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PHOENIX, August 22, 2024 (Newswire.com)
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It’s no mystery that college students want to have fun and make friends fast. That’s why Hope Church Movement and the Campus Changer Network are teaming up for the 14th year to host Survivor Weekend. It’s a three-day adventure weekend with over 2,000 college students coming from 24 campuses across the Southwest to participate. The students compete in tribes (or teams) based on their college, major or residence hall. Everyone travels to Northern Arizona for a weekend of music, camping and competition.
The event is not religious in nature and welcomes students of all backgrounds and beliefs. Pastor Brian and Wendy Smith are the founders of Survivor Weekend and Hope Church Movement. They said it was their individual college experiences that inspired them to start this event.
“From my own time as a freshman and from working with students for the last 35 years, I’ve seen that when freshmen step foot onto their college campus for the first time, they start to feel anxious to connect with others and desperate to belong. That’s because belonging is a common and fundamental need,” Pastor Brian Smith said.
Universities are even recognizing that this desperation for connection is a battle students face when they get to campus. Research from the Barna Group found that only one-third of young adults feel deeply cared for by those around them and almost one in four say they encounter feelings of loneliness and isolation. In response, many universities have started creating positions called the Dean of Belonging.
When college students have a sense of belonging, it can lead to a reduction in depression, loneliness, hopelessness and social anxiety. Everyone is searching for closeness, acceptance, and a sense of community. That’s why this weekend is open for anyone to come, no matter what they believe.
“When I was a freshman, I thought living for the weekend party scene is just what you do in college. I would’ve loved to have something like Survivor Weekend to be part of instead,” Wendy Smith said. “We want students to have a place where they can meet lifelong friends that have their back.”
Pastor Brian Smith talks more about the challenges college freshmen face when they first arrive on campus in his book Winning the Battle to Belong, which was released last summer.
“We want to break the stigma that in college, the only way to have fun is when drugs and alcohol are involved,” Pastor Brian Smith said. “We hope this trip gives students an unforgettable weekend where they experience competition and community like they’ve never encountered before.”
Every year, many students say how Survivor Weekend helped them build lifelong friendships.
“Being a part of a tribe made me feel like I finally had a community to be a part of and a second family to support me,” one student said. “Survivor Weekend impacted my college experience forever.”
Another student said, “I’ve already found my people. I know for a fact that the people I’ve met, especially the people who go to my school, I am going to have these friends throughout the year … Knowing that they have my back already is such a great way to start the year.”
Survivor Weekend continues to grow with students from more campuses participating. This year will be the first time a team comes from Texas to compete, with students from UT Austin and Texas State joining.
If you would like to know more about Survivor Weekend, visit survivorwknd.com.
About Hope Church Movement
Hope Church Movement is a collegiate-focused church planting movement in five cities reaching 24 college campuses in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Hope Church Movement started in 2004 reaching students in Tempe, Arizona. The church has since expanded to also reach students at universities and community colleges in Flagstaff, Tucson, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Austin, Texas. Hope’s premier event is Survivor Weekend, where students join tribes or teams to experience a weekend of music, camping and competition. Students from all backgrounds and beliefs are welcome.
Source: Hope Church Movement
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