PASSION 2010: Day 4

This last day of Passion was both happy and sad. It was great to be there and experience the final accords of this AMAZING conference, with Louie speaking from Philippians 2nd chapter about the importance of working OUT our salvation. It was important to hear and be encouraged that the meaning of this conference is NOT only the conference itself, but what will happen after it. Should watch it on ALL DIGITAL ACCESS later and dig deeper...

I can definitely feel that this is the most important outcome of our trip to Atlanta - what we will do and how will be live after we are back to Ukraine... and I am grateful, that the Lord has started and amazing NEW season in our lives after attending Passion 2010 in Atlanta and meeting all those wonderful people. They were a great example of how to live for Christ and to have Him increased and glorified in our own lives.

It was sad to leave, but on the other hand by doing that we had another interesting acquaintance waiting for us. One of the volunteers (his name was Jim) that server at Passion 2010 and lives in Atlanta has graciously agreed to host us in his house for 2 days... He lives at Buckhead and attends church there, which is a part of North Point Community Church. Jim gave us a really warm welcome at his house and cooked great food, both days we stayed there. It was cool to get to know him better and find out about what he's doing. THANK you Jim for your HOSPITALITY!!:-)

He also gave me bunch of books and DVDs of Andy Stanley, who spoke at the conference as well, so now I am listening and reading to a lot of his stuff, which I really like... He speaks a lot on leadership, which is an interesting topic for me.

Anyway, we are leaving Atlanta PACKED with impressions, which, I am sure, will RIPPLE through our hearts and lives for MANY MORE years to come. Thank you LORD for Passion 2010 and for true AWAKENING!!

PASSION 2010: Day 3

~ 17,000 towels and ~75,000 pairs of socks for the homeless shelters of Atlanta

Ok, here we go... It seems like today the conference has really come to its peak!! What an awesome feeling it is to be among so many people praising the God of universe together in one place. The Holy Spirit was moving on the main sessions, during the time of worship (especially) and even when we would talk to people at lunch. It was extraordinary!!

Today we've heard from another two great men of God and amazing speakers: Andy Stanley and John Piper. I have never heard those guys live, but have heard A LOT about them from other people. It was so great to hear from them and both topics that they've preached on were very important and relevant to me. Accept, the John Piper's one, I am still "digesting" on...:-) Man, that guy is deep!

PASSION 2010: Day 2

Today was a first full day of the conference and finally we've got to experience what Passion is really all about. By that I mean being at the main sessions with such great speakers as Beth Moore and Francis Chan, at breakout sessions and, most importantly at community groups. At community groups it was a great time to process everything we would learn at the main sessions and also to share some personal stories and pray for each other. Later on it has also proved to be a great way to meet new friends and establish good contacts with other youth leaders.

Ok, so, here's briefly what the main sessions were all about. Beth Moore spoke on the passage from Hebrews 13:20-21 on how God equips us (makes us complete) through different circumstances to do His will in every good work.

Francis Chan taught on the importance of God's word and how important it is for us to value it, every time we open the Bible, and how we need to almost TREMBLE every time we read it. Some of the passages he used were Isaiah 66:2, 2 Peter 1:16-19, etc. What really hit home for me was when he spoke about how we need to be changed by God (and His Word) from the inside. Only this way we will not come back to the sin and our old nature like pig comes back to the mud - no matter how much you're trying to clean them.

Then at the end of the day we had a late night concert with David Crowder Band - and it was an absolutely awesome and rocketing time of worship and unique music from DCB!! Exhausted, tired, but happy and overwhelmed we came back to our hotel literally falling asleep on our way...

Oh, forgot one more thing, today we also had a meeting for international students and we've met all other guys from Ukraine. All together there were 10 of us there coming from Ukraine. Praise God for those who could have come!!

Ukrainians at PASSION 2010
(sorry for the bad picture quality, but that's the only one I've got)

PASSION 2010: Day 1

OK, today was the first day at the conference... and we are just back to our hotel room. Wow, it is hard to describe what we have experienced today. Right from the start we've felt that this is going to be a very special conference, since we were invited as guest leaders and have met so many wonderful and interesting people in here.

Today, before the main session we had a dinner together with guys, who are a part of Passion leadership team. We've met people from Texas, who have been to L'viv in the past and know some of the people we know back home. So it was cool to talk about different things together. Also, we've had a chance to see some of the main musicians from the Passion team - David Crowder (and his band), Christy Nockels and Christ Tomlin.

Louie Giglio preached the first night from John Chapter 11,12 about Jesus healing Lazarus, and how we all should consider awakening for the Glory of Gog and trade our "small" lives for being a part of MUCH BIGGER picture, that God is painting around the world.

Then we had our Community groups (where we split into smaller groups, well ours was 3,500 people) and discuss what we've heard at the sermon, sharing how it has touched our lives).

Anyhow, this is briefly how it was. All together over 22,000 have registered for the conference. So it is AMAZING to see so many united for the GLORY of GOD. Will write more later.