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Day 7 : The Last Day
Throne Room last night was pretty powerful stuff, right? I have never cried during a worship session before and last night I was bawling my eyes out! The past year was a tough one for me and last night God made me see just how wrong I was to doubt Him, that I should have run towards Him rather than away. That despite all the pain and sorrow the year brought He had a plan in mind for me and hadn’t forsaken me. Then Debs got up and read out the following verse ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.’ (Psalm 34:18). It spoke straight to my heart and I felt it drawing me closer to God than I have ever been before.
The last day is often the most bittersweet. However for me it was one of the best! In my opinion one of the best parts of being on the Service Team is the people that you meet. Last year I had three best friends at TeenStreet, Julian, Samuel and Pedro. For the previous two years we all worked together in the kitchen and formed a close bound as a result of the team work necessary for a functioning kitchen. This year only Pedro and Samuel could come because Julian was studying for exams. Today however he came as a day visiter. I think it is probably one of the most remarkable things about TeenStreet, that despite that fact that we haven’t seen each other in a year we can pick up just where we left off and are still as close as we were a year ago. We have only spent three weeks in three years together yet we will still probably be friends for years to come. As Julian put it, ‘If this isn’t God’s handwriting then what is?’.
I would like to offer my experience this week as testimony that the Service Team can also get a lot out of TeenStreet, and to any of you who have just completed your last year as a Teen, please consider coming on the Service Team next year. I have never regretted a moment of it!
TeenStreet is always a special time of the year and I hope that you all enjoyed it, that you made friendships like the ones I have made and that you got to experience the wonder of our God! Cherish what you have learnt this week and take care.
God Bless you in the coming year,
Hannah.
Chances
It’s over! Slowly, clean-up is starting backstage, people are saying goodbye, and you can feel a certain departure mood start to set in. Saying goodbye to TeenStreet is always hard, especially when you’re not one of the first to leave. Many people I’ve talked to are so sad that it’s over – how do you have breakfast without thousands of people around you? How much am I gonna miss Throne Room, my net group or my team, the input, the many languages and faces, the typical TeenStreet atmosphere!
But now in this melancholy mood, it’s important to reflect and come to conclusions. What has God told me this past week? What did I learn about God, myself, about others? What did I like and what did I not like? What do I have to work on, what kind of feedback did I get? No matter if you’ve worked in the service team or attended TeenStreet as a teen or coach: it’s important to ask yourself those questions.
We can’t take TeenStreet back home and that’s a good thing. But on the other hand we shouldn’t stop to spend time in God’s presence and to show God’s love to others.
We can be so thankful for TeenStreet. We have the opportunity to deepen our faith and start new friendships. How would it be if we saw the next year as a chance? As a chance to not only experience God at TeenStreet, but also back home in an environment we’re used to. A chance to have a Shh-time in our daily life. A chance to meet God in worship, despite difficult circumstances.
I think we have those chances.
I end this post with a line from the song “Our God is stronger”, whose bridge I really like: „And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us; and if our God is with us, then what can stand against?” (Romans 8,31)
Day 7: The End, yet only the beginning
Hey guys. Paddy writes for the last time today
TeenStreet has come to an end and around me everything is slowly being broken down already. A week filled with meetings, faith, worship and a real God is over - it is incredible how time flies! Tears are in our eyes.
But the day was really incredible. Many new friendships have been intensified and our relationship with God has once again been brought to a climax. I want to share with you today my greatest experience and it's just an amazing blessing from God.
The Throne Room tonight surpassed everything that I have experienced so far in worship. The encounters with God that happened there were just so intense and so noticeable. I was deeply touched. I wanted to share something that happened.
I stood with a group of about 15 teens. The majority came from Bremen and there were also two girls from the Faroe Islands. We have had a very intense time together. God was just so REAL. and touched our hearts. It was incredible to feel close to God. It was as if He grabbed hold of us. He has moved us so we all prayed together.
I've been through a tough time. As we were invited to open our hearts to God, I closed my eyes and gave myself completely to God asking Him to talk to me. I opened my heart to him completely and I felt like he took all the burdens from my heart and it was completely clean. And suddenly I was so filled with his love and his freedom. God took me in his arms, he helped me get up and give him the glory.
After the Throne Room and the intensive prayers for each other, we all felt totally liberated and fulfilled by God. We were so filled with joy and enjoyed sharing our last evening at TeenStreet. We exchanged all our contacts details, so these meetings are not end but the beginning.
God wants to use us and He has prepared us at TeenStreet for that purpose. TeenStreet is indeed over, but it was only the beginning to a life with God in TeenStreet style.
This evening some of my friends have already left because they have a long way to go. Parting with the friends was very moving and tears have been shed. But in each heart was a much greater joy because we knew that God will unite us again at next year’s TeenStreet.
I hope that YOU, dear reader will join us next year and we have the honour to meet you. Next year I will definitely be back again, because TeenStreet has changed so much in my life. I am very thankful to God for TeenStreet and I could be there.
Until then…
Your Paddy
Day 5 & 6: Fancy a coffee?
Hey Guys,
Sorry for not writing yesterday, it was really busy!
In the morning we brought the kids to the OM Global Village. The OM drama crew performed for us again, which everyone found very funny, and the kids were told various stories about the work of OM. For those of you who haven’t been to the Global Village, there are several stalls where you can learn about different OM projects around the world. We attended four. The first one was made up of wooden boxes into which you place your hand. In the boxes there were various objects and the kids had to guess what they were and then ask questions about how they related to the work of OM. At the second stall they were told about OM’s work with deprived children and at the third they got to play with a remote control boat in a large paddling pool that was symbolic of the OM ships, the Logos Hope etc.. It was station four however that had them enthralled. I was with the girls group and they sat spellbound as they listened to a woman telling them about life for girls in North Africa, how they are forbidden to question anything and have no choice when it came to either their faith or their future. The girls couldn’t believe that parents would sell their twelve year old daughters to rich men as second and third wives. It was really interesting to see just how much that information affected them.
In the afternoon I went into town with some of the girls from the Service Team. Yesterday’s theme was Outreach and after lunch all the teens went out to the surrounding towns and gave away roses and bottles of water, both of which had Bible verses attached. The people of Offenburg had also asked TeenStreet to help them break the record for the longest coffee table in Germany, so the length of the town was lined with tables with thousands of people sitting down together. It was a pretty impressive sight and a lot of fun to be part of.
And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, in the evening at Throne Room, The Outbreak Band recorded their next album and an accompanying DVD.
Today is going to sound very dull now after all that. I apologise! This morning all the leaders were exhausted. I don’t think the sheer volume of energy that kids have at nine o’clock in the morning will ever stop surprising us. It really is quite impressive! We went to the Mainhall with them for half an hour, played games that involved picking up sweets using a tooth pick clamped between your teeth and threading a sting through the tee-shirts of everyone in a line. They all really enjoyed the games but we discovered that feeding children sweets before Shhh-time is a really bad idea! After Shhh-time we brought them to the Art-Zone and they all painted pictures to auction for RAG as well as put their hand prints on a banner for the Service Team parade tonight.
That pretty much brings you up to speed. I am now going to go and enjoy one of the perks of coming to TeenStreet on the Service Team, the staff café! I hope you all get to go and see the TeenStreet flashmob in Offenburg this afternoon. I also sincerely hope that you all really enjoy and cherish tomorrow, the last day of TeenStreet 2011!
Until tomorrow,
God Bless,
Hannah
Power through worship
Yesterday was my day off; I really enjoyed it. After REAL: Mainhall and our daily Fika-time I went to the lake with some friends. Even though it wasn’t really warm, we had the opportunity to relax for two hours. It was awesome to see the Outreach groups swarm to the lake and pray there together.
This year, TeenStreet is different than the years before. Through my work in the web team I get deeper insight into the backgrounds of TeenStreet. It changes my point of view: I get more of an idea of what a huge effort lies behind this event. It’s fascinating to see how people in the communications team use their talents and gifts for God: translaters, photographers, camera men and women, writers and people to work on the website. The technical equipment is very good.
Why is being a part of the service team so much fun? You are flexible, you get to know so many people, you DON’T have to be in bed at 11PM – which can be a disadvantage as well – and last but not least you can practically do something for Jesus, for the teenagers. You become a little of TeenStreet instead of just participating.
Last night, Throne Room was special to me. I somehow could feel God’s presence in a unique way, it was so concrete. Even though you’re tired after a long day and you yearn for your comfortable bed, worship is often healing and refreshing. The power that comes from God in worship can be so intense.
“Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” – Psalm 32,11
Day 6: A compliment
Hey guys. Paddy again here,
TeenStreet ends in two days already. But God's work increases more and more.
I've met many young people at TeenStreet. Many I knew already, others I've met here before. I am very moved by the growth in teens’ lives. God's work is so REAL.
Today there was the big Country Group meeting of all Germans. There were almost one thousand teens and adults from all over Germany gathered together. We sang German songs and also played a game. Today I got to take part and I won two rolls of super brilliant soft toilet paper! You must know that the toilet paper here is rather rough.
Then some shared about what they experienced during TeenStreet with Jesus. There was much to talk about the outreach, but also things that happened at TeenStreet. It was touching to see how God was working during the week.
The Throne Room was again totally amazing. I love God for everything he does here.
But now I want to share with you the highlight of my day. When I was at the Interaction Zone today, I spoke with a young person. I knew him from a festival before but we had not seen each other for a while.
And now I met him after two years. I could see how much God has done in his life of faith and how he has grown into a wonderful man with God. It was just so awesome.
I told him that and he was totally moved. Then he gave me a compliment. He said that it encourages him to see how openly I worship God.
I thank God for everything that happens here. THANK GOD.
So I must go to sleep
Your Paddy
Day 5: Outreach und Outbreak
Hey guys. Paddy types again for you from Offenburg.
Today was a super great day! It was REAL. It was a day of encounters and there was simply God's immense blessing on this day.
In keeping with the topic of the day, today was the outreach day. The whole of TeenStreet headed into the city of Offenburg to encounter people. It was just an unbelievable feeling to walk through town and see how the teens were talking with people.
How much fun we had, praising God in the pedestrian area, to making children's programmes and much more. TeenStreet helped the city of Offenburg for a record attempt to bring 6,000 people to the longest coffee table in Germany.
We shared coffee and cake with the people and had conversations with many of them.
I must say in all honesty, as I went through the city, I was almost in tears. Seeing how 2,000 teens are excited about their faith and want to share their REAL. Jesus with people, I was very touched. I supported the teens by sharing in singing but also watched the live acts on stage. It was just unbelievable! That was just one of the two highlights of the day.
We were at TeenStreet as the TeenStreet band Outbreakband, recorded their new album LIVE during the evening Throne Room. Some people had expressed concerns earlier that the recording could affect the atmosphere. But, no matter what was happening around them, the teens felt free to praise God with everything and to look for an encounter with him.
God touched hearts and changed people. He met every person. It is an indescribable feeling, to experience something like that.
For anyone who reads this and wants to experience that feeling comes to TeenStreet, look for a youth group or go to church. Meet Jesus personally. I tell you it is REAL. and he wants to meet you! He wants to live life with you!
Yesterday Psalm 106:1 jumped out at me. He has been with me all day and has surfaced again and again. Every time when I opened my Bible, I saw Psalm 106.1, which is why I will not keep it for myself but to share with you:
"Praise the Lord. Thank the Lord for he is good, his love endures for all eternity. "
With these words, I would also like to say goodbye again.
Well folks, I'm off to sleep.
Your Paddy
Day 4: The Service Team can have fun too!!
Hey Guys,
Today I had fun. A lot of fun! This mornings session with the Inbetweens reaffirmed everything I felt yesterday, they truly are a special bunch of kids who continue to inspire me. The Inbetween program was not all that different to the first day but my relationships with them are growing. The little girl who I was paired with in the ‘peg race’ yesterday came and sat down beside me and gave me a confident little hug even though she didn’t even understand when I asked how she was! It is the little moments like that that make working on the kids program a pure joy and blessing.
Also today I proved that a Service Team member can have just as much fun as a Teen! I managed to convince one of the guys I befriended in the kitchen last year to attend a swing dancing seminar and I don’t think I have had quite so much fun in a long time. To start off we were really bad, and I mean REALLY bad! When we finally got one of the moves the whole seminar stopped and clapped (pretty bad huh?). However after two hours we were dancing, I won’t say with perfect harmony because that would be a gross exaggeration, but nevertheless we were dancing relatively well. Maybe it was because we were doing it wrong but I discovered it is really sore on your upper arms and my arms had burns all over them by the end. However I would not have spent my afternoon any differently for the world!
After the swing dancing a few of us went down to the lake for a swim to cool down. It was bliss! I am Irish so twenty five degrees is a really hot day for us, therefore when the thermometer is reading 31 degrees at six o’clock in the evening it is sweltering. So a cool swim in the lake felt amazingly refreshing.
Floating in the water, out past all the buzz surrounding the shore, looking up at blue skies overhead, creates a wonderful feeling of serenity. Considering today was Sssh-day it felt rather appropriate. Being surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation always help me to feel God’s presence and swimming calms my heart. Josh and Debs asked us to find a way to stop and be still so that we can feel the presence of the Lord and today I feel that I did that. I can almost feel the happiness radiating out of me as a result of my day. I sincerely hope that some of you found as much peace today as I did.
Good night and God Bless,
Hannah
Resting in Jesus
Last night, my team was on cleaning duty. We had to wash the dishes. What felt like “cleaning some glasses and hanging around” in the beginning turned into a stressful four-hour cleaning marathon. I became aware of what making sacrifices means: bracing yourself and doing work that’s not the most exciting. Doing the dishes is important because the bar needs clean glasses – we keep the work process smooth. Exhausted I fell into my bed, uh, sleeping bag at night. In the morning I realized I had slept until 10AM, generally impossible due to the morning noise in the tent. Normally I don’t sleep more than five to six hours at TeenStreet. Even though I had missed REAL: Mainhall, I was thankful for my sleep. It’s cool how God sometimes gives us things when we’re in need.
Therefore today’s webteam devotion spoke to me in a very special way. We talked about calmness, about rest with Jesus and its special meaning. You kind of know that: “Spending time with God is important, it’s taking us further in faith … blah, blah. At least it was often like that to me. Today was different. I just became aware of how the media– especially Facebook- distracts us and pulls us away from Jesus. Our team exchanged thoughts and experiences: What else keeps us from concentrating on Jesus? What do we do instead of spending time with the one who is giving us our identity, who is our father? Decisions we make every day define who we really are.
I found these thoughts truly inspiring.
Day 4: "Let me see your funky chicken"
Hey guys. Paddy's back and brings you the latest news of the day.
Today was a very special day for me. The experiences seem to be falling over themselves and we really experienced so much with God. It was like a crazy rollercoaster ride. From profound things to high delight and great thanks, everything is possible.
Today we wanted to find God together in silence. The day was called REAL. Shhh. To be still before God. God created us to be living in His rest. We are not called to be like fish in water or to live in an environment in which we do not belong. We should live in Jesus (only Him).
Simply amazing, God wants to talk to us, even in the noise of every day life. Deep in our heart.
At lunch something cool happened. We joined a group of teens to do the "Funky Chicken". For those who do not know it, here’s a short explanation: someone begins by telling us: "Let me see your funky chicken" and the others call back: "What did you say?" They repeat this twice and then everyone mimes the movements of a crazy chicken. But that's just one of many different actions you can do in this “Funky Chicken” game - totally crazy and funny.
Then in the afternoon I played volleyball and much more and again met many new people. TeenStreet is just so awesome and you meet so many people from around the world.
No one is afraid to meet new people and they are all on the same wavelength. Everyone surfs on a wave with Jesus.
The Throne Room of the evening very good again. We had intense worship times, but also the opportunity to become quiet before God and to ask for prayer. God's words have flowed steadily into my heart and I felt very close to him.
I can hardly put into words the day really. It was just so REAL .. The day was marked by meetings, discussions and so much of God.
I can hardly say more than that: It’s time to leave.
Your Paddy
Day 3: Who am I?
Hey Guys,
TeenStreet is in full swing.
Today the boys and the girls were segregated for the main morning meeting. Seeing as all the teens were doing this we, at Inbetweens, decided to do the same. We kicked off the morning with a few games and then the drama crew arrived and preformed a dance routine that left us somewhat confused about its ultimate meaning but the kids seemed to enjoy it anyway. When the production was over we brought the girls to the main meeting.
At the meeting Debs was discussing the theme of identity and the way girls tend to find something in their lives that they cling to and form their identity around, often without even realizing it. But when that fails us we are completely lost. When that base that we have built our identity on crumbles we feel small and useless, feel that we are no good because we have lost the identity we had constructed. It was a theme that I really felt I could relate to and I was curious to see how the younger girls took it and interestingly they also seemed spellbound by Debs’s words. Words that offered us the best possible solution to the belittling whispers we hear in our heads; that no matter how low we feel, for Jesus we are enough! We are beautiful enough, special enough, talented enough, because God made us in his image and loves us just the way we are.
I really enjoyed the meeting and the girls were keen to stay for the whole thing. When the meeting was over we returned to the boys and played some more team games. There was one game where everyone was split into pairs of two and using clothes pegs, were joined together. We then had to navigate an obstacle course without becoming unpegged. Again the ability to work together without any verbal communication was astounding. All the leaders had to play as well and I was pegged to a little girl from Germany who had no idea what I was saying but she smiled shyly up at me, wrapped her arm around my waist and somehow we sailed through the course. I have been praying that I might inspire these kids but so far they have been the ones inspiring me!
When the boys left for their meeting we painted mugs with the girls. The mugs were a huge success although I think I enjoyed it as much as they did! Before I sign off for today I want to share with you a couple of photos as I believe that the smiling faces speak far more than I ever could put into words.
Good night and God Bless,
Hannah
Spare time?!
One of the things I like most about the cocktail bar is the way it’s constructed. This year, people have been really creative: As in all TeenStreets, there are small bands or single artists performing during Interaction 3.0. Since it wasn’t possible to use the actual stage in the Interaction hall, our cocktail bar supervisors had to rethink what to do – the results are impressive. The stage is now right above the cocktail bar on a scaffold. Have you checked it out yet? If not, come by and enjoy nachos and cocktails while seeing artists perform on our stage. This isn’t an advertisement, is it?
I’ll add photos of the bar for those who can’t check the place out themselves.
The mixture of working late, not having the best sleeping conditions and people everywhere at all times of the day can be tiring after a while. As much as I love the atmosphere on site, I still need to find time for myself. This is possible during Shh-time, an awesome concept, or in the late afternoons, when I’m neither working in the cocktail bar nor on the website-team. Every day before lunchtime, the web team has “Fika”, which is Swedish for “coffee time”. Our web team leader Johan is Swedish, that’s why we call it that. During Fika, we have cookies and juice, catch up with each other and even have a time of devotion. It’s a great way of growing together as a team, as well as growing spiritually individually. Service teamers don’t have a net-time and sometimes they’re not able to join the teens worshipping in the Throne Room. That’s why we have the service team devotions and a time of prayer and spiritual input within our teams.
This morning, I went to the girls’ REAL Mainhall meeting. I loved the message: We all have gifts and talents, but they’re sand in comparison to stones; they’re not giving us an eternal identity. We’re truly complete in Christ alone.
I would like to share these two Bible verses with you:
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”- Colossians 3,2
“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”- Colossians 3,17
Day 3: "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Men's World"
Hey guys. Here I am again - Paddy.
Today the day is running on a completely different schedule. The girls spent their personal time as a group and of course the guys did too. But the REAL. NET1 time was divided.
It was totally awesome to see only the guys outside experiencing their NET 1 small group time. All the more special, and my highlight of the day, was having all boys, gathered from all nations and all ages together for the REAL. programme. There were really only boys in the Main Hall. Not a single girl in sight.
We could feel free. The topic? REAL. Identity. God has a name for us and he wants to give us the name personally. He also spoke to me personally and gave me his name for me: "Son, called to live in freedom." And I thank God that he touched me in this time and set me free.
How did it go with the girls I can not tell you unfortunately. But I think you know why * lol *.
From then on it was again food and lots of "play, fun and excitement." Today I went with some teens to the lake. We were there to swim and have seen a real fun time together. God blessed every conversation and every encounter here at TeenStreet. His blessing gives everyone what he needs.
For Supper we were almost too late, but still early enough so as not to stand in long queue. Sometimes you just go another way. At supper time, each time a bench falls over or something embarrassing happens, is cheered and clapped. It is totally funny when around 500 young people applaud and cheer one, because you've knocked over a bench or something similar.
Then we were back into the Throne Room for personal worship time. God was just totally unbelievable again. 3500 people from various countries prayed for each other, sang together and came together before God. It is impossible to fully describe the wonderful experience.
So now I must set off again and take care of the teens outside. Soon we’ll be off to brush our teeth and share the NET2 group time with the teens. People do not always quieten down quickly!
For now, I need to get away from the screen!
Your Paddy
Serving Jesus-mixing cocktails
Cocktail bar…sipping delicious cocktails, listening to cool music and hanging around…sounds like a relaxing job…
Not exactly, actually people who work there should love a fast-paced work environment and stress , be flexible and be able to solve problems spontaneously. For the high popularity of the bar and a certain cocktail it’s important to sort things out and still work productively when under pressure.
Our team consists of thirty-five young people from all over Europe. We’re divided into seven teams which work at different stations at different times. One team, for instance, is responsible for mixing the cocktails, a different team sells them and another team is doing the dishes, which – as you can imagine- is a very unpopular job. I’ll be writing more about our work fields within the next few days.
What I find very important is the kind of attitude we have as a team towards our job. We should always keep in mind that we’ve chosen to “serve,” to serve Jesus and his kingdom. The following Bible verse applies to us as Jesus says: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
-Matthew 20, 26-28
Throughout the next few days I will give you insight into the work of the cocktail bar- to those who’ve stayed at home, to those who are thinking about working in the cocktail bar next year or to anyone who is just interested.
Day2: 'Meet the Kids'
Hey Guys,
Today I started my official job for the week. I am working with the Inbetweens, ten to twelve year olds for those of you unfamiliar with TeenStreet banter, and today I got to meet the kids for the first time. We started the day with a quick staff meeting at 8.45 and then the kids started to arrive.
They were full of energy and most of us, there are ten of us from the service team that are running Inbetweens, were exhausted. Being on the Service Team is great and I absolutely love it, so don`t get me wrong here, but my job in this blog is to give you an insight into life as a Service Team member and last night in the service tents it was bitterly cold. Lots of people were wearing layers and layers of clothing, some had as many as four blankets but still very few of us slept. So there we were this morning, sleep deprived, watching with a little trepidation as the kids appeared, rearing to go.
We started by playing an icebreaking game so that everyone could get to know each other and the kids were honestly brilliant! After about twenty minutes they had overcome the language barriers and were throwing themselves into the game and somehow passed on their energy to us so that soon we were as excited as they were. After they all knew each other`s names we brought them to the Mainhall event for half an hour which I think they enjoyed as they got to be part of the `older kids` as such.
After the trip to Mainstage two men from OM International drama crew came and preformed a comedy sketch and then we discussed it before spending the rest of the morning playing team games. What really struck me was the way that they all managed to bond and cooperate, despite the language barriers. I taught them a game called Ninja and it was great to see how such a simple game could bring so much joy and entertainment. Many of those who had reluctantly walked through the door at nine o’clock were animatedly interacting and working together to win the games. The girls in particular, worked well as a team and the attached photo proves not only this but is testimony of their hard work and eager spirits as well.
I hope you enjoyed your first whole day of TeenStreet 2011 as much as I did!
Until tomorrow,
God bless,
Hannah
