We've completed our fourth EJE in Spain!
This has been the very best and we have already seen God do an incredible work in the hearts of the youth living this particular event for the first time. Our hearts have been moved as well with hope for what God is doing in the young people of Spain. What a treat to experience first hand 45 youth working together to serve their peers and communicate the reality of a God who loves them so much that He gave his life. Now we wait for the privilege of hearing the stories of how this has affected the relationships of most value to them.
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Our first EJE in Spain took place in January of 2006, after seven years of preparation. It would not have been possible without the help of 25 Argentinean youth, experienced in the direction of the event, who came to help us. Then, for our second EJE in October 2006, we only had 4 come from Argentina. All the others were youth from various cities in Spain, many of them who participated for the first time in our first event! This is clear evidence that the event impacted their lives and that they believe in its value for impact in the lives of their friends. Our 3rd event took place in March of 2007. We are seeing that it is a tremendous tool to bring spiritual healing to the lives of Spanish youth.
Now, in January of 2008, we have a strong group of young people just from our participating churches in Madrid. The next step is to use these youth to begin new centers for the EJE event in other parts of Spain. This will develop over the next 2 years as we organize this event in cities like Barcelona, Malaga and Sevilla. Above all we have experienced a tremendous blessing being able to serve the youth of Spain and giving them a way to allow God to move and minister through them to their peers.
What is EJE?
EJE is a huge production - art, audiovisual, music, acting - and also an intense time of personal sharing. The name itself is an acrostic, which might translate to "Spiritual Youth Encounter", but also means "axle". Usually there are two people "working" EJE for each one who "lives" it. Our rented facility allows for 35 youth to experience the event for the first time with each EJE. Many of the youth invited to attend EJE either have unbelieving parents, or fathers who have little or nothing to do with them. Some of their fathers, who in the past didn't care a bit about what their kids did, even refused to give permission for them to attend the retreat. Please continue to pray for those who were not able to attend and for parents who need softened hearts and who will do their part to give their kids a fantastic weekend at some future EJE weekend. We appreciate your continued prayers for those who did attend the retreat, the relational and spiritual issues that many are working through, and the follow up that will happen with each of them.
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What was our role?
Ellie was instrumental in intercessory prayer, supporting behind the scenes every step of the way, while Paul had a key role in the video and audio production tasks as well as the music through the weekend. The result of this event will be more evident in the coming months, but the youth who "lived" the experience for the first time have been forever impacted in how they relate to others and to Jesus and now they have a practical tool for reaching their peers for Christ. We prayed continually that the kids would meet God and be convinced of his deep, deep love for them.