Un viaje de autobús de 30 horas no impidió que más de 100 adolescentes portugueses y voluntarios asistieran al evento anual TeenStreet Europe en Offenburg, Alemania, del 1 al 8 de agosto. “Durante el viaje, pudimos conocer a otros adolescentes antes de llegar”, dijo con una sonrisa el joven de 16 años. Louiz de la larga travesía.
Esta era la tercera vez que Louiz asistía al evento. El primer año, fue con un grupo de su iglesia después de que sus padres lo animaran a inscribirse. Habían visto TeenStreet Europe en las redes sociales y pensaron que sería una buena experiencia para su hijo. Estaban en lo cierto. Louiz disfrutó de asistir al evento y desde entonces ha vuelto cada año, invitando a sus amigos a unirse a él.
Diecisiete años María Repitió la historia de Louiz. Este era el quinto año de María en el evento TeenStreet Europe, y cada vez que asistía con un grupo de su iglesia. “He hecho algunos de mis mejores amigos aquí, y este es el lugar donde siento más conexión con Dios”, dijo ella. “Mi primera [líder del pequeño grupo] dijo: ‘TeenStreet se siente como casa’, y hoy es lo que siento. Siento que venir a [el evento de TeenStreet] es como volver a casa.”
A lo largo de los años, María ha invitado a sus amigas a asistir a las reuniones y ha podido comprobar que estas amistades se han fortalecido como resultado. Además, compartir la experiencia de la semana ayuda a fomentar la responsabilidad y el apoyo durante el resto del año.
Applicable teachings
This year’s theme — PATHS, Wisdom’s Call — explored what it means to walk in wisdom and to make wise choices that shape who you become and how you live in the world. Teaching from the book of Proverbs, Mainhall speakers looked at topics such as where wisdom comes from, the art of listening, the power of words, your heart as the source of life, how to live out wisdom in your life and why who you surround yourself with matters.
Arriving at the event, Maria thought the theme would not be very applicable to her own life. Then, “they started to talk about wisdom and the things that keep us from being wise, and they said our ego…I [realised] I’m not perfect at all. I started crying because a lot of times I don’t make wise choices because of my ego, and God was like: ‘you see, I have something to fix here.’”
“We come here, and we don’t think we have anything to fix, but then God talks,” added Louiz. “And now that we are talking about wisdom, I notice there are a lot of things that I need to change.”
Never too old
At 17, this year was Maria’s last year to attend the TeenStreet Europe event as a teen, but she is eager to return in the future as part of the service team. “I think I’ve been so blessed by people serving me all these years,” she explained. “And now I know it’s my time to do that. It’s my time to forward what I was given.”
The TeenStreet Europe event could not run without the help of hundreds of volunteers involved in catering, food court, leading small groups, communications, cleaning, security, sports, music, Prayer Zone, Art Zone and more. Many volunteers are aged-out teens eager to remain involved in the event that impacted them so deeply. This year, around1,300 volunteers made the event possible.
Laura (Portugal) attended the TeenStreet Europe event as a teen and returned this year to work in TeenStreet Village serving fries. “This experience has been really good. I like to make fries and talk to the teens, and my [coworkers] are now good friends, and I love it so much. Next year, I’d like to do it again and serve more, because this is an opportunity that God gave me and I am learning a lot. The learning and the new experiences don’t stop just because you’re not a teen.”