WhiteEagle’s Aerie and Blog

My Youth for Christ 2008 experience!

I’m finally home from Youth for Christ 2008, and let me say it was an experience I am glad I had! From the stuff I learned to the music I sang and listened to, it enriched my life. I wouldn’t have traded the last 2 ½ days for anything else in the world!
When we got there Friday night around 6 pm and into the arena by 6:30, it started with a bang literally at 8 pm! They set off fireworks inside Rexall Place to start Youth for Christ 2008. The theme of this year’s event was Passion, and was the first night good evidence of it. Even before the official kick-off, people were chanting stuff like the following:

We love Jesus, yes we do!

We love Jesus, how about you?

The first general session’s worship time was led by Tim Hughes (great music!), and the speaker that evening was John Bevere, who spoke about the fear of God. It was good. Following that was a short intermission, and then was the event I personally had been waiting all evening for: The Skillet concert! It gave me a sore throat for the next morning (due to all the screaming I did ) and a headache. I tried getting rid of the headache by sleeping it off, but it was to no avail. I guess it doesn’t help that I had eight other guys in the same room with me as well (who were having a jolly old time goofing off)!

On Saturday morning, when we got to Rexall, people started the wave (like at a hockey game) and believe it or not, it went around the arena five (5 ) times before it quit! The chanting of what I quoted was then started again, until the second main session began. Before the main worship, Bean and Bailey performed on-stage. Again, Tim Hughes led the worship, but the speaker was Reggie Dabbs, who was quite funny, yet serious at the same time. Following the day’s first main session came the workshops. I went to the first one (which was for guys only) by Matt Tapley. He talked about how to keep our minds pure in today’s world of constant bombardment of sexual imagery. He said this:

You know that things have spiralled out of control when advertisers use sex to sell kitchen appliances. What does sex and a fridge have in common?

I learned some tips, and what to do in order to deal with the problem in my life. I learned that I have to do these two things in order:

1. Push the things that tempt me away from me as far as possible. Jesus said “Flee from temptation!”
2. Deal with the internal problem (ie. the soul and heart of the matter).

I then went to the Sportex, where I played some Mini Golf, QB Blitz (get as many yards as possible in two minutes by trying to throw a football through 3 different sized holes), Slapshot Hockey (try to shoot a ball between a goalie’s (a plastic target) legs), First Down Basketball (try to drain all your balls before your opponent), and tried out the Sports Colosseum (basically a big, enclosed air mattress to jump on). I may have tried some of them later after my second workshop, this one by Aaron Stern. He talked about how to keep God first while dating, and what to look for in the ideal match. To condense what he said about keeping God first while dating (he used Tim Hortons…not my favorite restaurant), basically he said make God the number one in your life, and any partner will have to be the number two. I then went back to the Sportex after getting some onion rings for a snack, where I wanted to see EPO, a dance group, but it was full by the time I had arrived, so I went and played some 3 on 3 ball hockey after wandering around then checked out Hall A where the general store and Exhibitors booths were. At 5 to 5pm, I headed back the vehicles we came in for burger and a bottle of water. We headed back to the arena at 5:30. That evening, I saw 2 concerts before the message by Reggie Dabbs. The concerts were first Papa San, followed by Hawk Nelson. Both were great!

Before the message, they took an offering for YC: Malawi. During it was taking place, people tried doing it, but they asked people to stop, so they began that chant from Friday night. Man, that got loud! After the offering was done, they had the people do the biggest wave ever. That was fun to do. Tim Hughes performed a concert after Mr. Dabbs was finished speaking (and after he had done a contest to see who was better for all time, boys or girls, the boys won of course Reggie said he wanted the guys to win! ). I learned from him that I had to seize the day!

On Sunday morning, we were up earlier due to the fact that we had to leave the church by 7:45 am. We got to Northlands at a good time. Worship that day was led by Leeland, because Tim Hughes had to fly home to England the previous night. Before that, Amanda Beeching performed two songs on-stage. The morning’s speaker was Phil Pringle, and the message was good. I left a few minutes early so I get an early spot in line for Laser Tag: Battle Cruiser, because the lines were crazy-long the day before. I managed to be a part of the 3rd group, and what a game I had. I next tried out Tiki Island (wall-climbing), but didn’t have the strength to haul myself up. :(  I next waited in line too long for Euro Bungee, so I left, hoping to get a good spot for Hawk Nelson’s performance. I didn’t even get a seat, and I was developing a headache, so I left early, and went to Hall A, where I checked out the stuff a bit more carefully, and then bought 12 CDs from the General Store using my MasterCard to pay for the expense. (I still have to rip them to my computer. ) I then went and got a great seat for Panic Squad’s workshop on Improv Comedy. They taught the two main rules of it, and did a scene, followed by two with volunteers (I didn’t get picked.), and finished up with a question and answer period. I didn’t get my question on how to choose a good general topic answered, cause they ran out of time. I then had to run and meet my group by a tree outside Rexall. I was a little late because I had forgotten which tree to meet by!
For the final session, Leeland again led us in worship, and Reggie Dabbs came and spoke for the final message. Following a 10 minute interval (where I went and got some nachos and a large iced tea), we were treated to a Newsboys concert. I again lost my voice to my screaming, but in these last words: “It was worth it!”. We then first went to a McDonald’s for supper, and then came home, where we had one group photo before we left for our own homes.