| Greetings,
This Advent and Christmas, we hope you will have a chance to
reconnect with college students that might be home for the holidays. We
have been blessed to connect with students through lunches and other
meals, cups of coffee, studies, services projects, theological
discussions, and fellowship opportunities. Today's college students are
the future of the church. Please encourage and help them to find their
home away from home at the Wesley Foundations while they are at college.
Blessings to all of you.
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University of Iowa - TalentShare at Christmas
W esley's first "TalentShare" brought students together
in December to share with each other their talents and gifts. Hannah
Schlenker, student ministry intern, likened it to a talent show, but
without the implied competition. Hannah arranged the TalentShare around
Christmas time, connecting with the kings' gifts to the baby Jesus and
bringing our gifts to God and each other. Students and staff shared
original music and poetry. We heard pieces for flute, violin, and
piano. One piece was a vocal duet about Mozart last performed in the
fifth grade. One student conducted a hearing test from her area of study in speech and hearing. We lit candles, shared a Christmas prayer and sang  carols. With the end of the semester we honored two graduating seniors an d shared a blessing. Wesley students send you greetings for Christmas and blessings in the new year!
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| University of Northern Iowa
Finals week, already? It's hard to believe that this
semester is already coming to an end! So much has been going on this
semester, it just flew right by! We've had Salsa Dancing nights, a
camping trip, a Halloween party, and much more. After Thanksgiving
break, some of us took a trip to watch the Black Hawk's hockey team in
Waterloo. The next week we had our Holiday Party which consisted of a
Chinese and Spanish food buffet, a White Elephant gift exchange, cookie
decorating, and watching the UNI football game.
  
The Wesley gang enjoyed a meal at the holiday party.
This week, we've had our Finals Week Breakfasts. Monday was pancakes, Tuesday was eggs
and bacon, Wednesday was muffins, and Thursday is a buffet. Students
come and enjoy a well-rounded breakfast to help them get through their
exams and projects.
We are looking forward to another
great semester starting in January! We're hoping that everyone enjoys
their breaks and have a very Merry Christmas!
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Iowa State University - Advent Workshop
 Each
year at Collegiate United Methodist Church/Wesley Foundation there is
an Advent Workshop. This is an opportunity for the young or the young at
heart to create "masterpieces" that will be treasured for a lifetime.
This year some Wesley Foundation students planned and coordinated
something that made that event extra special. They invited the kids from
the Emergency Residence Project (the local homeless shelter). Twelve
kids join  us
and we had over 20 ISU students that helped with the event. Some
students that had not participated in any Wesley Foundation activity
before were even there. Each kid was paired with a college student buddy
that was there to spend the afternoon with them, to help them with
their masterpieces, and get to know them. Other students served as
greeters, helped staff the craft tables, and staffed the refreshment
table. At the end of the afternoon when it was time to take the kids
home, a girl turned to the two buddies that had been helping her and
gave each of them a hug. It was priceless. Later we found out that the
kids had been talking about the Advent Workshop for days after the
event. They had a great time and so did the college students. It was a
meaningful experience that we hope to turn into a tradition.
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A Simpler Life: Nurturing Heart, Mind, & Spirit Part 1
by Karla M. Kincannon What
complicates your life? Family expectations, your own expectations,
roommates? Papers, exams, junk mail, e-mail? Keeping up with the latest
fashion can be a full-time job. Holidays, extracurricular activities,
class schedules, work schedules, can fill any calendar to the brim.
Worry, fear, and anxiety can make any situation seem 10 times worse.
Many things complicate our lives. Juggling schedules and commitments
and trying to find meaning in the midst of all the madness can push a
person to the limit. Malik
was at the end of his rope. Academically, it had been a hard semester;
he needed a break. However, when he finished his last, grueling exam
of the semester there was no sense of relief. Only three shopping days
until Christmas and he had not yet begun to think about presents for
his family or friends. The pressure was on. After
a trip to the local mall, Malik was even more stressed. Holiday
shoppers frantically grabbed up shiny gadgets and expensive clothing in
hopes of crossing off another person from their shopping list.
Christmas carols bellowed over loudspeakers as cranky children whined
and tugged at their parents' pant legs. Shopping on a student's budget
was no fun. Tired
of being beaten out of parking spaces by aggressive drivers, tired of
feeling frustrated by the long lines at the cash registers, and tired
of feeling as if the meaning of Christmas had been strangled out of his
life by stress, Malik got in his car and headed for a quiet place to
sort things out. The
campus ministry center at his school had always been a place where
Malik could begin to reclaim a sense of peace and get some perspective
on life. He wasn't disappointed. Walking in the door he saw a poster
with a picture of Santa by the manger. The caption read, "Whose
Birthday Is It Anyway?" The message hit home. He wanted to do something
meaningful this Christmas, something that focused on God's love and
not the commercialism the holiday had come to embody. In
conversation with the campus minister, Malik found out about
alternative, less materialistic ways of celebrating the birth of Christ.
Instead of spending money on gifts people wouldn't use and didn't
need, Malik decided to donate his hard-earned money to his family's
favorite charity. He also decided to write each one of them a letter,
telling them how important they are to him. For
his friends, he made coupons they could redeem during the school year.
The coupons had promises of services that Malik would render. He
promised to wash his best friend's car, and cook a romantic dinner for
his girlfriend. He offered to clean his roommate's side of the room for
two weeks. He liked the idea of giving of himself much better than
buying things nobody needed. This was going to be a good Christmas
after all.
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