Altitude 2011 an Awakening Experience!

By Geordan Kanelopoulos

Contrary to the past two years, Altitude came to the great state of Oklahoma this year. Yes, I know that the name “Altitude” was not quite characteristic of Oklahoma City. Especially compared to Winter Park, Colorado (where the conference was held its first two years). However, from a spiritual standpoint, I believe it is fair to say that the conference climbed even higher in elevation.

Packed with powerful Spirit-led speakers, anointed worship experiences from the Elevate band, and activities ranging from rock climbing to snow tubing, it’s safe to say that these kids had a blast. But they did not simply have a blast only while they were there. These young adults had experiences that will be remembered. I do not say this lightly, but rather with great confidence. I know that the experiences and commitments made during the conference will positively impact these kids for the rest of the year. I know this because the conference made this kind of impact on me (and I was just a vendor).

The last night of the conference was New Year’s Eve. Instead of having a regular New Year’s Eve party, the directors decided to host a special kind of service. Actually, the conference attendees were the ones that hosted the service. The service was a talent show of sorts. I believe it is safe to call it a talent show because the participants were very talented! However, they were not performing for their own glory or competition. Rather, they performed from the heart of ministry. The talents included prayers, skits, testimonies, hip hop dances, music, singing, and everything in between. I was blown away by the amount of participation. The coolest part of all was the fact that each of the performances was centered on bringing glory to the King.

The last talent shared was a simple worship song, sang and played by a girl on the piano. The presence of God could be felt so strongly by the time we got to this last song, that all we could do was fall on our faces in surrender to the Father. It was like clock work, and as the New Year approached, we congregationally worshiped the Lord our God. What an amazing way to spend the first moments of the New Year. As the countdown began, everyone in the building was encouraged to begin praying to the Lord; thanking Him for the ability to be salt and light to the world during 2012. At the end of our personal time with the Lord, the whole conference exploded in celebration! Definitely an Awakening experience, and a night to be remembered.

Altitude was a complete success! The Awakening interns and I were able to excite many of the attendees about missions. While promoting missions as a whole, The Awakening specifically promoted the Panama 2012 trip which is scheduled for August 5-11. Many of the inquirers loved hearing about previous mission trip stories, and they became ecstatic to create their own! There is no doubt in my mind that God planted seeds in the hearts of many of those young adults. After all, as a member of The Awakening, I feel a specific duty to help “awaken” the call of “go and tell” to all people; whether it is over seas or around the corner.