It started in her senior project class, where students can do whatever they want before they graduate—well, OK, there is work involved. One student tried making snowboards. Another wrote a cookbook. Someone even gave swing dance lessons!

“It’s a chance to go after your dreams and get credit for it,” Chrysandra says.

Chrysandra had a dream, too. It happened to be huge.

“I wanted to do something that glorified God,” she says. “We all have extreme potential through Him, and to get that message across, I decided to do a conference.”

Free Food!
But Chrysandra wasn’t envisioning a couple of boring speeches. She wanted bands, a comedian, drama presentations, great speakers, food and even prizes—and she wanted the whole event to be free. Once she captured her vision, there was one small problem: She had a ton of work to do.

First, Chrysandra met with the staff of the youth ministry Dare 2 Share, to learn more about planning events. Then she kicked into high gear.

She called music labels looking for bands—she even tried to book tobyMac! Let’s just say he was a little out of her budget. Then Chrysandra started looking for speakers, a place to hold her event and prizes to give away. She even did her own marketing survey and passed it out to students, asking what would make them want to come.

“Everyone said ‘free food,’ ” she says.

So she called restaurants, too. In fact, Chrysandra’s life turned into a whirlwind of phone calls, letter-writing, meetings and planning. She met face to face with business managers of big corporations and asked for donations and prizes.

“Sometimes I was nervous,” she says. “I’d be sitting across from them, thinking, Father, what are you doing? I’d pray while I was talking to them.”

Then Chrysandra talked to TV and radio stations for publicity and designed flyers, plus she organized teams to hand them out. And she invited volunteer organizations to come so students could find out ways to help others in their town. All this while holding down her other classes; did I mention Chrysandra was busy?

“You’re only supposed to spend 15 hours outside of class on the project, but I spent 220,” she said. “But God put a passion in my heart.”

Doing the Unimaginable
But it wasn’t always easy. Chrysandra struggled with finding a date that would work for everyone involved. It was hard to find a place for the event. She tried to book four different speakers and ran into roadblocks.

“One time I was crying to my mom. I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “I just had to trust God that He would take care of it.”

Another test of her faith followed: Chrysandra had to convince students at a public school to come to her event. At first, she says, she was afraid to call it a Christian event, afraid of what her friends would say, until she put fear in its place.

“It hit me: I need to be bold. Jesus Christ was bold. He wasn’t worried about what people thought,” she says. “I had to realize we can do unimaginable things through Jesus. It taught me to stand up for what we’re called to do.”

Then the day came. Chrysandra showed up at the venue—and watched God take over. Volunteers came to set up and decorate. The food was there. Hip-hop, rock and worship artists came. A drama company and guest speakers arrived. There were merchandise tables, booths to visit and free stuff from more than 40 organizations (including 300 Brio magazines!). You could even get a free haircut. Detail after detail just fell into place.

“I was shocked how everything came together,” Chrysandra says.

Then the people came. More than 350 poured in and heard music and messages that reflected God’s love, while they walked away with food, prizes and a real-life example of faith in action. And yes, Chrysandra walked away with an A on her senior project.

“People were so amazed at what God did. So many of them told me, ‘You can’t do this, it’s way too big of a task,’ ” Chrysandra explains. “But God does things that are impossible. And if we’re motivated to do something He puts on our hearts, we can do it.”

Chrysandra’s Tips for Success
• Find people who will support you, push you and encourage you.

“No matter how well you plan everything, something will change or come up.”

• Be persistent—maybe even a little stubborn.

• Learn to talk to others. “Approach people and find things you have in common. This helps you to be better at proposals, meetings and talking to new people. It also helps you stay connected with others. You never know who God will use to help you with your dream!”

Surprise!
Chrysandra was most surprised when . . .

“One of the bands couldn’t come on the original event date, so we had to change the date just two weeks before it was supposed to happen.

“On the first day of working on the project, I tried to call tobyMac’s manager—and actually got to speak to him!”