I just got back from San Francisco! My youth group went to BattleCry there, and it was awesome! The worship, the bands, the speakers, and the fellowship was great. There were 25,000 people there!

Ok, so, we spent I don't know how many hours in the car on Thursday driving up there, spent the night at a nice hotel, went swimming, had popcorn, and finally went to bed. The next day we drove the remaining 40 minutes to San Francisco on Friday. Well, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, took pictures, got lost several times, finally found our hotel, and then went for Thai food (which was interesting, by the way). Then we went to the event that night and got very wet. (you see, it turned out that the event was in NBC park, outside) The worship was great though and the message that night was getting out of the pigpen of sin and of the bad of the world. So, Ron had us, if we wanted to get out, stand up and shout "I want the Cross!" So, we did, and went the long way down to the floor (we were in the top section) and prayed. It was really cool. So, then we went back to the hotel (which we'd had some problems with the rooms and timing), got dry, had "dinner" and went to bed. Well, the next morning we found that the glass door into the hotel was almost shattered (we're thinking to stay somewhere else next year). Anyway we had to get up really early (which of course we still weren't ready when we thought we should leave) and eventually got back to the event. Saturday was really awesome. The bands were great. So, late Saturday night we got into the car, drove to the first hotel that we stayed at and very soon fell asleep. So, the next day (yesterday, Sunday) we spent at least 10 hours in the car. It was a very long ride. And now we're home.

We got to see/hear Jeremy Camp, which was really awesome. Delirious? led our worship, which was great. The lead singer has awesome hair and a great accent, and he would stop singing every now and then and read us a Bible passage that went with the songs, or that he just had on his heart. It was awesome. Pillar was there, they were pretty cool. Toby Mac and Michael Gungor were also there. And the dancers, I can't forget the dancers. The Groovaloos were the dancers and they were absolutely awesome! They were spinning on their heads, doing flips, and some pretty incredible moves!

The speakers were: Ron Luce, Joel Johnson, Lakita Garth, Erika Harold, and Rebecca Contreras. They were awesome! Lakita Garth was at Acquire the Fire a couple years ago. She is such an amazing speaker and has a great message. She talked about sex and abstinence. Rebecca Contreras went from living on the streets to working with President Bush. Erika Harold was Miss America in 2003. The messages were all about being set apart from the world, and at the same time, being in the world to reach the world. It was good.

So, here's one of my favorite parts (you may find this funny, since it actually wasn't part of the event) Ok, so, remember the drama from Acquire the Fire that I wrote about? Well, we were walking along looking at all of the stuff for sale at the booths, when I saw this guy behind the booth. He looked really familiar. I was with Heather and Trevor. So I told them, "hey, I think that's one of the actors from Acquire the Fire!" They didn't believe me. So, I bought what I was going to buy, and then went over to talk to him. He was one of the actors! I was so excited that I actually got to meet him! He said that acting was a hard business, but that it was worth it. It was so encouraging to me to meet someone who is actually living part of my dream!

And that is my trip to San Francisco in a nutshell.

~Sarah Klatt