A Recap on IMPACT

Contributor: Kellie Spencer

This year’s IMPACT weekend certainly didn’t disappoint! The highly anticipated three day event brought in over 950 students and sponsors to the campus of Florida Christian College. 

For the last 25 years the Sunbowl tournament (two-hand touch football) has been a staple during IMPACT, but the three-day weekend offers much more than just football.  This year we had a great lineup scheduled with Jeff Walling who brought us the Word and The Matt Estrin Collective who led us in worship.

Jeff Walling's enthusiastic style and dramatic delivery made him a great choice for IMPACT. Each night he brought depth and challenged the students to show God's love even when it's not the most popular thing to do. 

The Matt Estrin Collective is a band that hails from Journey Christian Church out of Greeley, Colorado.  They brought the worship dynamic to a whole new level this year with their passionate yet energetic approach.

Also featured in the program this year was Harris III, an illusionist.  His whole performance was not only to dazzle the students and have fun but his “magic” had a purpose and that was to “tell the truth about lies.”  He states, “Every moment of misdirection I create on stage has a purpose; every illusion is intentionally tied together to enlighten, to inspire others to see the deception around them, to learn the truth about lies…and discover their own purpose.”  It is safe to say that he not only brought an element of fun, but he also encapsulated the essence of what teens go through on a day to day basis on dealing with deception that made it easy to digest.

This year’s mission was Rapha House: Haiti Project.  This project was a direct result of FCC’s Justice D-Group and mission trip to Cambodia.  After the participants came back from the trip in the summer of 2011 they decided that there needed to be a safe house built in Haiti, and so the project was born.  The $1,700 that was raised at IMPACT this year will be sent directly to Stephanie Freed at Rapha House for the expressed purpose of building a safe house for the Haitian girls who are rescued from sex slavery. 

If you missed IMPACT this year you really missed an incredibly uplifting weekend!  This event is designed to be both physically and spiritually challenging for both students and adults and is also designed to provide an opportunity to share Christ with those who do not yet know Him.  Most importantly, however, IMPACT was originated to provide an opportunity for youth groups to build community through teamwork and competition so that everything done on the field and off can be done for the glory of God.  One thing if for sure, it was indeed a very IMPACTful weekend!