San Francisco Event

First BattleCry Event Rocks San Francisco

Stadium events start with a bang.

Are you ready for a revolution? The BattleCry Campaign is. San Francisco received a major call to action as thousands of teenagers and adults gathered at AT&T Park for the first BattleCry Stadium event.

On March 24 and 25, these Christians met for a powerful weekend of worship and life-changing encounters. God literally poured down on thousands of attendees at the San Francisco BattleCry event. Unhampered by the cold rain, many answered a call to abandon themselves to God and to rescuing this generation. As God showed up and moved in people's lives, He left them forever transformed. The city will never be the same again.

Long before the weekend happened, people, youth groups, and churches covered the event in prayer. We have even heard reports of people going on a 40 day fast to pray for the event. One group organized a prayer room, and people signed up to pray for certain time slots, creating a stream of prayer throughout the entire event. Thank God for all of those who were willing to sacrifice their time to see a generation changed!

Pre-Event Rally

On Friday afternoon, March 24, 2006, before anything started, several hundred teens and adults gathered in front of San Francisco's city hall to take a stand against the media culture corrupting this generation's lives and futures.

Rally leaders were surprised by the city's response. A group of about 50 demonstrators came to aggressively counterprotest as our group peacefully held signs and prayed.

The teenagers and adults representing BattleCry were truly amazing. They reached out to the protesters in love while praying for their generation. Meanwhile, the protestors held signs such as "I moved here to get away from people like you" and "No to women-hating Christian-fascist theocracy." They also chanted, "Christian fascists go away! Racists, sexists, anti-gay!"

Just as surprising was the resolution passed by the public officials of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors before we arrived. According to them, we brought our "anti-gay and anti-choice agenda of intolerance" to the city, while in fact, we were only there to stand against the immorality of media and culture. Assemblyman Mark Leno, another city official, even went so far as to say of the Christians, "They're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting and they should get out of San Francisco."

The rally and counterprotest created such a stir that Bill O'Reilly of The O'Reilly Factor asked Ron Luce and the leader of the counterprotest to appear on his show the following Monday, when Ron was able to respond to their allegations. "There are young people all over America who are realizing that they are caught in the middle of this cultural war. We're all about empowering young people to have a voice."

One twelve year old girl from San Francisco politely disagreed with Mr. Leno and wanted to voice her concern. She called Leno's office and asked, "In what context would the things he said about my friends and our faith be acceptable?" After talking further with the person who answered her call, she ended by saying, "I just think that Assemblyman Leno owes me an apology for the things he said about us and I want to leave you my phone number in case he would like to call." She got what she wanted. Leno went on to publicly apologize for his statement.

Let It Rain

In spite of the protesters, what happened inside the stadium was spectacular. It poured rain for most of the Friday night session, yet with sheer determination, nobody left, and even the speakers were drenched as they spoke.

A highlight of the event took place when Delirious played their song, "Rain Down." As rain fell into the open air stadium, a beautiful sense of God's presence filled the air.

When Ron preached an uncompromising Gospel message, God moved incredibly in the hearts of many people. Some said it was the best Gospel message they had ever heard. And right before the altar call, as if we had scheduled it, the rain stopped. Many chose to follow Jesus that night.

Throughout Saturday, amazing concerts and powerful sessions rocked the audience's hearts and minds. Testimonies and stories by the artists and speakers caused many to reexamine their own faith and challenged them to live the life of a revolutionary Christian.

Pillar and Michael Gungor both performed their songs that were inspired by the BattleCry. With each line, the shouts of thousands of people echoed loudly as they answered the call to rally behind the battle for their generation.

That same night, teenagers throughout the stadium read the Teenage Bill of Rights (watch the video) and declared what they were willing to stand for, live by, and believe in.

The event ended with Ron unveiling the new battlecry.com website with an incredible new feature. After joining the BattleCry Coalition, teens and adults are now able to create a personal Battle Plan to reaching their generation and share with their friends.

The stories continue to pour in, illustrating the incredible things that God has done in many people's lives. But by no means is He done working.

Things Are Just Getting Started

For thousands of people in San Francisco, the battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of this generation has become very real. Though not a physical battle, there is certainly a cultural and spiritual battle taking place. As the BattleCry travels to Detroit in April and Philadelphia in May, please pray that God will awaken people to the cries of our young people. Also, pray that God would move at each event, and that lasting change leading to a life long pursuit of God would take place in people's lives.

An entire generation of young people is headed into a future of not knowing Christ. As Christians across the country raise the banner for this generation, pray that a new generation of uncompromising followers of Christ will rise up and leave an unforgettable mark in this country.

*You are welcome to republish this article once you include the following text and link at the end of the article:

Read youth culture news, youth ministry articles, and join the fight for America's young people at http://www.battlecry.com.