Denver Christmas Conference Uplifts Students

This year over New Year's Eve, 37 students from Nebraska Wesleyan's Campus Crusade for Christ packed into vehicles and road-tripped across the state to Denver, Colorado for a conference of college students. The conference was called Denver Christmas Conference, or DCC for short, and the 37 Nebraska Wesleyan students joined 1500 other college kids from universities across Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. The students were there to grow in their walks with Christ, worship, learn more about the gift of salvation, and participate in fellowship with the large group of highly enthusiastic students. I listened to many NWU students talk about the experience and they all seemed to arrive at the same conclusion: it was more than a life-changing event.

 The students stayed in the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Denver, which was where the conference was held. A typical day consisted of waking up and praying as a group. All 1500 students would then gather in the convention center for a worship session around 9:00. Afterwards, they would break out and attend seminars that were set up around the hotel. The students could attend a wide variety of seminars ranging from topics such as finances, relationships, career paths, and ministry opportunities. They were either designed to get the students thinking about how they might want to contribute to church ministries, or to help guide them through challenges many college kids face today. A speaker would present a message to the group after supper.

 Many of the Wesleyan students returned to campus with nothing but good things to say about the conference. In the words of NWU first-year student Betsy Kincannon, "You were surrounded by people that accepted you and loved you for who you are."

 Much of the worship was very contemporary, and NWU students described it as "unbelievable." Sophomore Johnny Hower attempted to describe it as an "outside concert with 1500 college students, and then you throw God in the mix…it was indescribable." According to the students at Campus Crusade, the only thing that mattered was worshiping God, and nobody "judged" them for their own preferred methods of worshiping.

 The speakers also left significant impacts on the students. Their messages were very clear, easy to understand, and relatable. Senior Sean Springate stated, "I was definitely able to grow in my faith, because the messages the speakers were able to give allowed me to understand and grow closer to God." Springate also went on to say,  "Everyone there has a story, all different, but the thing we had in common is that we are all broken, so it's a place where we can embrace that and not be ashamed for it."