Acquire The Fire
a ministry of Teen Mania
This is my page I'm setting up to bring all things ATF into one page...
Acquire the Fire has been an enormous blessing to me over the past 7 years, and I've been getting hits from search engines simply to photo galleries
from previous years. So I'm finally getting around to dedicating a page on my site to Teen Mania's ministry.
Linkage:
Acquire the Fire | Teen Mania | Teen Mania Canada
Here are some photo galleries from previous years...
ATF 2005 - Battlecry
ATF 2004 - Keep It Real
ATF 2003 - The Power of One
ATF 2002 - Live the Difference
Day One 2000, Michigan (coming soon)
A group shot from '98 or '99
-- October 28, 2005
This year's ATF, unfortunately I have to say I missed the main event due to scheduled plans, but a friend and I managed to offer our volunteering selves for
the Friday evening. He once again did security, while I joined the merchandise team again. Next year, aswsuming I'm there for both days, I'll likely be a
table captain, given it'll be my 4th year volunteering in merch.
Anyhow, Michael Gungor was once again the main worship leader, and brought a number of new(ish) songs to the table. Being in a worship band myself, most of
the songs I'd heard before, except for the couple of his own band songs that he introduced. Only being there for the opening session means I missed a number
other songs that would be introduced on the saturday during worship, which is unfortunate, but I picked up the ATF CD for this year, with one song that stood
out for me at the event - Forevermore (from Michael).
Even only being there for the Friday night, being there for the worship and seeing so many lives already touched by the message and the drama, and the high-tech
media presentations, was such a blessing; but mostly seeing God move and make His presence known throughout the auditorium just floors me every year. ATF and
Teen Mania have an amazing ministry and great opportunity to share and spread the gospel through this generation.
Godspeed!
-- October 25, 2004
ATF 2004 in Hamilton, Ontario was once again an amazing experience! Copps Colliseum managed to make room for over 8000 attendees. Half the ground floor
was used for the ATF stage and backstage. This year there was no ground floor merchandise table, so for my 2nd year volunteering as merchandise, I was
at the youth leader's table - the one selling youth leader/pastor/youth group oriented material, from devotionals, bibles and workbooks, to A/V packages,
series, and more. It was another great experience, and I met a bunch of people once again.
The worship leader for this event was Michael Gungor, and it was a treat! Passionate worship, intimate times simply praising and adoring our Lord. Gungor
has some mad guitar skills too - he did a solo acoustic worship set, and God has definitely blessed him with guitar talent. This year I cam away with 2
new songs to add my to worship songs collection - Friend of God, and Wrap Me In Your Arms.
Guest bands included KJ-52 and TFK/Thousand Foot Krutch. For me and the friends I went with though, KJ-52 was the definite draw :). Nic & Pat chatted with
him at his table when he was doing autographs, and are hoping to have inspired him to write a song about "22" or "those crazy security guys"... hehe - KJ,
if you read this, DON'T DO IT! They'll never be able to shut up about it for the rest of their lives :) j/k
I found Ligia, finally, a girl I co-tabled with last year, who left her hoodie at the table after the event, which I generously took home to give her next
time I saw her (she lives in the same area), but alas, that didn't happen. So finding her this year was very good, and she's been reunited with it! But,
I feel like a fool... I was all proud because I left it in the same bag as last year, so it hasn't been touched (in my mind that was a good thing). But when
I gave it to her, it very much came out wrong - I said it was even in the same bag, and she said oh, cool... did you wash it? I said, excitedly, nope!
(because of course it's not my property, so I didn't want to risk anything with it)... Oh, she said. And this look of 'oh my, what an idiot' came over her
face. :) blah! Well, if I ever see her again, I'll remember to be embarrassed :)
The last thing - they also announced, with TONS of enthusiasm for Canada - they have a goal to bring ATF to every major province! There is now a Canadian
branch of Teen Mania. Coming home, I found the website (though I think they're still working on getting a...better...design set up :). This is great news -
Hamilton was just the beginning, and it's been going for over a decade now I think. It's about time there's more ATFs in Canada :).
Anyway, once again, this year was an amazing experience. Until next year!
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