Three weeks on the road... Week one: Easter Fest!!

It's been a while since I've written an update!

Week one of our long trip on the road, we had the privilege of helping out at a Christian music festival called Easter fest.  There was a lot of manual labor in helping set up, I was with the boys much of the time setting up tents, stages, moving crates and speakers, as well as decorating for shows.  This really taught me how to have a servants heart and just how far my body can go and be strengthened!  There was a separate crew area where we would hang out during breaks and meals, as well as wait to be recruited to the next job.  

^^ Here is a picture of our fashionable high visibility gear, taking a break from set up ;) ^^

When the festival actually started, we were shifted on for 8 hours a day doing various duties. I helped with security (checking wrist bands at the gates), setting up for certain shows (I got to help set up Tigertown's show complete with christmas trees and fake snow! Their performance later was absolutely magical, and they shot video for a music video they're working on. It was so cool to be able to be a part of something like that!), serving Chai tea in the YWAM tent, etc.  All of these opportunities led to good conversations with people, some of whom are now convinced that they'll join YWAM and do a DTS and even attend the University of the Nations!  God taught me a lot about how far my body can go with lacking sleep and constant energy output, as well as perseverance.  Some mornings I felt miserable, sitting out in the cold and rain near sunrise... But through that, I was able to have meaningful conversations and begin relationships with people, God's hand was all over those situations!

Ever since the beginning of DTS, Taco has been singing and playing this song on his guitar by Mark Lowndes, so its kind of become a theme song for our group.  We got to meet up with him after his show at Easter Fest, in which he didn't play the song! The funny thing was that his wife told him he had to play that song that night, but he forgot!  He said he would come to our crew kitchen and do a special show just for us.  That was such a cool experience, getting our group song specially played for us in our kitchen behind the scenes.  SUCH a special time!  Below is a picture of our YWAM group with Mark in the middle.

A huge praise: A girl's neck was constantly bothering her all week long, and God healed it as I prayed!  She said it felt better after that, and any time during the day it would spontaneously flair up again she'd simply pray again and the pain would go away, praise God for He is faithful!

Easter was absolutely crazy.  It dumped rain on us all day long, so that all of the walkways were just a foot of mud to sludge through.  Everyone walked around barefoot with their pant legs rolled up because any shoes would be demolished in the mud.  It made for an interesting adventure of a day!  Definitely not the typical fancy breakfast and dinner with the family, painting easter eggs and reading the bible together!  But I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, it was probably the most memorable Easter I've ever had. Not many people can say that they got to worship God out in the dumping rain and mud at a huge festival that they volunteered at on the opposite side of the world from their home!