Winterjam 2011, Columbia SC

FBC Youth recently attended WinterJam '11 which has become an annual event for us.  As usual, they saw some old friends including Jimmy Steen and the Frasers -- Jordan, Anslee and Brenna.

The following is a report from Shannon Williams Christofferson, a brave and honorable chaperone.

We loaded the bus and I was taking pictures of everyone so we knew what they had on (just in case).  Needless to say, they all thought I was crazy.  When I told Gabby to look at me, she threw up the crazy face.  She was so excited.  This was to be her very first concert.

We stopped at Zaxby’s to fill up before the concert.  Poor Libby and her friend got stuck sitting with Dad!

 Still at Zaxby’s filling up.  This picture took three attempts.  Hunter kept looking every direction except towards the camera.  So Grayson wrapped his arm around him and forced him to focus!

Two chaperones at the very beginning of the concert.  We were happy to get everyone to our seats and accounted for:

The coliseum was packed.  Kids were screaming and cheering before, during and after every song.  It was an awesome experience to watch.  At one point, we all collectively bowed our heads and prayed for Jesus to forgive us our sins.  Then they asked the people who had never prayed for it before to stand up and cheer.  There were so many that cheered!  It was an amazing feeling to hear all of those kids accepting Christ in the middle of a concert.

Cody was so happy and having so much fun.  All of the kids were really getting into the music and the movements. 

April is an amazing child of God!  Every time I went to take her picture she would stop moving.  Through the entire event, she danced and sang.  April has no inhibitions about worshipping God the way she wants.  We could all take a lesson from her.

It was a Ho-Down good time!  One of the bands played a song that was reminiscent of an Old Southern Ho-Down.  Blake had to dance appropriately!

On the way home!  No one lost!  Everyone tired!  All still going strong!  Fun was had by all! 

Click here to read about WinterJam '09.

Winter Jam '09

Oh yes, we were bound for Winter Jam '09.

Click here for Winter Jam's Facebook page.

So we arrived at the Colonial Life building and joined Tina & friends, who had held an awesome spot in line for us, right up front at the doors. We stood there for a half hour or so until they began admittance to the concert.

Tom S. had scoped the scene and knew exactly what seats we should try to get, so he was designated Line Leader. And as you can see here in this MOB, it was a good thing we had a line leader so nobody got lost. As you can also see, 1) nobody is following our line leader and 2) our line leader is zealous about his job.

We found the seats and they were definitely great seats.

The crew is happy.

Happy pappy.


As if things couldn't get any better. . .

Jimmy Steen made an appearance!

Then the music began.

Stephanie Smith, followed by Pure NRG warmed us up.

Followed by Francesca Battistelli, Hawk Nelson & NewSong.

Tony Nolan gave gave an excellent presentation of the gospel.

THEN. . . my favorite . . .

Brandon Heath.
The youth group bought me a Brandon Heath T-shirt to thank me for driving them up, thanks guys!!

Brandon Heath was followed by the last act of the night --

Toby Mac.

Toby Mac was awesome, as usual.

He is "a creative force, an artistic maverick and a prophetic voice for racial reconciliation, social justice and a fierce devotion to faith & family." I can't say it any better than this quote from his website.

The artists & administrators involved in Winter Jam give selflessly & tirelessly to reach our youth for Christ. The admittance fee is low enough for kids to afford and is far below what these artists could charge for their performances. They performed 35 times in 2 months this year. That's a lot of travel and very little sleep & "a handful of dreams and heart full of God."