By Nick Anderson
During the fall semester, Salt Company in Cedar Falls teams up with the University of Northern Iowa to help cars file into parking lots surrounding the UNI-Dome and Mcleod Center for various sporting events. Students are able to sign up to help with UNI football regular season games and playoff games, as well as the Iowa State High School Football Playoffs in the late fall/early winter
months.
Not only is this a great fundraising opportunity for the Salt Company, but it is also an awesome way for students and staff to hang out and serve. Students are able to shuttle attendees from far-away lots and get to know them. Students also man the entrances and exits of the parking lots together and get to make even a mundane activity a ton of fun. During the colder days, the “parking guys” (the men in charge of directing students to different posts) allow students to stay warm in their cars as long as they hop out to take parking fees and distribute tickets. These car times can lead to great moments for our students and staff members to have “sharpening” (Proverbs 27:17) discipleship conversations or something as simple as a quick jump into new music on Spotify.
Ultimately, in striving to be like Jesus in His discipleship of others, we eagerly seek to afford our students and leaders the opportunity to have experiences together. We love our connection group times, but we want to get our staff, student leaders, and students hanging out and living life together. There’s something about parking in the freezing cold that brings people together in a bond, and that is why we eagerly fill up the parking sign-up lists with our Salt Company students.
