This past summer I was able to spend multiple weeks on the campus of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado for MOVE events. It was an incredible experience and Durango is definitely one of my favorite locations. Numerous times I was asked the question, “Why would a church enjoy bringing their students to Durango for that experience?” so here are a few reasons why you should bring your students to Fort Lewis for MOVE:
- The campus is great! When it comes to quality facilities, a campus where all the building are close to each other, and a secluded campus – Fort Lewis is the place to be. You can go rock climbing (for free) during recreation time, and their recreation facility is also incredible.
- There are some great extended recreation options. Many churches will either go rafting down the river in town (our staff did this one day – we went and got inner tubes and floated the river for a few hours), or they will go down to the city of Durango and hang out – it is one cool downtown.
- It is the perfect location to come a day early to get ready for the week. There probably were a quarter of the churches that arrived a day early to do different activities to get ready for the week. The Fort Lewis staff is amazing to work with and they love to have MOVE students on their campus!
Come and enjoy Fort Lewis College at MOVE 2011!

Chase Allcott

MOVE Director

Fort Lewis College is nestled directly next to the mountians

MOVE…its all in the name
I just got back from 5 amazing weeks traveling across the country for Christ In Youth’s MOVE event this summer. I helped coordinate two MOVE events at Fort Lewis College, and 3 events at Lee University.
I find myself moving a lot. I’m not talking about packing up my life and moving across country; I am talking about always being on the go. I am sure every youth minister in the country can relate: your schedule seems to go from a blank canvas to something like a piece of plywood on a paintball course. Do you know what I am talking about? The 8×10 piece of plywood has been barraged with every color in the rainbow, and there’s not an inch that hasn’t been covered. That’s my Outlook calendar for the months of June, July and August. Yet, over and over again this summer I was bluntly reminded that the Israelites moved around the desert for 40 years. They were constantly picking up their things and moving everyday, never getting comfortable, and relying upon God to provide for them. We’re talking over 1 million people moving all of their stuff from one place to the next every… single….. day. I have a hard enough time moving my laundry from the dryer to my room once every few weeks.
Funny story about moving: While at Fort Lewis College (during CO1) we had a slight moving issue. Due to some information not being updated, Pantano Christian Church had to move all of their male students to a different residence hall after they had gotten settled in and at ease. I spoke with Brian Goodall, their Youth Minister, after the incident and he was surprisingly positive. Here’s why: their yearly theme was “THRASH YOUR COMFORT ZONE.” Moving residence halls isn’t comfortable, it isn’t exciting, but it was what they had to do. What was cool about the situation was how the students didn’t complain, they didn’t get angry, they just did what was asked of them. It was actually quite impressive. It was just like the Israelites in the desert.
With the help of the book of Exodus, and Pantano Christian Church, I realized that being out of my comfort zone was okay. I realized that being busy was okay. That praying with one more student was okay. God is always calling us. To borrow the tagline from MOVE’s publicity this year, “God is leading…are you following?” Following God may get busy, but it’s abundant, and well worth it.