Thankfulness

Sometimes what is apparent is just the surface...
10 days after our event on the 5th of July, we had a party to celebrate what God had done in and through the event, to give thanks to God for being so good to us and to share stories!
We resurrected the Global Grounds space at the church which turned out to be really, really cool and got a band together to help us sing to God that He's the best!
Here are some photos of the fun!

Lots of stories were shared, actually, everyone got up and shared something that God had taught them, someone they met, how they had grown or some encouragement for those around.

Ric shared how he was amazed by the way God stopped the rain the week before the event for our bonfire, then on the day of the event (when even the pastor said it would rain!) so that we could enjoy the activities outside and the beautiful sun.

One of the teenage girls shared how she had arrived at the church early by chance and really didn't want to help out, but everyone kept asking her to lend a hand. She told us how God had used this to help her see how cool it was to help out others and then how she was impacted by the presentation during the event and even though she had grown up in a Christian home, decided it was time to give her whole life to Jesus.

Another guy shared how he had come to know Jesus because one of the other teenagers had prayed for him and invited him along to the youth events just over two years ago. He is so thankful that he knows Jesus as his friend and saviour and is part of the community. Now he had the opportunity to invite his friends along to the event (and he brought lots) to introduce them to Jesus too!

Another one of the teenagers was going to go on holidays on Saturday morning and wasn't going to be able to go to the event. She said she had been praying that something would change and she would be able to go because she really wanted to be a part of it. Through a turn of events, the family's travel plans changed and she was able to go to the event and then leave for her holiday afterwards!

A lot of the young people shared that they were excited about the event, but really believed that nobody would come. One by one they shared that that had been suprised and impacted by God's faithfulness in bringing along people to the event - friends, relatives, neighbours, people that we didn't expect - and that there were lots and lots of young people.

For me, the event was impacting in a stack of ways. I was excited to see the teenagers playing music in front of their friends for the first time and singing that they believed in Jesus and give Him glory and honour. I was excited that we had several teams of grafiteros come along and express themselves with awesome artwork. I was amazed by the quality and message of the winning artwork. I was encouraged to see the Global Grounds cafe space fully decked out and operating again. I was encouraged to see the way God is putting excitement in the hearts of young people to reach their world and to live a life worth of the calling that have received. I am excited that God is allowing me to be a part of what He is doing here in Queretaro!