Posted on February 16, 2009 - by Mary

Acquire the Fire 2009

This past weekend I had the awesome opportunity of taking 9 of our students from youth group to the Acquire the Fire (ATF) event at the Palace of Auburn Hills. I’ve been to many, many ATF events in the past, but this was one of the best I’ve attended. The main speaker, Joel Johnson, was powerful and entertaining which is great for an arena full of teenagers! Not to mention it helps us older adults stay awake, especially after a long day on the road, a trip to the mall, hotel check in, event registration and attendance, keeping tabs on hormone surged teens in a hotel swimming pool, late night pizza and only 4 hours of sleep, if that!

Friday night the event opened with Phil Joel (formerly of the Newsboys and whom I love) leading worship. He did an amazing job leading songs we currently sing at church, making it real easy to engage in worship for our youth. Then Ron Luce spoke and the video drama presentation began.

This year’s ATF theme was “Here Comes Trouble”. The “trouble” is Jesus and the video drama depicted Jesus being born in 1976, which would make him 33 currently. There was an X-files type guy gathering the evidence against Jesus throughout the drama and a couple of other characters, Mary Magdelene and Joseph (I can’t remember his  last name-they made him up). On Saturday night, the drama came to a conclusion with the crucifiction of Jesus and Mary and Joseph detailing all he did in their lives and how his life on earth affected them personally. Then, up on stage was an empty cross with a bunch of other smaller crosses laying around the bottom. As Joel Johnson spoke, the crosses were carried to various parts of the arena so the students could go to the cross, write down things they needed to leave at the cross and then nail them to the cross. Very powerful, symbolic act.

Saturday morning the session began with Casey Johnson speaking to the crowd about SEX. Then she announced that the boys were to leave the main arena and go to another room in the Palace while the girls stayed in their seats. Casey Johnson spoke to the girls about boys and girl issues while her husband Joel was speaking to the boys about girls and boy issues. Obviously I stayed with the girls and she gave some very sad statistics; 1 in 4 teenage girls has an STD. She also talked about teen pregnancy and abortion, how having oral sex is still sex and the importance of remaining pure and saving yourself until your wedding night. She also gave her testimony and a bit of her husbands and how his very first kiss was on his wedding day. I thought that was amazing!!!

Saturday afternoon, Joel spoke again on the Trouble with Parents and what it really means to honor your parents. He suggested things like offering to do things for your parents, like house cleaning and chores without being asked, not arguing with them when they tell you to do something or say no when asked to go somewhere, etc.

Saturday night, Joel Johnson spoke about the Trouble with Being a Christian and what it really means, which led right into the finale of the video drama presentation. It was amazing and I think the majority of the students we took got a lot of out this year’s event.

I learned that I like Leeland! LOL. We also saw Jeremy Camp and Kutless, both of whose music I really enjoy, and so do our teens.

The theme song was “Take It All” which we listened to over and over on the way home (I have it on my iPod). One of the girls was really moved by the song and since ATF is really working on giving everything over to God.

We stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and the kids were all hyped up! I’m so happy the server was patient and understanding. The kids weren’t bad at all, just hyper and loud!

We arrived in Gaylord about 1:10am and most of the parents met us at a gas station south of town so that was nice that we didn’t have to drive all the way to the church. It was much closer for everyone to meet at the gas station, so I was home by 1:40 which is the earliest I’ve ever made it home after and ATF event.

Overall, the experience was great! Yes we had some teen drama, but nothing as bad as I’ve experienced in years past. We are looking into going next year, but they have not set the date or location yet, so we will see.

If you’re wondering if your youth group or teens should attend an Acquire the Fire event, I would say an emphatic YES! Especially if the one near you is a smaller event. We’ve attended the larger football stadium events and they just aren’t as personal and intimate as the smaller events. As a youth leader I’ve taken anywhere from 9 students to almost 200 students and I recommend a smaller venue no matter what size of group you’re taking.

If you have any other questions about ATF, just leave a comment, and I will be sure to get back to you!

Related posts:

1. Chosen Youth Conference 2009-Livin’ the Dream
2. Chosen Youth Conference 2009-Gaylord, MI
3. The Secret Life of the American Teenager
4. The Big Ticket Festival 2009 Highlights
5. Rock Band or No Rock Band