The Alive Student Conference 2016 will be held Dec. 29-31 at the DoubleTree by the Hilton Hotel in Chesterfield, Mo. The deadline for special room rate is Dec. 1. Each student must have a medical release form in case of accident or illness, and each church is responsible for collecting and keeping the medical releases for its students. The form and other information about the conference — including registration, order forms and a schedule of events — are available at alivestudentconference.org. A conference T-shirt will be provided for all who register by Dec. 5. T-shirts will be handed out at the Alive registration table outside the
ballroom of hotel between 3:00 and 6:45 on Dec. 29.
Speaker: This year’s speaker is Brad Russell. “I became a follower of Christ when I was six years old and answered God’s call
to His ministry at the age of 16,” said Russell. “For six and a half years, I served as associate pastor, youth pastor and school administrator for Salem Baptist Church in Marble Hills, Mo., where I was licensed and ordained into God’s ministry. I accepted God’s call to come to First Baptist Church in Arnold in 2008 to serve as pastor to College & Career and Young Professionals.”
This year’s worship leaders are Sound City, a collection of musicians who call City Church in Conway, AR their home church. Their stated mission is to use music to help people experience Jesus. “If you leave only talking about the band, we have done
something wrong,” they said. “We want to worship our God and King alongside of you as we continue to realize how much He
loves us together.
Illusionist: The conference will also feature Christian Illusionist Zak Mirzadeh, who spent 2011-2015 as a key member
of the epic show known as M?ZE (a part of Reach Your City.) He is now branching of to perform his own show, “Nothing
Up My Sleeve.” This show will instill wonder in the audience and draw in every person to become a participant. Zak
interweaves his persona and story into his show to lead people to the Good News. Zak grew up as a Muslim, faithful to his
religion and praying fie times every day. Due to incredible circumstances, he grew up in a fatherless household. At the
age of 17, Zak was confronted with a reality that was very different from his upbringing. He was brought face-to-face with the truth of who Jesus is. As a part of “Nothing Up My Sleeve,” Zak weaves in his story what it was like to grow up in a religious household and how the Gospel of Jesus transformed his life.
Recreation: Recreation this year will take place at the hotel. Attached to the hotel is a huge Athletic Club that will
be rented during conference recreation time. They have basketball, volleyball, racquetball, walleyball, a swimming pool and tennis courts and a meeting area that will be great to just sit down and chat, play cards or a board game that you bring. There will also be a few surprises, and there will be something for everyone. Participants will also likely get to try
something they have never done before — knocker ball.
