Many of you may or may not know that I am a Christian. I have believed my whole life; however, I only started to invest in my faith in 2019. I grew up in and out of the church. I have battled with my faith time and time again, but now I know exactly how I want to be as a Christian. And I owe it all to the Salt Company Conference.
My parents are both Christians and they told us about the gospel at a very young age; however, the church wasn’t really prioritized, and we didn’t talk about the religion unless someone asked which didn’t happen often. I am forever grateful to them though because they introduced God to me. Without that, I don’t know where I would be right now. Nevertheless, since I wasn’t surrounded by Christianity, I had to learn about it on my own. This was a lot more difficult than it seems. For years, I fought with what the Bible said and what the world thinks. I was afraid of judgement for my faith, so I placed it on the back burner. I fell into worldly desires and even denied Christianity at one point. That was a very low point of my life. I was broken. However, my journey did not end there.
When I came to college, I knew I wanted to invest more time into my faith. I was done with the pain that the world had brought upon me. In 2019, I was baptized and that was the closest I have been to God my whole life. I felt peace wash over me. I wanted to feel like that again. So, when I arrived at KU, I worked hard to find a church and campus ministry that fit my morals and beliefs. I was afraid I wasn’t going to find anything I liked until a random girl who is now my friend asked me if I would like to go to church with her. So, I decided to take the chance and go. Probably one of the best decisions of my life.
The church is called Story Hill Church. It is a small church, but everyone in there has the biggest of hearts. They welcomed me as I am, and no one there pretends that they live the perfect life. None of us do. Through that church, I learned about Salt. This is the on-campus ministry and the memories I have made there are irreplaceable.
Every Thursday we meet to talk about the gospel and how it relates to our crazy college lives. Sometimes, we have little getaways for the group. The first one was the Fall Retreat. A couple days filled with competitive games, but connections to God and each other that will last us a lifetime. However, that wasn’t the best trip we went on. The Salt Company Conference takes the #1 spot.
4700. That’s the number of college students that came. All around the country, these students including myself came together to worship and learn about Jesus and the Bible. The schools may have a competitive rivalry on the first day, but the worship that follows is enlightening. The amount of overwhelming peace that washed over me was the best feeling I have ever had. All the voices rang out and we could all feel God’s presence in the room. Let me tell you my eyes were never dry coming out of worship. Here are some songs that really impacted me in a good way!
- Firm Foundation (he won’t)— Maverick City Music
- Spirit of God— North Point Worship
- Promises— Maverick City Music
- 1,000 names— Passion
Next, pastors from all around the US came together to produce sermons and breakout sessions. The sermons brought a new perspective to my life. The Bible can be really confusing and like I said earlier, having to learn about Christianity on my own never worked out for me. So, being able to hear from these pastors who have more experience is enlightening. However, this did not place them on a pedestal. We are all human. We are all sinners. We are all working together through this journey so there is no need for a hierarchy which I appreciated so much.
The breakout sessions consisted of mini sermons that relate to our lives. The ones I went to were authenticity, stress and anxiety, and identity/insecurity. I loved these because the pastors gave more step-by-step instructions on how to counter/fulfill these topics through the Bible and God. I went into the conference not knowing exactly who I was and what kind of Christian I wanted to be. These sessions really helped me understand my identity a little more. And again, brought me closer to my savior. Here is a link to the breakout rooms and sermons if you want to take a listen! https://saltcompanyconference.com/archive/
Lastly, the bonds I made with the people around me will never break. I can tell I have made some lifelong friends through this conference and Salt in general. These people push me to become the best version of myself and I know I can go to them with anything. I will forever be grateful for them.
Salt has opened a new world of Christianity for me. Throughout my life, I have never felt as closely connected to God as I do now. It is a kind of love I wish for everyone. I have never felt more confident in myself and my journey even though I am not exactly sure which way my life will go. I know there will be good and bad days, but I know God will prevail. It’s okay to be real in Christianity and not always put on a mask. And I understand that even though we may all be sinners and we will continue to sin, I am saved because of Jesus’s sacrifice, and God has me through and through because he is faithful. I now realize that His love will never leave me. I feel complete and utter peace. I owe that all to Salt. I owe it all to God. God gave me Salt. It has completely changed my life and I wouldn’t change a thing. If you want to learn more about all of this or want to accept Him in your life, please email me! I would love to talk to you! As always, reach for the stars!
