Teenstreet....

Was interesting. I've never been on the other side of a camp where you're involved in some form of preparation, or get to see anything going on in the background. Not often have I had people know me not as a person, but as a figure who did something and was somewhere... Not on this scale anyway.

It was just like back in my six months of high school where people would know me because of who I knew, who my best friend was, and because somewhere along the line someone decided to announce that I was popular. One of the reasons for my leaving government school was because it just got so sickening. Yet there I was, on the stage, singing my guts out, drowning in the beautiful voices of hundreds of teens, mine joining theirs as a back up vocal singer. There I was, somewhat dishearteningly, with people looking up to me not because they knew me, but because I was on stage every night. They knew it wasn't a performance and we certainly weren't performing either, but they still idolized and made us up to be something greater than we were.

This year during Throne Room (the worship sessions), I wanted to be just another teenager singing and worshiping the Lord, albeit having to be up on the stage. I wanted to be seen as just another person offering up his life, and doing the best he could with all his heart.

But for all my want, being up on stage changed their perceptions.

For all my want, being up on stage somehow made me something bigger in their eyes.

For all my want, though I was just like any other one of them, they seem didn't think so.

The greatest thing is to see an everyday, normal, down to earth guy do great things and be a great influence on people. It's such a great ministry to be able to lead people yet be on the same level as everyone else. But somehow I don't think I succeeded in doing that.


But my personal struggles shall be my personal struggles, shared with few, understood by less.

The majority of my time was spent practicing for Throne Room, Throne Room itself, the sessions, catching up with my sleep in between (desperately trying not to fall severely sick), and hanging out with my friends; old and new. I particularly liked the all guys sesh where they talked about the struggles we may go through that would prevent us from completely surrendering ourselves to God. One of them was about trying to be perfect/appear perfect, as if we have to live up to some undefined expectation. Another was living our lives off the approval of others, seeking it out no matter what the cost. And the last was feeling as if you weren't good enough to do something, was too lousy, or just not capable. The traps showed that no matter what race you were, we all go through the same things, or have gone through them. I think it really ministered to some of the younger teens, and by all means the older ones too.

Though every teen walked away from the camp with a different message, I think the one central thing they took away with them was the desire to influence the people around them for the better. The theme was InGear, and was about engaging the community around us. Everything else revolved around it.

What I left with was a desire to better equip myself with every single weapon I could muster, so that I will be able to be a great influence on others. You know that verse about being the salt and light to the world? Well heh, you wanna be salt? First you gotta be salty.

Overall Teenstreet was a great experience. I had lots of fun, met loads of people, scared some with voodoo.... *ahem*... I meant magic.


If things permit, I'd like to go again next year.

I definately would.



Other posts....

Julia

Eugene