I had the honor of attending Winterfest, a youth conference in Tennessee, with our church's youth group. This is my 3rd time attending Winterfest and I have to tell you that each year I come back truly amazed at the ways in which God blesses these kids.
Winterfest is a conglomeration of music artists, drama and dance teams, ministers, and other individuals coming together for one purpose: Seeing young people's lives transformed for the glory of God. This years' theme was 212^ (degrees) because:
At 211 degrees water is HOT...
At 212 degrees water BOILS...
which produces steam which can power a train..
Just ONE degree!!!
How much more can God do, if we step it up just ONE degree??!!??
Jentzen Franklin, Tommy Bates, Reggie Dabbs, Eddie James, Excalibur, and Casting Crowns (just to name a few) were all in the house!! Talk about exciting!
Jentzen Franklin preached the first night and made sure to get the audiences attention from the start. He talked about the Spirit of Python, accompanying him on the stage was an actual python! He explained how a python literally sucks the life out of his prey. He related this to several people that society considers as "having it all." Kurt Cobain was one example, he had a group come out that resembled Nirvana and then he showed Kurt Cobain sitting on his couch and how he eventually turned to suicide to end his pain. Jentzen even read Cobain's suicide letter. This was just one of many scenes he created to present his point.
Eddie James and Excalibur performed the 2nd night. Eddie James is an anointed man of God with a love for teens that is hard to match. He and his ministry have taken in teens from all walks of life. He has over 40 teens living in his homes. They have all become saved, they have walked away from drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, prostitution, etc and are serving God. They are some of the most talented kids I have ever seen.
Every speaker, musician, and drama team member did a phenomenal job. After Tommy Bates spoke on Saturday night, kids were praying everywhere. Our kids were standing on the arm rests to reach other kids in our group just to be able to pray for them. Remember, this was stadium seating, people don't just go around standing on arm rests--that was God.
There is always a service on Sunday; however, our youth pastor chooses to do a service with just our kids at our cabin before we leave to come home. This always adds an even more personal level to an already amazing weekend. As a part of our service, he opened the floor to anyone that wanted to give a testimony of the weekend. One-by-one several students and adults stood to tell what God had done for them this weekend.
I won't disclose the specifics of what some of these kids are going through, but I will tell you this: Kids (teens) go through SO much more than we can imagine. We have kids in our group that their parents don't go to church and they have to beg on a weekly basis just to be able to come on Wednesday nights, kids whose parents curse God with no regard to their children, kids who seem like they have it ALL together yet they contemplate suicide, kids who think that they are not beautiful or good enough because they don't feel like they fit the image that society tells them they should, and the list goes on and on.
This experience changes their lives and our lives. The first thing my wonderful, God-fearing husband did when we got home last night was to sit down on the kitchen floor and hold our daughter. He had her look into his eyes and he told her, "YOU are Daddy's princess. You are beautiful and I LOVE YOU."
That is what kids need--PURE LOVE!! They just need to be loved through every mistake, every hard time and to know that there parents believe in them. They need to be inspired to reach that extra degree but NOT rebuked and held to a standard of perfection that is unreasonable.
Fanning the flame,
Tara
No comments:
Post a Comment