April 5 marks the 11th annual Bisons For Christ service day. This year’s theme is “Continue 364.” Bisons For Christ may only be one day of service, but the goal is to continue serving for the rest of the 364 days of the year.
The scripture for this year is Hebrews 6:10; “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”
“A goal we have for Bisons For Christ this year goes along with why we chose our theme; we want people to continually serve the rest of the year,” senior Monica Giles, executive and leadership committee member said.
Preparing for this annual event requires many meetings and hours focused on making it the best it can possibly be. The executive and leadership committees meet once or twice a week starting the week before Spring Break.
As of right now, Bisons For Christ has 135 projects and is expecting to continue receiving calls for help until April 4, the day before the event. Last year, they had approximately 170 projects.
The project leaders always hope that the number of groups signed up will equal the number of projects available. Bisons For Christ currently has 25 groups signed up for projects.
Social clubs are by far some of the biggest groups of volunteers that come out for the day, according to Giles.
“My favorite part is the Celebration Dinner that takes place after the projects hosted at College church of Christ,” senior project manager Michaela Isenberg said. “Here, we get to celebrate all of our good work with friends and hear individuals’ testimonies of how they were able to help others, what they gained from the experience, and how they saw the love of Christ.”
The project managers are currently in the process of assigning projects to groups but generally, these groups do things such as helping clean Camp Tahkodah and Camp Wyldewood, sorting clothes for donations, cooking projects and doing yard work.
“I love Bisons For Christ, and I have a lot of passion for it, but I just needed a way to share that passion,” involvement chair freshman Carson Gentry said. “Finding projects can be a hard job but getting people to fill them is so important.”
The Bisons For Christ committee had a popcorn party in the Student Center on Wednesday, March 29, to tell people about Bisons For Christ and encourage them to sign up. Their goal for involvement this year is 3,000 students, compared to last year’s 2,500.
“Serving is such an important part of our faith as believers in Jesus; Jesus came down to this earth and all he did was serve,” Gentry said. “As busy college students we just need to remember our purpose, and Bisons for Christ gives us a perfect opportunity to be like Jesus.”
