Last weekend we hosted InterVarsity students from Nebraska and Iowa for Revive, our Fall Conference. Everything that I've heard about Revive is that it was a really great time. The students had fun, folk got connected to one another, and the Holy Spirit moved in some really powerful ways.
I say "from what I've heard" because honestly, I didn't participate in much of the actual conference itself. Between running snacks and running around with the kids, there was plenty to do. Allow me to break down my Revive.
Friday:
- 9am: Take Thaliea to Costco, the Asian Market, and Walmart to go shopping for snacks. Did I buy too much? Definitely. Do I regret any of it? Certainly not. =0).
- 11:30am: Back at the church to start setting up with the rest of the staff.
- 1pm: Staff meeting.
- 2:pm: Start setting up welcome snacks, which was coffee, hot water for tea, and chips. This included cleaning out the hot liquid containers and learning how to use the church 7:coffee maker.
- 4:30pm: Dinner volunteers (Thanks, One Hope Church!) arrive and we begin dinner orientation.
- 5:15pm: Dinner arrives (shout out to Bridge Church for providing dinner!).
- 7:00pm: Dinner cleanup while the session starts.
- 8pm: Start heating up water for post-session snack (hooray for ramen!).
- 9pm: Run snacks after the session, which also includes trying to convince folk to take extra slices of pizza from dinner.
- 9:30pm: Clean up.
- 11pm: Home for the night.
Saturday:
- 7:15am: Head to the church with Thaliea to set up the morning breakfast spread (bagels, fruit, baked goods, and coffee/tea) as well as the mid-morning snack (granola bars).
- 8:10am: Switch with Megan to take the boys to sports.
- 8:30am: Coach Ezra's soccer match (Black Widows win!).
- 9:30am: Watch Jonah's soccer match (Cheetahs win!)..
- 11:30am: Watch Ezra's flag football game (Fire Phoenix lose...).
- 1:15pm: Drop the boys off with Megan and pick up Thaliea to take her to dance.
- 2:15pm: Back at the church to set up afternoon snacks (popcorn and trail mix)
- 4pm: Dinner volunteers (thanks, West Hills Church!) arrive and we begin setting up for dinner (baked potato bar!)
- 5:30pm: Serve dinner.
- 7pm: Clean up dinner.
- 7:30pm: Start setting out all the leftover snacks so that students can take them home after the session.
- 8:30pm: Connect with Bellevue and MCC students to hear about their experience.
- 9pm: Giveaway ALL the snacks
- 9:30pm: Clean up the church so it's ready for service tomorrow.
- 11pm: Home for the night.
Three big lessons from the weekend:
- Hospitality is hard work! Megan is the one with the gift of hospitality and I see how valuable that gift is. I'm sure that she could have found a way to do everything better, faster, and for cheaper. Mad respect to everyone who has that gift.
- Kid Time and Conference Time is hard work! We opted to d o Revive in Omaha because it would be easier logistically for us. That was true for the conference but because that also meant we were in town for all the kid activities, it was much more complicated than if we were all at a retreat site somewhere.
- The Holy Spirit loves to move at Fall Conference. The one thing that I heard consistently when talking with students was that the Holy Spirit did his thing, like he always does. Our Bellevue students were especially impacted, including one student who may have recommitted his life to Jesus (I still need to follow up).
Thanks to everyone who prayed and gave so we could make Revive happen!
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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