Opening Night video!

Check out the premiere on YouTube!

TeenStreet 2010!

It's amazing what can happen in a few days, especially when you're running around Europe and changing locations what seems like every week.

I'm currently in Oldenburg, Germany at a youth conference called TeenStreet. It's the same one as last year, just in a different location, more teens, and new personal responsibilities.

Check out our stories and see us on the webcam here!

I was informed the second day I arrived that I would be head of the Newsletter Team. The original leader unfortunately couldn't get the right paperwork to be here, so we didn't know until the last minute if she could come or not. We miss her a lot, and wish she could be here, but we can already see how God was working through that before we knew there would be problems in the first place.

So my team (it still feels weird and arrogant to refer to them as "my team") consists of 7 people: four writers and three graphic designers. It was kind of unnerving that a few hours after I took this new position I saw my name and photo in a team leaders packet for the conference.

I'm proud to say that my team was an hour and a half early for their first deadline yesterday (celebrated with late-night ice cream), and it looks like we're going to be almost two hours early today. I feel like I should be doing a lot more work, but the entire team is so great - they're making it really easy on me. (Maybe it's because I'm used to running around scrambling for content 2 hours before deadline for the student newspaper.)

The first official day of TeenStreet is today, and the kickoff ended about 30 minutes ago.

Quick Statistics:

• Total number of people at TeenStreet: 3,587
• Teenagers (13 - 17 years): 2,060
• Leaders/Service Team: 968
• Countries represented: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Bolivia.
• Translation: The newsletter is translated into 12 different languages and the main sessions are translated into 13!

So as you can see, TeenStreet is very international, and once again, I'm amazed at the tribes, tongues, and nations gathered to glorify God.

Here's a few photos from the beginning of the week!

Here's the office:

The main stage area:

The main stage area FULL!

OM International:

Our favourite town square with our favourite ice cream cafe!

five fun photos

(Don't forget you can click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

1. The Queen's Garden- Regent's Park

This is where we had our friend, Nathalie's, birthday party. Beautiful place for a picnic and definitely made me feel like I was in a high - society Jane Austen scenario.

2. The Dining Hall- Oxford, England

You might recognize this shot from Harry Potter as the Great Hall in Hogwarts castle.

3. Christ Church - Oxford, England

The courtyard featuring a well and a Olive tree.

4. The Tent - London, England

Made in 2010 by Hannah, Bianca, Adrienne, and Andrew, this tent features multiple multi-coloured sheets, flashlight lighting, and three couches inside! Ideal for scary stories and chocolate.

5. a cool castle that I can't remember the name of - near Carlisle, UK

The smaller part peaking over the hedge on the furthest left of the picture is Karen and John's house. It's the chauffeurs cottage of that castle. Since the castle is shut down, Karen and John's backyard is the castle's backyard. Best dinner ever.

farewell to London

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the lack of updates, it was a whirlwind these past three weeks.

Yesterday was my friend Hannah and my last day in London. We're in Carlisle right now for about three more hours and then we're off to Germany for TeenStreet!

So another quick overview of what happened the last three weeks (in list form!):

• My friend from university, Hannah, arrived in London to be a communications intern with me.
• We spent hours writing/designing brochures, powerpoints, postcards, and newsletters.
• We were also a part of outreach teams (we requested to be on two separate teams to cover more ground)
• During the outreach, my team stayed at a church with no showers. Challenging, but the 15-minute walk to the pastor's house every other morning was ... invigorating!
• On our first day off, Hannah and I went to see Les Miserables.
• On our second day off, Becky, my supervisor boss lady from last summer came to London to visit Hannah, Lori (my supervisor boss lady in London), and me. We had a fun day eating, talking, and just catching up together.
• When the outreach was over, Hannah, our friend Dominic, and I went to Oxford for a day trip this last Monday.
• The next day, Tuesday, was our friend Nathalie's birthday, so we went to Queen's Park (a rose park/garden inside a larger park in London) with a group of people to celebrate and then we ended in a very local pub. It was amazing, there was a pianist who was playing songs from the 1920's - 40's and everyone in the pub knew all the words. There were people from ages 20 to 80 and they were all singing "On the Street Where you Live" and "I could've Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady. It was a fantastic birthday for Nathalie, and a perfect last night in London for us.
• Wednesday (yesterday) Hannah and I took the train to Carlisle and had a fantastic dinner with a couple that I had met here last year. But I think that dinner deserves an update by itself.

Okay, so I will be doing a picture blog within the next few days because some stories and things we did just deserve pictures. BUT for right now, I will leave you with another video that Hannah and I put together for our blog readers. So enjoy!