Christ on Campus: Veritable Hulks of the Volunteer Variety

A CCV’s Experience at a Higher Things Conference

By Karl Houser

I really didn’t have time to be a volunteer at last summer’s Higher Things conference. Or maybe I didn’t want to take the time. I signed up to do it so long beforehand, and as the event approached I couldn’t help but think about the work I had to miss and the other things I needed to do. But since I’d signed up, duty said I had to go. I would do it for my parents. I would do it for my church. I would do it for this magazine that I get. I was helping them out, putting my own best interests on the back burner. I was being a really good guy.

At least that’s how I felt. Perhaps not just about being a CCV, but about my life as a Christian in general. Sometimes it is hard, going to college, to stay on the same path. Sometimes it is hard to be a Lutheran, to find a new church and like-minded friends. It is easy to forget what it all meant to begin with.

It’s funny that this last conference’s theme was “For You. “ I think that might have been exactly what I needed to hear. I fell into thinking that I was doing all these things for someone else; by the end, I realized the benefits for me. You get out what you put into something, right? But I could not have put into my experience as a CCV what I got out of it, whether because of my own shortcomings or what I learned and what I received. I can’t help but think it was, in these ways, tantamount to my faith as a whole. The conference almost laid before me an analogy of life-as-usual. It gave me an understanding of the gifts I’ve received as a Lutheran that I could not have gotten elsewhere but from God. It refreshed me and reminded me that I live in Christ, and He continually strengthens that life and faith in His Word and Sacraments. And because I’m alive in Him, even ordinary things have significance.

I did about as much in my first CCV week as I have since the school year began. I met more people, made more friends, learned more things, and went to more church. I could go on. It was fast-paced, high-energy, an emotional high. From the moment I became a CCV, my time was not my own. Once the announcement was made that the college volunteers were here to help, my special CCV green shirt may as well have been a target. Lost groups spotted me from across the campus. Speakers with computer problems seemed to know where I was at all times. Questions about parking would find me like a heat-seeking missile. I would need to be up by seven in the morning for a chance at breakfast. The day would often not end until one thirty in the morning. Time was short and the campus was big; running errands meant literal running. It was likely the hardest I have worked in a long time.

What a blast. I came to this conference with no knowledge of anyone I would be working with and left trying to get to a fellow CCV’s upcoming wedding. I started upset about losing a week of work and ended up canceling an extra week to volunteer again in North Carolina. I can’t remember when these things happened, when they had time to happen. I remember bits and pieces. I remember 2:00 a.m. was too early to sleep and going outside instead to listen to one CCV play his guitar while the rest of us practiced cartwheels (I didn’t get any better). I remember karaoke. I guess I came away with quite a few anecdotes, which are always handy. But more importantly I came away with quite a few friends, which come in handy just as often.

Of course, there was a little bit of catechesis in there too. I’m thankful for the chances I had to listen to the conference speakers, even that was tricky with CCV duties. We had to set aside meeting times so we could figure out who would get a chance to go to which session. We had to trade, compromise, negotiating like I hadn’t done since I trafficked Pokemon cards at recess. I wanted a session on free will, someone else wanted to know more about Santa Claus. We figured it out pretty well. Some of those sessions meant a lot to me too. I met with some amazing people with qualities that I’d like to find in myself. I met pastors who were well-versed in subjects that I found interesting. I was inspired; I was encouraged. I even think I learned a little.

Lessons learned? For starters, life can be both so busy and mundane that we lose focus on service—God’s service to us and ours to others. We get stuck on ourselves, but believe we’re not. Our time isn’t our own, after all; it’s given to us. I’m newly thankful for God’s gifts of encouraging friends, and especially His unfailing grace in Christ. I need to remember that I was created to serve others and how much God serves me. It is probably an understatement to say I’m glad I went and equally so to say I’m better for it. I look forward to next year’s Higher Things conference, and hopefully seeing a few old friends. I’m glad that this year I know enough to look forward to it.

Karl Houser is a student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He served as a Christ on Campus Volunteer at both 2006 For You conferences.