"God and Music is a Powerful Thing"

Not only was this statement the tag-line for Parachute 08, but a truth that we saw throughout our weekend. The Parachute Music Festival is the biggest Christian music festival in the Southern Hemisphere. This weekend featured speakers and musicians such as Tony Campolo, Switchfoot, Hillsong United, Leigh Nash, and many other names that you may recognize. This festival reaches over 25,000 Kiwis, both Christian and non-Christian. This gathering is the only one of it's kind that gives believers from all of the country a chance to unite. There is teaching time, hang out time, carnival rides, and of course, concerts going on throughout the grounds on all of the nine stages with some of the 500 plus musicians and artists who were there.

This weekend was a powerful one for the group that we went with. There were seven kids who don't come from church backgrounds who made first time decisions to follow God completely. There were other kids in the group who rededicated their lives to God, and still others who decided to do some type of ministry with their life. It was really cool to see people realizing the need for God in their life on so many different levels.

The weather reached it's peak at 31 Celsius (about 85 Fahrenheit), which is unusually hot for New Zealand. When we arrived and started setting up tents, I felt like I was at the Quidditch World Cup (for you Harry Potter fans!) There were tents in every direction as far as you could see. We learned a lot about Kiwi culture in watching an interacting with so many Kiwis all weekend. There were people of all ages from newborn to over 70 years old camping out and taking part in this festival.