Teenagers who attended CHIC 2006 made the construction possible at Good Hope Basic School by donating more than $100,000 in a special offering for Covenant World Relief (CWR), which also contributed additional funds to the project.

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As you can see, we are obviously committed to this important ministry if we are willing to spend so much just to get there. Unfortunately though, there are just some students who simply cannot foot a bill that size and we are no longer able to get the scholarships we once got for most of our students. In the past, most of our students received individual scholarships for CHIC to help them get there, but this year each registering church in the Covenant gets one full scholarship to use however they wish. Some churches will use it to help get one student or staff person to CHIC (or split it among a few) and others will donate theirs to another church in need. If you are considering donating your scholarship, please consider an Alaskan church. This could be a really cool way for your youth group to give and there are actually a number of ways you could take it even further. If you would like to donate your scholarship to a particular church, that would be great. If you would simply like to donate to whatever church has the most need, we can make sure that it gets to someone in need as well. But if you want to go the next step, consider partnering with an Alaskan church and helping them with more than just your scholarship. Most Covenant churches do fund-raising to help pay for CHIC – maybe your group could choose a church and tithe from your fundraising proceeds to that church to assist in their fund-raising. Or perhaps you want to hold one special fund-raising event from which all your proceeds go to assist an Alaskan church. There is any number of ways that this sort of thing can work and frankly, it’d be a lot of fun to establish connections between churches from so far away and then be able to connect face to face when we go to CHIC together.

For more information on how to set up a connection for your group, contact me at phil.cannon@chic2009.org.

–Emma

Help make more stories like Emma’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

Before CHIC I was familiar with everyone in the youth group. I have been on a few retreats now and participated in various activities in the church with them which have allowed me to become friends with most of the members. However, this week for many reasons brought me much closer to many people. The experiences we shared and the 6000 strangers all around on the large campus made the group come together. This resulted in me getting to know everyone a lot better.

CHIC ‘06 encouraged diversity and that caused us to experience different types of worship. I learned Punk Rock and Rap can both be forms of worship. Honestly I had heard things like this before, but seeing a live performance and the passion of the performers reinforced the idea in my head that just about any kind of singing and dancing can be done for the Lord. As I returned to Trinity Covenant Church I was reminded our church prefers to retain traditional methods, which is not a bad thing, however the experience at CHIC was a nice refreshing worship experience.

I have heard the term “a personal relationship with Jesus” thousands of times in my life. So many times that whenever I heard the phrase it was just blurred together. Arriving at CHIC this phrase was repeated many times within the first hour of arrival at worship. It took me a few days of hearing it until I finally stopped and thought about what they were really saying. It took me back to a much simpler time when I was first learning about Jesus. Separating the words of the phrase and remembering what my first experience with Jesus was like brought me to understand again what a personal relationship with Jesus is. This time however, I felt I was more mature and I understand that relationships involve a certain amount of “give and take” and communication is a very important component in any relationship. CHIC was exactly what I needed to take another step in my walk with Christ.

Reflecting on CHIC reminded me that it was an awesome experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life.

–Erik

Help make more stories like Erik’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

–Tim

Help make more stories like Tim’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

–Lisa

Help make more stories like Lisa’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

… I no longer feel ashamed to worship God and tell my friends that I love Jesus!

…There were many times during that week where I felt my closest to God and I have never experienced so much joy, so much fear, so much vulnerability and so much pride that I loved God all at once! It felt so reassuring that God chose to work in me and in the hearts and lives of 5,600 students around me, who were experiencing so many different things in their lives but had made the decision to come to CHIC even if they were unsure of what the decision was…

…My most enjoyable experience and fondest memory of CHIC is growing closer to my youth group. I feel secure knowing there are more people I can tell about issues in my life and they will help me…”

–Janie

Help make more stories like Janie’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

–Christy

Help make more stories like Christy’s possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.

“The scholarship allowed me to deal with the burden of financial struggles. After experiencing CHIC, I as a believer got stronger to deal with people who constantly give me strong opposition since I am a Christian. Thank you.” Chris C.

“Because my family is not doing great financially, the scholarship helped my family out. The scholarship erased the only obstacle preventing me from attending CHIC. CHIC opened my eyes to how many other teenagers believed in God or wanted to get closer to God. I got a lot out of every speaker’s massages and felt God’s presence during the worship.” Joseph L.

“Going to CHIC 2006 was an experience that I’ll never forget. The financial aid I received allowed me to attend CHIC. CHIC 2006 opened my eyes to a world of worship. It helped me grow spiritually and helped me establish a stronger connection with God. Because of my experience, I hope to attend CHIC as a counselor.” Patrick C.

Lloyd and Anne Ahlem

Help make more stories like this possible by donating to the CHIC Legacy Fund through The Covenant Bookstore.