65,000 gather to ring in New Years in prayer

By BARBARA ANN HORTON

Staff Writer

After celebrating a new decade at the Passion Conference with 65,000 people, a dozen Poplar Bluffians are primed to share their faith with their friends at home and around the world. The event, which included people from 83 different countries and every state in the United States, was Jan. 1-3, in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Photo provided Standing outside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta during the Passion Conference (from left) Paige Bradley, Alyssa Sisson, Allison Knowlton, Savannah Hicks and Kaylee Cheek.

Kaylee Cheek, Alyssa Sisson and Allison Knowlton, all of The Bluff Church, and Paige Bradley of First Baptist Church attended, along with Mason Dakota Powell, teaching co-pastor at The Bluff Church. The majority of those attending from the local area are involved with The Bluff Church and their friends, who are high school and college age students.

“For that many people to be gathered together for one goal is extraordinary,” Bradley said. “God does big things and Passion was definitely one of his workings. It meant so much to me because it showed me how great our God is. Worshipping into the new year was the best part of Passion.

“It was a commitment that all 65,000 people made to start the new year focusing on God. So my main point from Passion is that it was so encouraging and special to see how God moves and how raw it is to worship the king.”

Photo provided Steve Keith, from left, Melissa Keith, Mason Powell, Jodi Powell and Kaylee Cheeck are all smiles at the Passion Conference in Atlanta.

The worship was powerful, and unlike anything she has been a part of, said Knowlton.

She acknowledged, “I felt this in the stadium with 65,000 people plus, I just looked around and everyone was engaged in their own worship and Christ.”

Sisson described the moment as “peaceful.”

Photo provide Taking a photo are Jodi Powell, Kaylee Cheek, Alyssa Sisson, Paige Bradley, Savannah Finley, Allison Knowlton and Hannah Keith.

Bradley said, “the Passion is something I wish everybody could experience. Not only did I learn and grow closer to God, but I was encouraged. To see 65,000 college students in one arena, worshipping God is the best thing I have ever seen and heard. It was a reminder that we are not living this life alone.”

There were many special moments, along with hearing and worshipping, with a wide range of entertainers and speakers like Hillsong, Triple E. Levi Lusko, John Piper, Sadie Robertson, Christine Caine, Ravi Zacharias, Louie Giglio, Shelley Giglio and Tim Tebow.

They marveled at the candle which had been lighted in Jesus’ Tomb and the story of its great journey to the conference.

Photo provided From left, Tabatha Sam, Hannah Keith and Savannah Hicks take a break outside during the conference.

Cheek recalled the story about the candle, which began Thanksgiving when it was lighted in the tomb where Jesus was buried for three days. They learned the candle traveled from one country to another and the variety of people involved in bringing it to the stadium representing Jesus’ light being spread.

They were in awe when a collection for which there was no advanced publicity raised more than a million dollars to provide Bible translations to those who don’t have a Bible in their own language by the year 2033. The contributors were students.

Powell said, “At Passion they asked all of us to wear a red X on our hands on Feb. 13 as part of the END IT movement that started a few years ago at Passion. The END IT movement is about ending the sex slavery crisis plaguing our world and our country. It is about taking a stand as a generation, saying we want this to end and want our government to make legislation that will lead to its ending.”

They attended eight sessions in three days, and each session started and ended with worship.

The Passion Conference was started in 1997 with less than 1,000 people attending to encourage 18-25 years old to not leave their faith and the church, Powell said

Others attending were Jodi Powell, Steve Keith, Melissa Keith, Hannah Keith, Savannah Hicks, Savannah Finley and Tabatha Sam. Finley and Sam are serving in the U.S. Air Force and joined the group in Atlanta.