Passion 2012

How do I even begin to put into words everything that was Passion 2012? I'm anticipating this to be a novel of a blog post, so prepare yourself!

Here's what I came away with after spending four days at the Dome:

1. Hope Church is an awesome community and an awesome family to be a part of. I thought I knew this before, but spending the week with 70ish fellow Hope friends was awesome and reminded me how blessed I am to be apart of this church family.

2. Speaking of family, five people from all over the continent that you find yourself in a "family group" with CAN and WILL become a family to you. This group was the best way to process everything I was learning and experiencing and share what God was showing me and to be challenged and held accountable as well throughout the week and even now that we're back to our lives too. I never thought that five total strangers would become people that I genuinely care about and am praying for and people that I would be totally open with after such a short time, but God knew what He was doing and He orchestrated it all perfectly.

My lovely family group!

3. 45,000 people in one place at the same time all trying to move from the Dome to various other buildings nearby will take a lot of time. And you will make friends with everyone around you while you're squished up against them the whole time. And you will learn patience like you never knew before. And you also will have that patience tried over and over again. But it will all be so, SO worth it.

The GA Dome

4. Yes, slavery still exists. But so does freedom. The issue of slavery and human trafficking is huge and shocking and absolutely horrifying, but God is still sovereign and mighty and righteous in the midst of it all. We are called to love people and we are called to make disciples of every nation and that means we are called to fight injustice in the world in whatever ways we can. Seeing so many college students uniting together in the name of Christ to fight back against injustice and help break the chains of slavey was the most incredible thing. Being able to learn even more about this issue that had already captured my heart and attention was so valuable and woke me up even more to what God is calling me to in my life. He lit such a fire in me to do something not just now, but continually from now on, and I'm daily prayerfully seeking what His will is for me.

5. While there were thousands of people at Passion and it would have been easy to just get lost in the crowds, I came home with so many awesome new friendships that I know will only continue to grow. After experiencing something as amazing as Passion together, how could they not?!


6. Surrendering to Him is beautiful, powerful, challenging, and exhilarating. The few days I was at Passion were the most exciting and eye-opening times, but that doesn't come without the ability to trust in Him and surrender my own plans and own control of what comes next.

7. God has blessed so many awesome people with amazing words, music, lyrics, and messages. The speakers and performers and all the behind the scenes staff at Passion were INCREDIBLE and I'll never forget the messages and songs from those four days.

8. God is God of the whole, wide world, and hearing His name lifted high in different languages is the most stunning and beautiful thing. The world is so much bigger than just the places I've experienced, and it all was made by and cherished by our same Creator.

Basically, Passion 2012=best week ever. But even more that, JESUS is awesome and it was and is all for His name and His renown.

We lift the cross, lift it high, lift it high
We lift the cross, lift it high, lift it high


We raise our white flags, we surrender,
All to You, it's all for You