spring forth

There is no better feeling then walking into a gym of youth, hearing a thousand voices singing in harmony, feeling the emotion of hearts bursting with praise and sensing the overwhelming presence of power.

The atmosphere. The energy. The unity. ... it was so exhilarating!

Last weekend the Atlantic Baptist Youth were in Moncton helping to run an event called Spring Forth! This year I had the opportunity to sit on a planning committee who oversaw and organized the full event and I was humbled to see how much it took to put the event together. We have some crazy talented people working in ministry in Atlantic Canada!!
1700 attendees
3 locations
24 hours
so many hearts changed!
Dave Currie spoke and we were blessed to have him take his daughter along. At one point they split up the girl and boys for a more gender specific subject talk. I caught the last few minutes of Jody's (Dave's daughter) talk. She is a brilliant relationship therapist who spoke to the girls about self-worth and their value as a child of God. As the girls exited the gym, she filtered them through one door and made them look themselves in the mirror and say "I am valuable". It was heartbreaking to see the amount of girls who could barely say those words..."I am valuable" without tears. As I held the door for them as they exited, watching their faces full of tears and empowerment, I got a vivid picture of the self-worth the females of our generation hold for themselves. Each girl was given a sticker for their mirror that said "Help me see myself how You see me" and a copy of the love letter from Jesus for them to take home.
The event was an absolute success. I personally think it was the best one I've been too. The youth were involved in the event on a whole new level. From the film fest and arts fest to the offering and choir, the students had so many chances to get involved and display their spiritual gifts in front of their peers in a loving, Christ centered environment. It was so powerful.
Leading up to the event, God had prepared my heart for a big weekend as I was evaluating things in my personal life... a process, I am learning, I should constantly be doing. When we identify a problem in our character and bring it to God, He doesn't just fix it for us, He gives us opportunities to fix it while growing a dependence on Him for the strength to overcome! I was given so many opportunities at Spring Forth to work through these issues and I am so thankful for a loving community of believers that will stand by me and love on me as I work these things out. God gave me with so many challenges and with that came an equal amount of support pushing me in the right direction! Most of them would have had no idea I was working through anything at all... but that unconditional forgiveness and the attitude of understanding was so uplifting!
For some silly reason, I had the idea that if the event was geared towards youth, then the youth were there to be filled and I was there to serve them... well... God sure shook that one up. God had been filling me and preparing me as I prepared for this weekend to not only pour into the youth at the event, but to be poured into by the leadership team, the speaker, band and even the youth.
There is nothing I love more then working on a team for youth events and seeing God being glorified and work through that.
God is so great.