Have you recently thought about going to Winter Conference?

Well if you have, GO! Winter Conference, formerly known as Encounter, happens every year from Dec. 28-Jan. 1! Each region has different places and days where they meet every year! Since I am in the Mid-South region, Marshall University’s Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ) goes to Greensboro, North Carolina every year to take part in Winter Conference! It’s a wonderful opportunity to grow deeper through the word. Below the article are some pictures of what Winter Conference looked like last year! Here's a list of reasons that I came up with as to why you should go!

1. The Hotel.

A wonderful part about Winter Conference is you stay in one of the nicest hotels in the area!! The Sheraton Four Seasons is one of the most luxurious hotels that I have ever stayed in. It’s very convenient being in the Four Seasons because everything you need is right there in the hotel, including the Koury Convention Center where Winter Conference is hosted! The Four Seasons is also one of the largest hotels I’ve ever been in. I remember last year I would always find myself texting my leaders because I was lost all of the time. It’s staged beautifully and the staff is always super sweet.

2. The amazing activities!

Another awesome part of Winter Conference is the dance party! Every year on New Year’s Eve they have a party where all of the students get together and celebrate the New Year! Winter Conference does this in a very different and unique way though. Instead of watching the ball drop, the students pray into the New Year for numerous things. Then after everyone is finished praying, all of the students are allowed to show off their dance moves and have fun. Another interesting thing at Winter Conference is the bookstore! If you ever want to meet or hangout with people go to the book store at Winter Conference, because it is amazing. The staff does such an amazing job at decorating the store. The book store provides you many options for books that you can read throughout the year. A dear friend of mine from Marshall University's Cru, Sarah Bryan, says "The bookstore is filled with pages on pages on pages all about grace. Someone could get me just about any book from that bookstore, and I guarantee I would learn so much about Jesus from it. Plus, the prices are reasonable for college students, because they know how much we struggle." In addition to this, there is an amazing optional prayer journey that allows for a good time spent in meditation and fellowship with the Lord and in His word as well.

3. ANDY MINEO!!

Do you like concerts? I know I sure do!! Every year at Winter Conference they have a concert where they bring in different artists depending on the region. Last year at Winter Conference, Jordan Feliz put on an amazing show. This year, in Greensboro, Andy Mineo is going to be there! Andy Mineo is a very well-known Christian rapper who is most famous for his song “You Can’t Stop Me.” If you have ever seen Andy Mineo live before, then you already know that he puts on an amazing show and uses his talent to glorify the Lord in every way possible.

4. You get to go to the food court in the mall!

Who doesn’t like food? Right beside the hotel and convention center there is a wonderful mall with an incredible food court filled with many options. Staying right beside the mall gives you plenty of options on what you can do during your down time. One of my favorite parts of Winter Conference last year was being able to eat Chick-fil-A as often as I wanted. You can eat as much as you want at Chick-fil-A too because those are the Lord’s calories and they don’t actually matter in your everyday diet.

5. There's more than 1500 other college students!

At Winter Conference there are tons of other students from different colleges in your region. It’s awesome to be able to worship and talk to people of different backgrounds. You can also experience “Jack Broadsword Victory” in action. Last year, he saved an elevator of 20+ people that were stuck. Once the speakers of Winter Conference found out about Jack saving everyone, they called him “Jack Broadsword Victory” in one of our main sessions. Another instance that happened to one of my close friends was that she experienced Matt Papa getting onto an elevator with her. While she was in this elevator, Matt Papa continually pressed the open button on the elevator and almost made it shut down. Then after ten minutes of still being in the lobby, Matt Papa decided to get off the elevator which she thought was hilarious. Another thing I love are the talks! Cru brings in the best of the best for the seminars! The seminars vary each year depending on what they want to talk about. Last year, the seminars were amazing and really helped me dig deeper into the word. It’s so worth going to winter conference because you get to hear different individual’s life stories and so much more.

6. The worship is AWESOME!

Worship is one of my favorite things about Winter Conference. It’s mainly important to make sure you don’t think of it as a “concert,” but thinking of it as “being in worship and community with others.” Matt Papa does an amazing job at leading all of the students in worship during the main sessions. Last year, a bunch of college students randomly got together last year for a spontaneous worship session. This was my personal favorite because this is where I accepted Christ last year. Winter Conference provides you with a lot time to really be able to have fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ while continually worshipping the Lord.

7. You are finally reunited with your summer mission friends!!

At Winter Conference they focus on the different types of mission trips that you can go on. Personally, after spending 9 weeks on a mission trip, the thing I’m looking forward to the most at Winter Conference is finally being able to be reunited with my friends from summer mission! After being with them for 9 weeks, they became my family. Since you spend an entire summer with these individuals, you grow so unbelievably close to them that it makes you physically sick to leave them. Imagine going months without seeing your family. Then imagine how excited you get knowing that you’re able to see them again; that’s exactly how I feel about my summer mission friends. Thanks to my summer mission, I've made life long friends and I can't wait to see them. I even have a countdown app on my phone counting down the days to Winter Conference because I am so excited. I can't wait to have community with my amazing brothers and sisters in Christ.

You should go to winter conference because it’s an amazing opportunity to become closer with not only the people in your college, but other people in different colleges as well. Last year, I was an awkward, and introverted person who didn’t know anyone except for my life group leaders. I remember seeing everyone running and hugging all of these random people, and they would just say, “You’ll understand when you go on a mission.” Well now, after spending a summer in Gatlinburg, I DO understand. I understand their excitement now. I understand them running and jumping into their friends arms, because this year, that's going to be me. I know for sure that I’m tackling my best friends as soon as I see them this year. I hope you'll join me in going to Winter Conference too!

Pictures from last year: