We have lost a couple of Young Adult Leaders as Brian & Heather left for the airport Sunday morning to fly home. Emma has been battling a terrible illness that has been throwing off her sense of balance. Many of us has been praying for her. Thankfully we managed to get her a seat to fly her home. She should hopefully be home by now. Almost half the team has been battling colds and viruses that have been passed around throughout the trip.
Our 2nd day in Anaheim began with a group of us going to Saddleback Church on Sunday morning. Everyone else either went to Disneyland or stayed back at the Best Western. Our group never witnessed a Church like this one ever before. I wished I would have taken my camera with me, but I had to leave it behind as all my batteries needed to be re-charged. The office building alone was incredibly huge in size. There were stop lights in the parking lot. Once you parked your vehicle, you could take this 5 minute trolley ride all the way up to the Church. Once you got off the trolley, there were all these walk ways surrounded by trees & gardens. There was a prayer garden you could go to for a time of solitude. There was a bridge where you would cross over this little river to go to the main sanctuary. There were some fountains. There were fields of grass. There were coffee & donut stands you could have for free. There was a large book store. The whole atmosphere felt like you were sort of on a rich college campus. There were so many people walking around and going to where there needed to be. Apparently this Church had a congregation size of 20,000 approx. The surroundings also had a bit of a YC feel to it. One of our group members felt like they were in some sort of carnival. There were several large tents where you could choose the style of worship you wanted to sing to. We chose this Youth tent which had a Hard Rock style to it. Inside our tent, the set-up on the stage reminded me of Ignite at Ellerslie or The Project at Millwoods Pentacostal Assembly. It had many lights flashing around like a mini rock concert. They had a large plasma screen playing some really cool video footage behind the lyrics as they dissolved in & out for the songs. One of their songs had clever lyrics for the Queen cover of their song “We Will Rock You”. Other than that, none of the songs were recognizable from the traditional songs most Churches use, but the lyrics were still very God honoring. There were a few that were actually really amazing and very enjoyable to listen to. After worship & announcements, the screen would tune into the satellite feed for the sermon. All the tents would get this feed.
After the service, our group generally had mixed feelings afterwards. It was great that Saddleback was making its Church relevant to today's generation. However, we were not sure if this approach was compromising or sacrificing the integrity, tradition, and value of Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. I personally enjoyed the service, but I walked out scratching my head wondering what Jesus would have thought of it all if He walked into that Church. It was definitely an experience we will never forget.
Afterwards, everyone just did their own thing for the day. It was cool to walk down Downtown Disney to hear and see the different types of music and attractions. There was this mall called “The Block” that had a lot of stores we have never seen before. It was unique in the fact that it was pretty much a mall with no roof. After coming out of Tijuana, not many of us really had to urge to buy any material things. I think the Youth is starting to have a better understanding of what is a “want” & what is a “need”.
We are now in Utah again. We are staying at the same place as before (America's Best Motel). There is really not much more at this point to update about as we are journeying back home. I do want to say the prayer life of the Youth has been so prevalent and passionate these past few days. It has been a blessing to see them all pray for each other. We have 2 more solid days of driving ahead of us. Our last day will be the longest day as we will be crossing the border and driving through Lethbridge. If everything goes smoothly, it seems like our team will arrive in Edmonton very late in the evening on August 11. I am sure in the next couple days parents will be getting phone calls from their kids to give a more accurate update. On behalf of our Mexico Team, I would like to Thank You so very much for your constant prayers throughout this Mission Trip. We have answered God's call and completed this mission out of obedience & love.
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