More reflections from Speakers

Hope everyone is recovering and resting up from the trip. More reflections of our young people on the speakers they heard are below. A reminder to evryone, the weekend of August 22/23rd we will be presenting our experience to the congregation both in worship and at a dessert reception after the 5pm saturday service. Parents, we will need some desserts, and invite friends!!!

Lauren King

My favorite speaker was Michel Chikwanie. He showed bravery and faithfulness in his path to be the person he is today. Running away from a bunch of older soldiers who had guns would be very scary and shooting your friend and making the life he still had worth it meant a lot. I learned a lot from Michel and he defiantly changed my life.

Kaitlyn Everts
Viola Vaugn was my favorite speaker because of all the energy and life she brought on stage. 10,000 girls is a fabulous program she put together to help young girls make a goal and dream for themselves. She is open to new ideas and change, is brilliant and patient. She captured my attention.

Zach Dahms
My favorite speaker for the youth gathering was Michel Chikwanine. He was a former child soldier. The reason I liked him the most is because he seemed to get his words out and allow us to understand what his main point was. He talked about how much he missed home and how HOPE was a strong thing he had. When the African soldiers tried to take away his hope he showed moments of strength that also told me, you have to be strong for/about things you love. Near the end he came to the subject of following his dream and becoming what his dream was about. This gave me a point of view on life saying you can be what you want all you need to do is try and try for it.

AJ Pflanzer
My favorite speaker of the week was Michel Chikwanie. He talked about his experiences as a child soldier and how he has overcome them to be a large part in changing the world. I enjoyed it because he was a powerful speaker and it was a powerful story. I also enjoyed because I have a passion for the issue of child soldiers, and I actually am part of an organization to help free child soldiers in Uganda, called Invisible Children.

Kayla Krueger
My favorite speaker was Spencer West because I found his story very interesting and gave him credit for getting up in front of 38,000 people in a wheelchair without legs. The first thing I thought was “I wonder what is on everybody’s mind.” After listening to his story it really made me realize that everyone is different.

Amanda Whaley
Michel Chikwanine was my favorite speaker beacue I think it would be so hard to run from those people. He had a lot of guts to get back into his life and to be able to tell his story after killing his best friend. It would be so hard and he has so much faith and hope and guts.

Nicole Milkent
My favorite speaker was Michel Chikwanine, the child soldier who was forced to kill his best friend at the age of five. He was my favorite because his speech was so moving and touched our hearts. He showed/proved to me that even If life gets upsetting and your forced to do something you really don’t want to do, you still have to have hope and that no matter the situation, there can always be a good outcome.