We had a pretty amazing opportunity with the school yesterday. The bands Good Weather Forecast (GWF) and The Insyderz came to Vienna and ICSV to put on an assembly at the school, and then play a show that night. This ended up being more than just a great concert...it was a great opportunity for the kids at ICSV to be ministered to in ways that us teachers could imagine.
This all came together at the last minute. The Insyderz were/are one of my favorite bands from my high school days. I noticed on Facebook that they were gonna be in Germany this week, and after realizing that there would be no way to get to any of their shows, I sent an email to their drummer asking if they'd be interested in scheduling a quick stop in Vienna. To my surprise, they said they would love to! This set off a whirl-whind of planning and promotion. Oh, I forgot to mention, this all happened/started exactly 11 days ago! They agreed to not only play a show, but to also come to the school in the morning and play some of their worship and original songs.
After lots of planning and quick last minute promotion (over the course of a shortened school week and 2 holiday weekends) they arrived on Monday evening. We took all the guys (and gals) to Centimeter (for all you loyal readers, thats the place with the meat on the sword), and then to an Irish pub where one of our teachers participates in an open mic/Irish music jam session. We finally made our way back to the school at about midnight in order to get all the band members to their host homes. After some running around on various U-Bahn lines and getting different guys headed off in the right directions, (in addition to the couple staying in our flat) I finally fell into bed at about 1:45am...
The assembly at the school yesterday was amazing. The students were a little unsure of what to expect. Most of them had no idea what the sound of the bands would be like. When GWF started playing, Flo, the lead singer had all the kids stand up on the chairs...at this point all the kids thought that this was a pretty cool band. The band played some amazing worship and then shared some Gospel truth auf Deutsch. All in all, the Holy Spirit definitely descended on that room...kids who never participate in worship during chapel times were dancing and singing praise to God. I get goosebumps still when I think about it.
The atmosphere in the classrooms after that was incredible. It was next to impossible to get anything done. The lead singer and his brother, the lead guitar player, went around and played some songs acoustically for a couple of the classes, and then the bands ate lunch in the cafeteria with the kids. It was a good reminder that simply focusing on the academics is not enough...and that it is OK to take a breath and LET GOD WORK!
The show, although not as well attended as we would have hoped, still drew kids who usually don't go to school events. All these kids were dancing and singing and simply having a great time. There were also a bunch of us staff who had listened to The Insyderz in our youth...and we could't help ourselves from dancing and singing along.
We finally got home at about 11:30 after getting everyone one to their housing locations and getting Kebaps, schnitzel, and kasekrainers at the stand under the UBahn...we brought an additional couple into our house for the night and I stayed up talking with the couples until about 1:30.
Its amazing how God works in such different, unexpected ways...as I write this, I can hear a student walking through the halls singing one of the songs that talks about God's love and how it "never, ever stops, no it never ever stops yea-ah!" I love it!
Justin, of course had a great time. He was with us the entire time so he is exhausted, but he had the opportunity to hang out with both bands. It is truly amazing to see your "little" boy totally engaging and interacting with "cool" kids who are serving God in their own ministry. He was especially excited because he got to ride in the tour van with GWF on the way back to the school after the show.
This is the type of work that GOD is doing here in Vienna. His Spirit is moving in so many ways that it is sometimes overwhelming. If these things depended only on our human abilities and energies, we would fail. But God is so Good, and He knows exactly what's going on in these kids lives and knows what they need. Keep praying for these students who were ministered to and keep the bands in your prayers as they continue to travel on tour.
I'll get some pictures posted soon.
This all came together at the last minute. The Insyderz were/are one of my favorite bands from my high school days. I noticed on Facebook that they were gonna be in Germany this week, and after realizing that there would be no way to get to any of their shows, I sent an email to their drummer asking if they'd be interested in scheduling a quick stop in Vienna. To my surprise, they said they would love to! This set off a whirl-whind of planning and promotion. Oh, I forgot to mention, this all happened/started exactly 11 days ago! They agreed to not only play a show, but to also come to the school in the morning and play some of their worship and original songs.
After lots of planning and quick last minute promotion (over the course of a shortened school week and 2 holiday weekends) they arrived on Monday evening. We took all the guys (and gals) to Centimeter (for all you loyal readers, thats the place with the meat on the sword), and then to an Irish pub where one of our teachers participates in an open mic/Irish music jam session. We finally made our way back to the school at about midnight in order to get all the band members to their host homes. After some running around on various U-Bahn lines and getting different guys headed off in the right directions, (in addition to the couple staying in our flat) I finally fell into bed at about 1:45am...
The assembly at the school yesterday was amazing. The students were a little unsure of what to expect. Most of them had no idea what the sound of the bands would be like. When GWF started playing, Flo, the lead singer had all the kids stand up on the chairs...at this point all the kids thought that this was a pretty cool band. The band played some amazing worship and then shared some Gospel truth auf Deutsch. All in all, the Holy Spirit definitely descended on that room...kids who never participate in worship during chapel times were dancing and singing praise to God. I get goosebumps still when I think about it.
The atmosphere in the classrooms after that was incredible. It was next to impossible to get anything done. The lead singer and his brother, the lead guitar player, went around and played some songs acoustically for a couple of the classes, and then the bands ate lunch in the cafeteria with the kids. It was a good reminder that simply focusing on the academics is not enough...and that it is OK to take a breath and LET GOD WORK!
The show, although not as well attended as we would have hoped, still drew kids who usually don't go to school events. All these kids were dancing and singing and simply having a great time. There were also a bunch of us staff who had listened to The Insyderz in our youth...and we could't help ourselves from dancing and singing along.
We finally got home at about 11:30 after getting everyone one to their housing locations and getting Kebaps, schnitzel, and kasekrainers at the stand under the UBahn...we brought an additional couple into our house for the night and I stayed up talking with the couples until about 1:30.
Its amazing how God works in such different, unexpected ways...as I write this, I can hear a student walking through the halls singing one of the songs that talks about God's love and how it "never, ever stops, no it never ever stops yea-ah!" I love it!
Justin, of course had a great time. He was with us the entire time so he is exhausted, but he had the opportunity to hang out with both bands. It is truly amazing to see your "little" boy totally engaging and interacting with "cool" kids who are serving God in their own ministry. He was especially excited because he got to ride in the tour van with GWF on the way back to the school after the show.
This is the type of work that GOD is doing here in Vienna. His Spirit is moving in so many ways that it is sometimes overwhelming. If these things depended only on our human abilities and energies, we would fail. But God is so Good, and He knows exactly what's going on in these kids lives and knows what they need. Keep praying for these students who were ministered to and keep the bands in your prayers as they continue to travel on tour.
I'll get some pictures posted soon.
thanks for sharing this! such stories help to go on with the "dusty" work in the booking office :-)
ReplyDeleteJohannes
My pleasure Johannes, thanks for helping us make this happen. I look forward to working with you in the future to bring more bands to ICSV!
ReplyDeleteNice story. Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDelete