LCCC Freshman Move-In Day

I just wanted to take a moment to share what God has been doing at theSHIFT and some of our plans for this upcoming school year. By far one of the most exciting events so far in 2010 (for me anyway) happened this past Saturday, August 21. theSHIFT had the opportunity to serve the 210 incoming Laramie County Community College (LCCC) Freshmen as they moved into the dormitory.

In preparing for Move-In Day, fourteen SHIFTers got together on Thursday evening and put together “Freshman Survival Kits.” The kits, contained in a mesh laundry bag, had stuff like a copy of Mark Batterson’s book, In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day, a Christian CD, pencils, highlighters, candy, granola bars, stress relief tips and a couple other items. We were able to partner with the Director of Campus Crusade for Christ at Colorado State University, Christian Rainbolt, who provided the CDs, some of the books and the mesh bags. It was stinking awesome to have him come up and be part of it.

Then the big day arrived. On Saturday morning, at about 7:15am a few of us met at LCCC and prayed over the dormitory grounds. By 9am we had about seventeen SHIFTers there pumped to serve our college community. It started off a little slow, but within the hour there wasn’t a SHIFTer that wasn’t busy. We spent the day unloading cars, moving stuff into dorm rooms, handing out Survival Kits, connecting with the students and their parents and just being there for them. As I watched the SHIFTers work, I’m not ashamed to say; twice I was moved to tears. They WERE the hands and feet of Jesus (I’m certain of it because both of mine hurt by the end of the day). They were there serving and loving people without exception or expectation; and you could see it in every interaction that occurred.

Countless times I heard parents and students say how amazing it was that we cared enough to be there to help, what a blessing it was, or how much Element is impacting this community. I had one mother tell me it made her “weepy” that we would give our time to help. The Dean of Students walked up to a group of SHIFTers during lunch and thanked them over and over saying that us being there was so important to the incoming students. The kitchen staff made an awesome spaghetti lunch based on the number of students that were around last year at lunch time. We had moved so many students in the morning that by lunch time, there were very few around to eat the spaghetti. (I kind of feel bad about that one, although we ate well). As we wrapped up for the day, at about 3:30pm, we had welcomed and moved about 180 of the incoming students. The Hall Director, Jason, said that it went so much smoother than last year and was a lot more efficient.

All that to say this…we went there with one mission: to serve and love LCCC. Mission accomplished! I am so proud and thankful to have the honor of leading this group of college and 20somethings. They radiate the love of Christ and its contagious!

There is a bunch more to come this school year, stuff like movie nights, dinners, a concert (The Ineloquent on September 11th) and other opportunities to serve, so stay connected to FB, twitter and the website.

So Stoked, Bruce