TEEN STREET Germany 07
The theme this year was CONTAGIOUS, and the Teens Need Teens focus was HIV/AIDS - clever, huh?! Of course, the 'contagious' was in reference to faith, not to HIV...
1. 657-700-Pic37 Dininghall, 2. TeenStreet 2007 004, 3. TeenStreet 2007 027, 4. The Twerpettes, 5. TeenStreet Germany 2007, 6. interaction zone, 7. 268-341-Pic22 Group, 8. Teenstreet 2006 141.jpg, 9. 648-453-Pic30 Face
It was also a day of frantic (for me) chasing up of home-reps to get their translations for our two main projects: the HIV Survey and the ARV Simulation. The survey would later be distributed to every teen to get an idea of knowledge and attitudes towards HIV, as well as lifestyles of the teens participating (results to be posted shortly). The ARV Simulation was an exercise we devised so the teens would realise that antiretroviral was not a quick fix for HIV. The teens were put in Net groups for the event anyways, so we got each group to nominate one person to take the ARVs (fear not, they were sweets) every day, twice a day, at set times. The 'HIV+' person was forbidden fizzy drinks for the duration of their pill-taking as that would inhibit the potency of the drugs. The others in the group had to encourage and remind etc, and a log was to be kept of the experience.
On Saturday, the teens arrived in force. Around 3,000 attended in all, with another 1,000 older teens and adults around as staff etc. So many people!!!
During the course of the week, Christopher told his testimony (if you've not heard it, hie thee hence to his site) which astounded the teens. From that point on, they ALL wanted to hug him - twas very funny for us, and slightly exhausting for him. We also gave out and got back the surveys. Belinda was a huge hit running 'Wildfire' - an interactive mini-seminar illustrating how HIV spreads.
All in all, an amazing time. I love the Throne Rooms (evening worship times), and very much enjoyed getting to know Belinda better. It was also wonderful to connect with a few teenagers. In particular, there was Danielle, a German 13 year old, who hung out with us at the stand, and Thomas and Jonathan, from Northern Ireland, who became firm favourites when they came by to bemoan the 'nausea and uneven weight gain' they were experiencing as a result of our ARVs! :)
CHELTENHAM BIBLE FESTIVAL
A few days after returning from Teen Street, I was off again. This time to the Cheltenham race course which was to be hosting this Bible Festival. OM had rented a yurt (a pseudo-Mongolian tent) and I was to be part of the team representing various social-action aspects of OM.
My team consisted of Andrew (who oversees RED -OM's Relief, Education and Development fund), Chuck (from Operation Mercy - an NGO caring for people in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia), and Asif (who works amongst the Pakistani population near Birmingham). We were showcasing the work among the Dalits, Op Mercy's work, and of course, AIDSLink.Although the event itself was very well attended, not too many people visited our yurt, which was tucked into an isolated corner. Twas disappointing. It was, however, interesting to hang out with the team. Our topics of conversation ranged from Pakistani politics to theology... It was a wonderful surprise to bump into Jenny, a classmate from LST, who had come with a group from the church she now works with. I managed to have a lovely, long catch-up with her.
And no, I didn't go to the GO conference in the Netherlands. By this time, all the busy-ness of the previous months caught up with me, so I decided to give DeBron a miss. Instead, I have been catching up with people, catching up with missed sleep, reading loads of wonderful books, attending a mind-blowing bible study on the book of Daniel, etc.
I'm also taking time to seek the Lord about the future, as my commitment with AIDSLink ends at Christmas. I would appreciate your prayer for this... :)
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