Day 4 at the National Youth Gathering was a day filled with fun, learning, and worship.
Some of us this morning braved the rain to get to Cobo to play some games. We played gaga ball, air four square, and watched bumper cars (the line was super long).
Becca Nikolas spent her time this morning donating over 8 inches of her hair to a Detroit non-profit that supplies wigs for children that have medical conditions.
For the afternoon, we joined the other 900 youth from the SW MN Synod at Synod Day. We looked at Mark 2:1-12 and talked about our own stories. We then worshiped with each other and shared communion. Bishop Jon gave us a moving sermon about his own life.
Tonight during worship, we sat with our friends from Annandale.
Worship tonight was the best yet. The crowd really moved when two members of he Temptations (yes, THE Temptations) sang along with a member from the Miracles and a member from the Capitols to get us moving to some of the biggest Motown hits in history.
The main speaker was Pastor Steve Jerbi who shared a moving story about a 13 year old member of his congregation who was murdered by his neighbor because of the color of his skin. Despite all the troubles of this world, we still claim Jesus.
After Pastor Jerbi spoke, the closing song hit the message home.
After worship, Karla Mohagen had some students write one sentence about the night. Here is what the students had to say:
"I think it's really cool how none of us 30,000 people know each other but we all treat each other like we're friends and we're all kind to each other."
"The feeling I felt on the final song, I felt as though I was connected in some way to every person in the stadium."
"The guy who talked about the 13 year old boy in his congregation who was shot because of his color really touched me. I hate racism."
"Something that struck me, was the guy who had depression and suicide all around him, he still managed to persevere."
Even though we all have our own stories, we are one when we claim Jesus. Our group has claimed Jesus and only when all claim Jesus will we see an end to hatred in our world.
Our students are doing a wonderful job proclaiming the Good News. Someday, the world will be as we pray, "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven."
As we walked home, we joined the crowd getting out from the Detroit Tigers game. The Tigers won, making for positive attitudes and comradery. There was even a fireworks show celebrating the win!
Tomorrow we spend the day Proclaiming Community in the Cobo center through interactive learning and team building.
We'll be back with another update tomorrow. Until then, no mountain too tall and good luck to all.
-Anders