ITALY 2006

I used to be in a famous rockgroup in Italy that sold 1.5 million discs, so there is usually quite a fuss when I am there. Left is a picture of the group (Rockets) but don't look for me, as I wasn't with them at the time that pic was taken!

On Saturday I was reminded of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" as our sponsors had hired a bus to take us to the event, and it stopped along the way to pick up more passengers, young, old, and babies.
Jesolo is in the north of Italy, near to Venice. A top tourist attraction in the area, with miles of golden beaches, the organizers planned this concert as an outreach to those more concerned with partying than church. I have found over the years that Italians have largely given up on church, but not on God, and so bringing a faith experience to where they're at can be a effective.

As the music began, several hundred people gathered before the stage and stayed through 4 Italian artists, then myself. Having sung in French and Spanish in recent weeks, it was only fair to sing in Italian tonight, and they would sing with me. Once again there were many comments of appreciation that they could hear the message in their own language. The audience continued to sing in Italian "I'll Sing My Praise to You" as I finished.

I paid particular attention to the interpreteur's family in the front row. When she told me she was Dutch, I guessed they were not Christians, as most people in that country are not. I watched her parents and brother sit motionlessly through the first couple of songs, but after that they were standing and clapping along with the rest, and her father bought a CD in the end.

I told them Jesus went out to those drinking and eating and sent a greeting and prayer to those in the surrounding restaurants and bars. The evening ended with people dancing around the front of the stage, and all that was left was for the crew to take it all down again. The people in the bars sat contemplating their drinks, and perhaps heard a message of hope that night.

Last day of Multifestival David

This festival has been taking place for 21 years now; don't know how many years we have been participating, but maybe something like 12 years on and off. Usually by Sunday lunchtime most people have left for their homeward journeys around Spain, but this year there was one last evening concert in the Carmelite monastery founded by St. John of the Cross. Because the room could not fit everyone inside, they beamed the concert outside also.

First up was a singer from Panama who was nervous about whether Spanish people would move to his music as they do in Latin America. I told him they would if he invited them to and indeed, it turned into a crazy dance latin dance session. Some more classical and ballad singers followed and when it was my turn, they were ready to rock once again as they had the night before. Since I had already used up most of my songs in Spanish with the Mass and previous concert, I used something a little less familiar, but they were still ready to dance and lift their hands with the music.

A group of nuns from Colombia danced with extra enthusiasm, and a Spanish nun from another community told me she has the NEOSACRO album and prays and dances to it. I sometimes think we need a little more of that latin freedom in the anglo culture.

A favorable report of the multifestival appeared yesterday in Spain's #2 newspaper, written by the journalist I had spoken to on Saturday night. He spoke about the music and technology, and particularly the Anno Domini Mass as the future. I hope to be able to participate in the Multifestival David in Washington DC this fall, where they are collaborating with the Hispanic ministry of the Archdiocese. Tomorrow we will do some filming for a DVD before moving on to Italy.

Caravaca De La Cruz, SPAIN

Saturday was a crazy day... in Europe, I have been waking up at 6am regularly, but this day by 8:30 we had to be on the road to make it to Lyon airport in time for the flight to Spain. Being the equivalent of 4th July in France, the roads were packed and it took two and a half hours to get to the airport. After connections etc. it was about 5:30pm when we arrived in Alicante but it took another 45 minutes for the bags to arrive. This in itself might not have been a major problem, but that they were waiting for an 8pm Anno Domini Mass one hour and a half's journey away!


My driver was one of the priests who would concelebrate the Mass, and he told me that the town where we were going, Caravaca De La Cruz, has a famous cross at the Carmelite monastery. It is one of the five holy towns in the Christian world (along with Rome and Jerusalem) to celebrate the Perpetual Jubilee Year. The Cross dates back to 1232, and is recognized by the Catholic Church as an authentic relic of the cross Jesus died on.

When we arrived, the church was already full to capacity, and they were saying some prayers as a delaying tactic while I set up! It has been quite a while since I sang the Mass in Spanish and I still had the French going round my head, but we got through and the celebrant did a great job. He told me he first said the AD Mass in Spain 6 or 7 years ago when he just came to see it, but as the celebrant didn't show up, I asked him to celebrate! The congregation responded with enthusiasm, young and old alike. One Irish lady said the images gave her a mystical experience of the Mass.

In the evening, the Multifestival was set up for a concert on the mountain top outside the Sanctuary. Bright colored lights illuminated the 16th-century church, as local people welcomed guests from the Americas and Europe. A journalist from Spain's #2 newspaper asked me what was the purpose of a Christian festival like this, and I pointed out how the lighted church on the mountain could be seen from miles around, and the light of Christ should be attracting this generation. Another person said he had traveled 3 hours to be there that night, and he and his friends presented me with almost every record I had ever made for signing!

The concert began with a local group, then Seamus the monk played Irish meditative music, and some others sang in Spanish, including the festival founder Luis Alfredo. When it was my turn, it was already gone 1am, and the people applauded when I told them I had been up since 6am and traveled 12 hours to reach them that night! We did mostly the lively songs, and they sang with me and lifted their hands in worship and prayer. I think there is still one more concert to go tonight, then a few other activities before I leave Spain for Italy.

Paray Le Monial, FRANCE

It was 90 degrees in the south of France, but they don't have AC and they don't have fans.... thank God for our many blessings in the USA! Paray Le Monial seems to France as Steubenville is to the USA - a place of numerous summer conferences. They set up tents in the grounds of one of France's best known shrines and will have thousands coming over the summer.

This was their first conference of 2006, for families, mostly 25-35 year old couples with young children and babies. I was a little concerned about how that group might react, as I had translated all the songs into French, but never sung them in public before. In fact the response was more than enthusiastic and they twice called for more worship at the end. I was introduced with a brief explanation of what ACTS stands for. At the start I told them not to focus upon me but on Jesus and to be free to worship, to dance, and to give all the glory to God.

I had put all the words in French on the screen and so they were able to follow the message throughout. There was one amusing moment when I corrected the interpreter and they applauded, realizing I could understand French! When I had nothing left to sing, they had the whole audience pray for our ACTS ministry.

Immediately I came out afterwards, one man said his heart was touched that I had made the effort to sing in French, and this was a sentiment I heard over and over again. In France it was the equivalent of Independance Day, a national holiday called Bastille Day, and so they night ended with a grand fireworks display.

X-Perience 06 youth event, BELGIUM

It was a charismatic youth camp but really more like a mini youth rally that we might do anywhere across the USA.  They had a good group of young adult leaders who did skits and animated the kids, who were mostly Junior High age.  They seem very familiar with the most popular worship songs in english and participated fully in YES LORD, AWESOME GOD etc. 
 
There is always a language problem in Belgium because some people speak Dutch, some French, and a few even speak German.  This was further compounded at the camp where there were a few Polish youth, and some from France who would not understand Dutch or English.  However I did one song in Polish, one in French, and we had simultaneous translations when I spoke.
 
The camp is set in a forest with tents and trailers under the trees, and some nice indoor facilities, including a small theater.  The sound man said he had seen me in Belgium when he was 15, and now I gave these teens exactly what they needed.  They responded enthusiastically throughout, and as it was the first day of their camp, the leader said he hoped it would set the tone for the rest of the week.

Re:Vival BELGIUM

I think this was the 3rd or 4th Re:Vival festival organized by Pax Christi in Belgium, which is a Catholic peace movement borne out of World War II in Europe. In the grounds of a 150 year old castle, there were different stages and venues, with performers ranging from a harp and accordion duo to an African choir, and various young Christian bands.

The audience was made up of every agegroup, from the elderly to children, and they all seemed to have a good time. The priest in charge said it was their best program ever, and stated the aim is to try and renew the Church and bring younger people in. Judging from a couple of comments I received from younger people, he may just have had some success:

"We met on the Revival festival in Bonheiden (Belgium) yesterday... I already told you, but I wanted to post it here again: thank you so much for letting Him drive you! You are a blessing to the world. My prayers are with you!"

"Thanks for your performance, it was great! I really enjoyed it. You can bring people to worship God with your music in a very special way. You said you wouldn't do anything weird in your music (like jazz or something) It wasn't jazz but you really amazed me. Again, it was great and I hope to see you soon again."

Monday we will do a charismatic youth conference, then to France, Spain, and onwards....