Passion World Tour: Sydney

Inside my mind:

Oh my gosh. I just got back from the Passion World Tour and it was absolutely incredible. Christian musicians Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, and speaker Louie Giglio have traveled to 17 major cities across the world in every continent, performing and leading worship for a one night event aimed at university students. Sydney was their last stop on the tour, so it was really awesome to be there. Some of you may have heard of or been to a Passion tour; this was the first time I’ve gone and I cannot describe how powerful it was.

It’s been difficult for me to see God working here in Australia, because religion feels so non-existent. People never talk about going to church or even about believing in God. It’s been an adjustment to say the least. After tonight though, wow, God is really doing/ going to do some amazing things in Sydney.

My friend Ashley and my roommate Sarah are both Christians, so it’s been a huge blessing to have them in my life. Sarah heard about the tour randomly when talking with an STA travel agent, so she told Ashley and I about it. The three of us took the bus to the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Darling Harbour for the four hour event.

The place was packed with 8,000 people from all over Australia and New Zealand. It was overwhelming to see so many students all there to worship God. Louie Giglio, a renowned speaker, spoke in between Chris Tomlin and David Crowder, and I have to say that he is probably one of the best Christian speakers I have ever heard. The focus of the night was on reconciliation and how God is Mighty to Save. He read from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. Verse 21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” If you study that verse it is really mind-blowing. Jesus died for us so that we could become reconciled in him. Perfection took on our sin, our shame, all of our imperfections…because he loves us and wants us to be united with him in a personal relationship. I just think that’s so cool.

Anyway, Louie Giglio mainly read a girl named Ashley’s journal, a senior from the University of Florida. Bear with me- this is a long, but powerful story. In her journal she wrote about her life—her parents were divorced; her dad was an atheist and her mom remarried a Christian man, and together they raised their son. Ashley lived with her dad growing up, wanting nothing to do with Christianity. So anyway, Ashley describes herself as a huge party girl that likes to get drunk a lot. She also talks about her boyfriend and how she finds him in their apartment cheating on her with another girl. She kicks him out and decides that she wants another roommate to keep her company. Kristen responds to her ad and moves in. Kristen is a Christian, and for the first time, Ashley gets a different perspective on Christianity. Kristen (aka ‘Fruitcake’ according to Ashley) listens to Ashley when she rambles on about her “screwed up” life, rather than judge her as she feels her mom and brother do. After a few days of living together, Kristen and Ashley start talking and Kristen shares that she’s a Christian, and is living her life for God. Ashley just thinks it’s such a joke and the most absurd thing, hence the reason she calls her a Fruitcake. As time goes on though, Ashley becomes more curious about Christianity, and Kristen says to watch Louie Giglio speak because he can explain her questions better. They watch the Passion DVDs together, and something in Ashley changes. For the first time, she really understands that God loves her for who she is and for everything that she has ever done, good and bad. Ashley decides that she wants new life and restoration from her past. She asks Jesus to come into her life, and from then on God really transforms her; she deepens her relationships with her mom and brother and gets involved in a small group Bible study. She wrote out all of the lyrics of “Mighty to Save”, a worship song by Hillsong that the group sang together. It really touched her.

Some of the lyrics are:

So take me as You find me All my fears and failures Fill my life again I give my life to follow Everything I believe in Now I surrender Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King

At the end of the night Louie answered everyone’s question: Why on earth does he have Ashley’s journal? The answer: three months after Ashley became a Christian she was in a serious car accident, and sadly she lost too much blood to live. Ashley died in April at the age of 22. Ashley’s dad, who is now seeking faith in God, gave the journal to Louie and asked him to share it with as many people as he could, because that’s what Ashley would have wanted. That’s amazing to me. And what’s even more amazing is that Ashley’s dream of bringing God to the world is coming true through her very own words. She was an extremely talented writer. Although not physically here with us on earth, Ashley’s light is shining and the whole world can see.

I don’t know how many of you made it all the way through, but I had too many thoughts from the night in my head that I didn’t want to forget. So for my own sake, I’m glad it’s long J God IS working in Australia. It was so uplifting for me to be standing there thinking, “I’m in Australia surrounded by people of all races and backgrounds, worshipping the God of the Universe.” What an indescribable night.

Xxx Megs