.

eye calling hand - from one part of the body to another...

2005-11-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

I Corinthians 12: We need to exercise the physical and spiritual gifts God has given us - for God intended us to be a community that supports one another. If you are free and would like to contribute to the fellowship in simple yet important ways. Please contact us at WaterlooCCF@gmail.com.

Current one-time cries for help:
0. Brain, fingers: ASAP. In an effort to welcome new people to CCF on Friday nights, we will be distributing survey forms on Friday night. In addition, we would like to draft a template welcome letter to be emailed to follow up with people. In it we would like to include: list and importance of cell groups in a fellowship this big, opportunities to integrate into community, welcome, etc. If you are interested in drafting this letter, please email eric (gofishyfishy(at)gmail.com)
1. Cutter: We need someone to make a hole in the lid of the budget birdie. Please send an email to WaterlooCCF@gmail.com

Current ongoing cries for help:
0. Mouth: Friday nights are concluded in a group prayer led by one of the members in the fellowship. If you would like to contribute to the fellowship in this way, let us know by email at WaterlooCCF(at)gmail.com or by dropping by and telling us during office hours (M-F 11:45-13:15)
1. Office hours: Office hours run Monday - Friday 11:45-13:15. We need help planning activies for this time. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Betty Chan.
2. Sharing on the blogsite: please share reflections on Friday's programs or your spiritual journey. People are hungry to your testimony. If you would like to contribute, please email your insights to waterlooCCF@gmail attention Alison Wong.
3. Hands: We need people to write information on the boards before the Friday night program. We would like to include have the theme verse, list of announcements, cell groups, schedule and other special events listed on the board before the start of program. If you would like to help out, please come early and speak with Eric Cheng.

Past cries for help:
Hands: Friday, October 21, 2005. Someone is needed from 14:45 - 15:00hrs to help move sound equipment from Engineering Audio Video (Engineering 2) to the Clubs room (SLC). If you are free and interested, please contact eric (gofishyfishy(at)gmail.com or 498.8144)
*.ppt gifted ppl - ASAP: We would like to 'potentially' post announcements on a looped slide show. Let us know if you would like to put together a looped *.ppt presentation.
5. willing hands... Lifesong:
For music presentations, contact Sam Ip at spikeysam@gmail.com
For drama presentations, contact Chung Tam at hexforreal@hotmail.com
For other presentations, contact Jeff Tong at 03062k3@gmail.com
For information, contact the coordinator Joyce Yu at joycee_y@hotmail.com

16.10.05 Members Meeting: Winter Term Thoughts

2005-10-16T19:45:00.001-07:00

Winter Term:
* poll ppl for the type of cel group they want to see
* try to structure friday nights to facilitate more relationship building...
- 'Purpose Driven Community' Rick Warren
- we are doing a lot of deep
- should we cater for shear numbers or to build up better soldier for God. (breadth or depth)
- friday::breadth; cell grps::depth; skit night worked well... got to know ppl well
- suggestion: more nights to interact within groups
- friday night: challenge ppl and make it interactive...
- cell groups that meet ppl's needs (need to poll ppl)
- relationships that spawn from fellowship induce depth.
- Why are ppl coming to Friday night?
- relationship vs. intellectual???
- aim for one and just do it. the other will follow.
- need to challenge ppl daily.

16.10.05 Members Meeting: Fall Feedback

2005-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Feedback from this term:
* people put announcements on board:
* announcement on friday: We need serious help on communication, website
* be proactive about go out and go deeper with relationiships.
- difficult to get to know newer ppl because such a large group
- currently about ~15-20 new ppl joining
- inconsistent small groups
- games night to promote comraderee in small groups
- too much emphasis on frosh
- communication is lacking, we need website!
- what are we doing to help new ppl coming?
- msg board for ppl, classified
- how are you growing together? what are some ways I can build relationships with the other brothers and sisters around me?
- eg. 'wing nights'.. random pickup activities,
- split the fellowship into 2 grps

16.10.05 Members Meeting: Lifesong

2005-10-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Lifesong:
* continue praying for how we can reach out to others and be a light (ambassadors)
* that the event would be effective in ppl can followup with their friends
- november 4, 2005 in Arts lecture 113/6
- focus on "life" song
- encourage fellowship to exercise gifts as convicted
- no one will be pushed to do anything
- encourage you to show your story and be prepared to answer when asked
- how to use our stories to encourage one another in fellowhsip
- UWCCF; let's share our story
- Proposed theme: "One Life" - Jesus' life was given for us all; Each of us have 1 life to live

16.10.05 Members Meeting: Budget

2005-10-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Budget:
* announcement: some way of getting ppl on the email list
- cut insight
--> make better use of insight
--> it's good for ppl who don't get emails
- need more efficient announcement method
--> do announcement with project when possible

Fall 2005 Members Meeting 1 Feedback

2005-10-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

The following are a compiled lists of responses from feedback forms from the first members meeting... Questions in bold, responses as follows

What is the purpose of fellowship to you?
…to worship God and get to know Him corporately
…a place where fellow students can meet together as a family of believers in Christ, where they can encourage, support, edify and rebuke each other and where they can be salt and light on our campus in sharing to others about our faith.
…a training ground to equip students in their endeavors as a student and Christian on campus. A shining light on campus. Make our presence shown
…get to know people, worship God.
…provide a place/environment where brothers and sisters in Christ can develop meaningful, edifying and challenging relationship with one another; enables individual to gather together to collectively do God’s will on this campus
…to be a body of Christ that provide a challenging and loving environment for Christian to grow closer to God and through example help others enter into a relationship with Jesus.
…a place for encouragement, growth, relationship, challenge, exploring new ministry ideas
…to develop strong Christians who actively seek God while encouraging each other (seekers included) to also do the same.
…a place to grow spiritually and be encouraged and kept accountable by fellow brothers and sisters.
…to support one another on our spiritual journeys
… provide an environment where people can search for answers to ‘life questions’
…to hold me accountable
… to push me forward in my walk
…to grow spiritually and mature together as a fellowship
…to meet brothers and sisters to be supported by and to help support them.
…learn more about God
…to be encouraged by a community of believers
…to challenge and be challenged

How do you think the fellowship is achieving that now?
…Friday nights
…programs
…cell groups
…the fellowship helps build us up to be bold in sharing to our peers and classmates
…cell groups like alpha for non-believers but not preclusive, other CG like womens/mens/ cell allow relationships to grow on a deeper level and allow for accountability
…lifesong, outreach events allow others to hear and see a glimpse of the fellowship
…coordinating events for the glory of God
…I think CCF has done quite a bit in terms of bringing out the desire to spread the gospel and be a witness for Christ in its members, but members still have difficulty acting on that desire
…through a strong sense of community and offering Christ-centered teaching; also very open for seekers. Sometimes too much emphasis on “social”.
…I’ve met a few ppl who challenge me in my growth
…I have opportunities to encourage some younger students
…CCF is mostly social. We seem to place more emphasis on each other rather than God. God seems like an afterthought
…it’s doing alright, good community, but not too much emphasis on accountability
…though cell groups
…the convention was good for ‘life questions’
…help maintain relationships
…gives generous directions for one aspect of my spiritual life
…by meeting regularly and fellowshipping with each other relationships will be built
…it’s encouraging and somewhat challenging

Strengths of CCF:
-community among believers
-loving one another
-building disciples
-body of strong passionate believers of Christ
-look after frosh well
-diverse cell groups for ppl of all spiritual levels and with diverging interests
-large #
- large resources
-BS
-cohesive
-clear vision and presentation of vision for this year
-community, loving caring brothers and sisters, great opportunites to serve, seeker-friendly
-opportunities to serve, try new things
-care among most members
-organization in programming
-community
-friendly ppl
-promote opportunities
-gives place fro worship, bonding and learning
-familiness
-lots of ppl with different opinions/perspective
-close community

Weaknesses of CCF:
-lack of transparency among the members
-tend to have a very inward focus
-accountability
-followup after events/outreach
-tendency for newcomers to be overwhelmed by size of fellowship and not follow up with newcomers
-large # ppl (lower intimacy, turn off for new comers?)
-ppl don’t’ really know about us, what we do
-we may not understand our non-Christian peer group as well as we think (?)
-too social sometimes outside of Friday night, some lack of accountability
-lack of spiritual mentoring, growing new leaders from younger ppl at CCF
-fellowship among members is strong, sometimes it overshadows the real focus of why we gather
-don’t see desire to reach out to non-Christians
-why should there be CCF at all (?)
-Why Chinese???
-cliques
-range of spiritual maturity too large
-not personal enough
-not necessarily accountable
-with large membership hard to serve everyone
-intimidating for newer members
-sometimes too comfortable. Unhealthy ‘comfort-zone’

Areas for improvement:
-balance with outward focus -> how do we reach the ppl on campus
-promote transparency/authenticity
-more non-Friday night events
-deepening members’ realization that we part of a great worldwide movement, one part of the large body of God’s church
-spiritual development (always can be improved)
-integrity, it’s easy to point fingers at others but not ourselves
-passion for lost
-challenge members to seek answers, to grow spiritually
-need to help build relationships (deeper)
-need to help build through processes
-bondness. Saying what ppl really think/feel rather than staying quiet

Specific topics to cover:
-how to make ordinary days extraordinary with Jesus
- tithing
-world issues
-excellence, giving God 100% in all we do (?)
-apologetics, ‘hard questions’, more community involvement
-strong bonds with each other with God *clearly as the centre of relationships
-apologetics
- where is God when it hurts?
-personal faith
-define various aspects of Christianity
-purpose. Role of Christ in our lives
-things we should be avoiding/wise to avoid (eg. Shows, movies, magazines, events)

Additional Comments:
-when talking to those who’ve left CCF or seekers who were turned away from Christianity the same answer is almost always given as to why. ‘Hypocrisy’. For every 1 thing we do right critics will always see 10 things wrong. But if we obviously are trying to change even the critics will find it hard to criticize.
-Jesus RULES!

September Update

2005-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Prayer is to breathing as physical existence is to spiritual existence, where one either exists or not.

Please prayerfully respond to the update as you read. Your continued support through prayer will bring much impact that we hope to share with you at the end of October.

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for your patience and continued prayer for God's working in the Chinese population at the University of Waterloo!

A new year, a new group of energetic frosh and graduates gone; but our Father remains constant. Please pray that our focus remains on Him who is Constant. James 1:16-18

Focus:
This academic year, the UWCCF purposes to be a generation, unified by the Spirit, on the quest of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

The theme for the year is "Christ in me, Christ in us, Christ through us.", where each of the three statements will be studied in the fall, winter and spring terms respectively.

(See handbook for further details on vision statement and theme.)

Demographics:
The fellowship has ushered in a
59 first years
40 second years
25 third years
14 fourth year
1 fifth year
20 unlisted years

Prayer:

Cell groups: