Depois do Passion vale a pena um post aqui!
O que foi o Passion São Paulo? Uma conferência incrível que me impressionou muito, começando pelo número de pessoas que participaram e pelo tamanho do barulho que a gente fez até as músicas, a organização, as palavras, etc. Foram muitas coisas boas que aconteceram mas a parte que me impactou foi a história contada pelo Louie Giglio (fundador do Passion Conferences em 1997), que me fez chorar no final e que eu não esqueço. Uma estudante chamada Ashley da Universidade da Flórida se tornou amiga e roommate de uma menina que participou da conferência do Passion 2007 nos Estados Unidos chamada Christa. Através dessa amizade Ashley conheceu a graça de Deus e se tornou cristã. Ela escreveu um email ao Louie (janeiro 07) contando toda sua história e agradecendo suas mensagens, que ela tinha visto apenas astravés de DVDs. Apenas 3 meses depois (abril 07) ela sofreu um acidente de carro e morreu. O Louie teve a chance de ver o diário dela no qual ela contava sua vida e todo o processo de conhecer a Christa (chamada por ela de "Fruitcake" ou "A doida"), conhecer a fé dela, das conversas que elas tinham e da sua conversão. Ele também teve a autorização para ler tudo isso nas conferências e assim centenas de milhares de estudantes têm ouvido essa história, inclusive eu. Ashley estava a poucos dias da sua formatura e como ela mesmo disse no email ela estava tendo VIDA pela primeira vez nos seus 22 anos. Ela só andou com Jesus por 3 meses aqui na Terra mas sua vida foi mudada pra sempre. Hoje, de uma maneira que ela nunca imaginaria, Deus está usando sua história para tocar a vida de muitas pessoas ao redor do mundo. Tudo que ouvi sobre ela é muito longo pra contar aqui mas vou deixar o tal email que pra mim é uma das coisas mais legais dos últimos tempos e a mais tocante e sincera que eu já li.
Hi, I feel kinda weird writing this email. And i doubt if it ever gets to Mr Louie Giglio. I am a Senior at The University of Florida. I got a new roommate this semester and she is a Christian and I have never really been into the whole Christian thing because every pastor or speaker that I have ever listened to didn't speak in a language I could understand. I have believed in God and Jesus, but never really understood it because the preachers at the church that I have always been forced to go to every Sunday of my life. They speak all high and mighty and I never really felt connected, and I felt like God was only for the perfect people.
Well my roommate went to this Passion Conference over winter break. And she came back and moved into my apt and she was real and genuine about all her Christian stuff, like I have never seen before in a person. She said that God changed her at this conference, so i was like what are you talking about. And she told me. She told me about how God was cool, and how God really wanted a deeper relationship with her, and she wanted to really love God the way he loved her, so of course I was like well huh? She then said you need to listen to Louie talk about God, so I asked who Louie was, and she put on the Indescribable talk, and then we watched the Passport talk. And in the Passport talk you said that Christians do not have to just hope for the best at the end, that they do not have to do enough good stuff. You explained how to get to heaven in a simple way, in a way that I have never heard before. I actually got it, I got it that it is not about being so good, cause I am not a good person. I have screwed up a lot. But then you said grace, and talked about how is was different than other religions. Because God is a loving and a kind God who wants to forgive me. My roommate then explained that he wants to forgive me.
Now for one of the reasons I am thanking you. One, I am now a Christian. And two, my roommate said that she had never really cared about telling others about how much God loved her before she went to this conference. So though I am not sure who will ever read this. Please tell Louie thanks from me, for talking about Christ in a way that a college kid can understand. I know that Jesus has changed my life and as I get ready to graduate college in May, I am gonna be a different person. I am sorry this is kinda rambling but I just had to tell you that I now know about the Grace of God, and I have life for the first time in my 22 years!
Ashley
A história está contada no blog 268blog.com
Laila ;)
