Last night was the the first night of the Auckland Harvest, a Christian event held at Vector Arena in which Pastor Greg Laurie from the USA was going to give a talk. There were also going to be several well known Christian bands performing as well. They hold this event all around the world and apparently it's in huge demand, with heaps of people having to be turned down at the door.
We originally heard about this event at OCF several weeks ago, and mentioned it to a few of our friends in our youth group. Signs have been going up around Auckland in the last few weeks too and quite a few people have heard about it. That's why we were determined to get there early so we wouldn't get turned away and waste all our effort to get there!
We originally had a dilemma involving transport though, as we could only take one extra passenger, but we had about 3-4 friends who wanted to go too but didn't have any transport! I managed to convince my mum to let us take both cars, with Aonghas driving one and me driving the other (she could sit next to me if she really, really didn't trust me!). The weather was getting worse which made her trust me even less!
We finally left, with Hamish, my mum and I in one car and Aonghas, Jireh, Andrew and Ben in the other. I got to the city first and Aonghas and the others eventually arrived.
We all took a long walk through the rain to Vector Arena where there was already a huge crowd outside the stadium! We heard that we needed tickets to get inside, so while the others got in line, Jireh and I went searching for whoever was handing out tickets. We discovered you get the tickets as you wait in line! Grace soon met up with us, we eventually got our tickets and made it inside.
Rebecca had told me she was going as well, and so I rang her and found out she was waiting outside with her friends. Somehow I managed to spot them come in and take their seats which was unexpected, considering how many people were there! We all tried waving frantically and calling her (but she wouldn't pick up), but she eventually spotted us and waved back!
Finally a video played on the large screens, then a countdown began before the first band The Katinas began playing on stage. I have to admit I wasn't sure I'd like them but they turned out to be the band I enjoyed the most on the night!
After a short introduction by one of the pastors involved in organising the event, the second performance by Phil Joel, a New Zealander took place. He ended his performance with a rendition of the National Anthem.
Martin Smith (former lead singer of Delirious) performed after the offering (buckets were passed all around the stadium). We got a pleasant surprise when we discovered our old school friend Jonathan Wilson was playing the drums in the background for him!
To close off the music numbers, Jeremy Camp, who is probably the most well-known of them all took to the stage.
Even though I didn't really know any of the songs they sung (besides God Defend NZ), it was quite fun singing and screaming (with the words on the large screen) and clapping along to the songs.
Finally Greg Laurie took to the stage. He spoke of how we never know how long our lives are and how we are all sinners. He talked about a whole lot more, but I'm not very good at paraphrasing what he said though!
He was a very good speaker though, making references to celebrities and New Zealand which made for a very interesting talk. If only he could give a sermon at our church!
He was a very good speaker though, making references to celebrities and New Zealand which made for a very interesting talk. If only he could give a sermon at our church!
It didn't feel like his talk lasted very long, despite it lasting for at least an hour. He finished his talk by inviting everyone to declare their commitment to God by coming down to the floor in front of the stage and praying together.
As The Katinas played, we all went down and I'm sure a sizable chunk of the audience did too. Greg then led everyone in a mass prayer in which we recited what he said (I'm aware of how cultish this sounds!).
People then handed out these Bibles with commentary written by Greg to us for free. They also took down our contact details as well to get in touch with us later on I suppose. Grace, Hamish and Aonghas were apparently snubbed by some lady after she asked if they could speak English and if they went to church (to which they replied 'yes' to both questions).
People were slowly leaving the stadium and we made our way out. After I made a trip to the toilet, we bumped into the Living Water Fellowship! It was cool how they recognised us and said hi to us! We all took a group photo before leaving.
It was 10pm and we were all starving so we decided to find somewhere to eat - McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's. None of us could decide so we dropped by McDonald's before finally deciding to go Wendy's!! Oh yeah! Some of the guys had huge meals while some *cough* Grace *cough* only had a teeny weeny cheesecake!
It was 11pm by now so it was time to head back home just in case the others' parents were worrying! The guys went back home in Aonghas's car while I took my mum, Hamish and Grace home, getting lost on the way.
It was a great night out with Christian friends, and a good first experience at Vector Arena!
No comments:
Post a Comment