Hey friends

This one is from Tori... I am her biggest fan :)

Enjoy

Tre


Soul Survivor.....How do we love thee? Let me count the ways...

Yes folks...time again for us to tell you about the amazing time we had at the Soul Survivor Festivals this year. I would have to say, as a veteran of the Soul Survivor scene for several years now, that this year was my favourite. "Why would you say that Tori??" so says you the dear reader. Well, it's a combination of things. And if you'll indulge me the pleasure....I'll tell you now, you dear reader you!

I think I'll start by saying that Soul Survivor is this incredible mechanism....growing and changing and becoming more and more and better and better....and yet keeping to it's DNA. Soul Survivor is consistent.....keeping Jesus at the centre and with the obvious goal of reaching masses of young people with the Gospel. We love Soul Survivor! And here's the flip....our privilege and joy is that Soul Survivor has been so good to us by inviting us back time and time again. So we have had the privilege of being a part of that incredbile mechanism and the opportunity to see it go from strength to strength. As long as I live, I will always be grateful for the chance we've had, with Onehundredhours and Tre's teaching, to be a part of the Soul Survivor movement. And it was especially lovely this summer to see so many of you there and showing your love and support.

Ok so now you know how I feel about it. Let me tell you what we did!

We showed up first at Week A at the Stafford showground in Staffordshire. Tim and Steve had arrived before us because they were actually playing in the main worship band for the week. (You see....they're so good everybody wants them!!) So they had been working hard by the time we got there. It was my first time on the site and I was really impressed with the look and feel of the site.....and I actually really liked the fact that it was smaller in the number of participants. It felt more intimate and also has the feeling that it has loads of opportunity to grow and develop. So that's exciting to get to see first hand. Tre had a seminar in the afternoon and then the band had our sound check. We played in an enormous hall....the main hall. So our gig was after the main meeting. I have to say that I had to keep reminding myself that there were actually loads of you at the gig...although we all rattled around in that huge place a bit!! The gig was amazing and perhaps the hottest gig we've played in years... it was literally so hot that the boys gave up on trying to look good and decided to go for the "drenched in sweat" look immediately as opposed to the end of the gig :)

Week B we showed up at the Bath and West Showgrounds as we have done these past 7 years. I have to say that a smile began to form on my face when we drove through the gate and I don't think I wiped it off till I fell into my bed that night. It was just great to be back. Now this week, it was Mark who had arrived ahead of us to play on the main stage for the worship. (Everyone wants our boys!!) We couldn't sound check with him because he had to be with the other band during our slot for sound check...and I have to say...it was a keen reminder of just how much the bass locks us in and MAKES our sound what it is. Without Mark, our sound check just lacked the VAVOOM....so we breathed a huge sigh of relief when he showed up and the boys turned up the amps to start our first song. Trust me....it was ALL there...and they sounded great. (This is that part of the blog when I can brag on the band since I don't play with them!!....grabbing that moment: arent' they awesome?? ;)
Anyway we played a blazing gig to an absolutely packed gigs venue....it was a blast. We worshipped...we rocked....we called on the name of the Lord to break through in this generation and with the HIV/AIDS crisis......and we had fun....a lot of it. The next day was one of my favourite seminars Tre has ever done at Soul Survivor. The venue was packed to every wall with people standing and on floors and the topic wasn't one you'd think they would have rushed to hear: "Following a 1st Century Rabbi in the 21st Century" But by the end, many were in tears and the presence of the Lord was so heavy in the room. All of us learned more about our Saviour....and again, I felt the privilege of getting to be a part of lives being changed at Soul Survivor.

Week C I found myself feeling sentimental as we drove through the gates again. All day I felt that sense of history as I considered our first time there 7 years ago. But we started our time there pretty well exhausted. We had just finished our gig in Ballymena , Northern Ireland the night before and had left our beds that morning before 4am to get the plane over to Bristol. We were wiped out.....but tried to rest as much as we could once we got to the site. A few of us even got in some nap time. Tre headed out for his seminar in the afternoon and dear Mark went back to the rehearsals with the worship band. Tre's seminars were really just full of the presence of God again and so so many people turned up. I have to say that I know it meant a great deal to him that so many of you came to hear his teaching. It always feels like our mission is so much more complete when our gigs can somehow accompany his teaching....it's gives such a better idea of the message we are hoping to get across and the impact we hope to have on the lives of young people. Anyway....we were set for another great gig. Backstage before we went on, the sentimental edge that had been gnawing at me all day kicked in and I was filled with the memories of the original members of Onehundredhours, Tre and me, Jono West and Paul Baker, scared to death and nervous as could be about going out on stage for our first gig at Soul Survivor. We had actually prayed together 18 months before that God would open the door for us to get to be a part of Soul Survivor in some way.....7 years on, with the history of leading worship, gigs, and Tre's teachings...I got all choked up with thanks to God for his goodness and faithfulness to us all. There is nothing so fulfilling as feeling as though we have partnered with the God of time and space for His plans and purposes in this generation. Yeah...all I can say really is...Thank you so much God. Our gig was one of my all time favourites and I was so so proud of the incredible band I get to be a part of. Those boys are so precious to me. (And Mary our Tour Manager and Philip our Band Manager too!!)

I think the best way I know to end this is a prayer for blessing over the Soul Survivor movement: May God's grace and power be with Soul Surivor, and may everyone who felt His presence and learned of His ways this summer be forever changed and grow in their knowledge and understanding of Him in them and through them....as long as they live! Amen

From a rainy September morning at a cafe in Dervock, Northern Ireland,

Tori