New Christian organization hopes to attract students through creative events
By Lindsey Newett
Staff Writer
A new Christian organization at the University of Indianapolis, known as the Deliverance Project, finds ways to get students interested in Christ through different forms of worship.
According to Deliverance Project Vice President Dan McEowen, this group reaches out to all students on a spiritual basis through Christian music.
According to Deliverance Project President Isaac Hughes, the five UIndy students that implemented this organization saw a vision and need for Christian acts on campus.
The Deliverance Project is governed by juniors Hughes and McEowen and sophomores Justin Heinold, treasurer, Garret Miller, secretary of affairs and Mike Reider, secretary of entertainment.
According to McEowen, their mission is to bring Christ to campus with Christian entertainment that allows students to glorify God through music and public speakers.
The most recent performance featured the band Jake Smith on Oct. 23 in Ruth Lilly Perfromance Hall.
The event was free, but the audience was asked to bring two canned food items for the Shepard Community Shelter.
“Our organization is not just to bring in acts, but to organize service projects as well,” McEowen said.
The Deliverance Project also looks forward to collaborating with other Christian organizations in the future such as One Accord UIndy and Campus Crusade for Christ.According to Hughes, the group envisions expanding, having better attendance and bringing those together who have a passion for Christ.
Deliverance Project students attended UIndy Life Expo last fall and handed out t-shirts to freshmen in exchange for e-mail addresses to get the organization’s name out. They also hang posters before upcoming events, send out e-mails and have a Facebook group dedicated to the Deliverance Project.
“We want students on campus to have the mindset that the Deliverance Project is doing cool things, that we are appreciated and doing something good for campus,” Hughes said.
The organization believes in giving back and will continue to have canned food donations in the future for homeless shelters.
“Our goal is to keep all activities free so that students don’t have to pay for anything,” Hughes said.
Some of the Deliverance Project’s long-term goals include being more creative with the acts that they bring in, where the venues are and getting commuters more involved.
“We would like to develop a promotional video within the next year that we can hand out showing the filming of some shows, getting interviews from band members and people in the audience,” Heinold said.
The next event for the Deliverance Project will feature Grits, a Christian rap group. The concert will be held Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m.in Ransburg Auditorium.
