REAL. experiences

It's 3:37 in the afternoon and I'm sitting in my pajamas, staring out the window, hearing nothing but the whirr of a lawn mower. The night before, I went (or rather, tried) to sleep in a concrete-floored warehouse, listening to the tear down team pull an all-nighter dissembling the entire stage with nothing but 4 plywood walls separating me and the fork lift. The last night at TeenStreet. 

This was my third TeenStreet (TS), and I think this was the most successful and spiritually challenging one I've witnessed. The theme was "REAL." with each day having it's own theme to fit inside that.

• Sunday - REAL. Jesus [who Jesus was as a man.]
• Monday - REAL. identity [finding our true identity in Christ.]
• Tuesday - REAL. shhh [how to be quiet with and listen to God.]
• Wednesday - REAL. encounters with Jesus [outreach in the city, and how it feels to encounter Jesus.]
• Thursday - REAL. last supper [what Jesus' death accomplished and what that REAL.ly means to us.]
• Friday - REAL. GO. [how to take what you've experienced at TS back home with you, and a missions emphasis.]

This week, the teens got to experience what a real relationship with Jesus looks like, and many were healed emotionally, physically and spiritually.

3,665 people attended TeenStreet this year, with around 2,000 being teens and 1,500 staff. Like I previously mentioned, my role was co-leader of the Newsletter team. The newsletter team is one small section of the Communication Team.

Communications Team

Here's what our little world looked like:

Our "office" backstage. Brainstorming "white boards on the walls." 

The befits of working backstage... 

our boxes for each language of the newsletter

Newsletter team's gotta have their inspiration!

Santa paid us a visit. You never know what's going to happen at TS. 

There are a few significant and fun things that happened this week you should know about. 

First, the official TS band [The Outbreakband] recorded a live CD during one of the worship sessions, and the CD will be available in October! This is one of my favorite songs by them.

Then, on Outreach Day, the teens had the opportunity to go into the city and make an impact on the people. Before we came, the TS programme [I'm going to have to start using British English] team asked the city if there was anything we could do. A goal of theirs was to beat the record for "Germany's longest coffee table." So, with 1,375 meters [4,511 feet] of 625 tables in the city centre, we served coffee and cake to the city while helping them beat the record! The people of Offenberg were also prayed for, given Bibles and roses, and served in lots of other different ways.

Lastly, I thought I'd leave you with a few pictures of TeenStreet in general so you can get a feel of what my week looked like. If you want to see more pictures, read the TS blog, or watch videos from the week, you can check out the website. 

Teen lounge

worship with art

this wasn't planned, plaid is just all the rage in Europe! :)