2012

It's a new year! And I have to say I think it's off to a really good start. Last week I went to the Passion 2012 conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and it was amazing. I decided I wanted to make a post telling you guys about it, but I think it might have to be several posts, just because there was so much that happened that I want to share with you. It was only 5 days, but those 5 days were packed with stuff, and it might take me a while to get through it all, but I think I can manage.

Just to start things off, let me tell you a little about Passion. Basically it's a conference directed to students between 18 and 25. It's hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, and this year they held it in the Georgia Dome. 45,000 people were there this year. That is a lot of people. And that's a lot of people together for one purpose, and that purpose being to glorify God.

The day was broken up into segments called main sessions and community groups. Main sessions were like a worship service. There was music followed by speaking of some sort followed by more music. Music was led by Christ Tomlin, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, David Crowder Band, Hillsong United and Lecrae. Speakers included Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, John Piper, and Christine Caine. Community groups were divided into where you were in school or something, so I was in the gold community group for high school seniors. Within those community groups you broke into family groups of about 8 people and with those people you had Bible study and discussion with. That was pretty much what all the day had.

Here's a sample of the schedule:
Jan 02 :
- 7:00p Main Session
- 9:30p Community Groups
\- 11:30p Late Night Options
Jan 03/04 :
- 9:00a Community Groups
- 10:45a Main Session
- 2:00p Main Session
- 7:00p Main Session
- 9:30p Community Groups
- 11:30p Late Night Options
Jan 05 :
- 9:00a Community Groups
- 10:45a Main Session

We went to bed around like 3 almost every night then had to be ready to leave at 8 the next morning, so we were pretty exhausted.

Every year, Passion does this thing called Do Something Now. In their own words, "Do Something Now is a movement rooted  in the belief  that together we are a force for good. Both here and beyond Passion 2012 we want to be for the kind of worship that weds songs with action." They always have a cause they support and raise money for and this year it was freedom. I'll get into more detail about that another time, but basically, today there are 27 million people living in slavery all around the world, even in the US. During the conference they shared stories and testimonies of people who had lived in slavery, and they shared about the various organizations that they partnered with to prevent, rescue, and restore. So they asked us to donate, and their goal was 1 million dollars. By the end of the conference 45,000 students raised 3 million dollars. That blows my mind.

Passion was an absolutely amazing experience, and I'll probably post about it more, because there is so much to say, that one post won't suffice.