SALT 2008

SALT, as expected, was pretty amazing. Twelve of us from the UM Chi Alpha headed to beautiful Butte on January 8 for the four day convention. There were students and staff from 13 campuses in 5 states.


"stop, children
what's that sound
everybody look what's goin down..."

Our speaker was John Fischer, one of the leading musicians in the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s. He serenaded us with all sorts of tunes of his generation. And while we had alot of fun with that - by the last session folks had cellphones and other lights at the ready for his ballads - what we really appreciated was the wisdom this man was able to impart to us from his life experiences. One particular thing that sticks out was his call to young people to enter the marketplace as salt and light. He was adamant that we should not feel guilty if we do not go into a foreign mission field or ministry. Christians are desperately needed in business, in the arts, in schools, in medicine, etc.



The third night's session was all worship. After baptisms and communion, our own worship band - Peter, Amanda, Kelsey, Chris and John - led the music portion. Meanwhile there were also stations around the room where students could participate in other forms of worship, including journaling, artistic expressions of the names of God, and nailing pieces of paper to small wooden crosses. For many it was a time to process and give thanks for all that God had already done in them during the week.

One of my favorite parts of the week was sharing with students about the opportunities for summer trips with Big Sky Expeditions (Central Europe and Ireland) and a National Chi Alpha trip to Kyrgyzstan. It was a life changing experience for me, and I recommend such a trip for any Christian, since it gives you a bigger and better picture of God and what He is doing all around the world.

A student from Montana State took many, many pics. You can see them here. A few pics that I've collected from others who attended can be found on my flickr photostream. Finally, Rachael has promised to upload some pics to her flickr photostream in a few days.

If you didn't get to SALT this year, there will be a mini-SALT next year over President's Day weekend. I hope you can make it!