Spiritual Encounter with lasting effects?

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Spiritual Encounter 2008 at New Light Christian Center Church in Houston, Texas. It was a blessing to see the thousands of teenagers from all parts of the country decend upon that place. I was chaperoning my own group of teenagers (I am a Student Ministries Pastor) to the event. During the two nights that we went, I often found myself wondering what kind of impact would a huge event like this have on the thousands of teenagers after the event. To be honest, I was very skeptical of any lasting spiritual impact. I know that many experienced the presence of God. I know that many enjoyed the contemporary music (Christian rap and modern praise). I did not know that things would be truly different in their lives on Monday.

I was surprised that, at least among my group of teenagers, they really had a new zeal to serve God. A few talked about how awesome the experience was. More important, a few volunteered to help plan activities to reach their friends during our up and coming Youth Month. To God be the glory that my skepticism was proved wrong among a few. I hope many youth workers and pastors around the country are experiencing the same thing.