GearUp

So i thought i'd just write a bit about the youth gathering (called GearUp) held over New Year's in Greater Helsinki. I was part of the planning team, which was good, although slightly stressful at times, as some of the stuff we made up (or rather felt God leading) as we went along. But I think I learned quite a bit from the experience.

The gathering involved 40(ish) team members from Finland, England and Holland, and then another 40(ish) people from Finland. It was an amazing bunch of people, and by the end we really did feel like a big family. We spent time worshiping and praying, eating, doing practical work and just being together. There was little or no division between the 'leaders' and everyone else, which was truly wonderful.

One of my favourite things about the gathering was that we spent lots of time praying for each other. At many points during the morning and evening sessions we listened to God for each other and prayed into each other's lives. But what really struck me was that whatever was going on, there usually seemed to be people praying for each other. In the prayer room, every night people were praying and prophesying over each other, and God was bringing healing to hearts and transforming people. The Holy Spirit seemed particularly keen on us experiencing His joy and freedom.

One night i was up until about 4am praying with people. Sometimes I've found praying for people a bit daunting, having to hear from God and be bold enough to say what He says to me. But more and more I'm finding that it's a joy, and I can be at peace while I pray and not striving to hear God. It's amazing to see God do deep work in people's lives, and to be able to serve my brothers and sisters in this way is really great.

New Year's Eve was another big highlight for me. Going into GearUp, we'd had lots of prayer and discussion about what the night of New Year's Eve should look like, as we wanted to be sure to make the right statement and not just go with what our cultures tell us to do. So the planning for it wasn't finished until the lunchtime of New Year's Eve. But what resulted was truly amazing.

We took as a basis for the evening: remembering the last year (wow, my 2010 was pretty crazy), celebrating God and what He did last year, and dedicating the new year to Him.
The evening involved a whole series of things, including a meal, sharing testimonies, amazing music and dancing in God's presence, symbolically leaving things from the last year at the foot of the cross, writing a letter to Jesus about our hopes and dreams for the next year, a prayer tunnel, communion, prayer for each other, and lots more.
It was far better than we'd even hoped, and a perfect way to end one year and begin the next.