Hey guys!  Just a brief update for anyone hitting “refresh” more than you’d like to admit…those like me who are trying to adjust to life without a new World Tour city and another set of stunning images every few days.  And you know what?  Having PPS (post-Passion syndrome) withdrawals is not a bad thing, rather a normal process that follows something as momentous, demanding and energizing as the journey we have experienced together.  Downshifting, for sure, is not easy…and brings with it a massive mix of emotions.

For one, there’s an undeniable joy in making it to the finish, an accomplishment we still can’t fully absorb and comprehend.  And  there’s a corresponding sadness in not having the physical, emotional and spiritual challenges “Mount World Tour” posed every single day for the past year.  And of course, we miss the cities…and the beautiful people of the world…and watching God land in life-altering ways night after night.  Are we glad to be home?  OH YEAH!  But reentry is tricky and weird.   I mean, how do you get back to the thought of sitting down to watch the latest “Office” episode when for weeks you haven’t watched much TV at all (when you did it was CNN International, again) and not really missed it?  But we are thrilled to be home and reconnected with family and the Passion House team again.  And the same Spirit of God that led us every step of the way is actually inside us in this moment!

And speaking of home, by God’s grace Shelley made it back from Sydney and is doing better under the care of some brilliant doctors here in Atlanta.  Surviving the flights was a small miracle in itself, and one for which we are so grateful.  Thank you for all your kind words and prayers.  We felt them all the way.  She’s got a little ways to go before being back to normal speed, but things are definitely moving in the right direction.

Enjoy the pics from Manila – Sydney and in a few days we’ll be back with a mosaic from Kyiv – London.  See you soon!  Louie

If you have to bring an unforgettable, multi-lap, life-altering, generation-linking global journey to a close, Sydney is definitely a pretty fine place to finish.  Not only is it a stunningly beautiful city, but the people are as warm as you will find anywhere in the world.  That’s saying quite a lot, given the amazing friends we have met on the way (notice even the Brazilians got into the Sydney act), but there is a warm and inviting spirit within the Australian culture.  Add to that, we are on the bottom of the planet, and while isolated may be too strong a word, there is certainly the sense that you are somewhere far away when you are here.  That may be because it’s an island-nation, and you’re not connected to any other country.  But whatever the case, you feel like you have bridged a gap when God connects you with what He’s doing here, and it was our privilege to bring the Passion Movement to the land of Oz.

Sooner or later we all knew this tour was going to come to a close, but I’m finding it a little difficult to disconnect from the thought that we will soon be trudging through another airport, absorbing another way of life, quickly schooling on the basics of another language and asking once again, “How much is this in dollars?”  And it’s sad to think that we’re not going to hear that universal roar for the line, “Jesus Is Alive!” anytime soon.  That’s not to say we’re not excited about getting back to the ATL, we totally are.  And soon we will begin putting the foundation stones of the new church plant in place, as well as working on a few late-spring ‘09 WT dates and the upcoming US gathering–Passion 2010.  But it’s bittersweet, just like the symphonic piece we opened most nights with along the way. Speaking of getting home, Shelley and I are still in Sydney…her back has gone out in a major way, and until things improve, 20 hours of flying is not an option.  Please pray!

Fortunately, for all of you who have followed this incredible trek and loved the images, we are working on a photo-essay book that will tell the story through Jeremy’s creative lens.  Combined with my take on the places and events, we hope this coffee-table sized work captures both the voice of each city and the generation that God is raising up for His fame.  “Awakening,” will be available after the first of the year and details will be available soon so you can pre-order yours and make sure it lands on your door in KL, Johannesburg, Vancouver or any other destination on earth.  I think it’s going to tell a beautiful story, so spread the word to anyone you know you has joined us!  More to come on this.

As we make the final trip home and wrap up the details of the tour, we are trusting God for the last chunk of resources needed to bring the balance to zero.  We are close, and know God is able.  You have been so generous since we first launched this idea at Passion 07 (the Aussies gave $27,000 US–and that does not include coins which are still being counted and probably total several thousand more!), but if you feel so led to help us you can click the GIVE button on the 268generation.com main page and help us to the finish.

For now, we are united, joined across borders, time zones, cultures and oceans.  That is a powerful thing, the work of the Spirit of our great God.  Never forget, that same Spirit–the One who raised Christ from the dead–is in you, in Christ.  Think big.  Believe for more.  Never settle.  We have seen a miracle and been a part of one together.  And the best is yet to come.

Sydney love to all,

Louie

I must admit, I am writing in a somewhat surreal state.  Is it possible that what we have dreamed and hoped for for almost two years has really come to a close with a beautiful night in downtown Sydney?  Is it possible that we have landed in seventeen cities?  Touched down on six continents?  Seen sixteen nations?  And is it possible that “God Of This City” felt just as powerful in the last one as it did on night one back in Kyiv?

Tonight we said hello to Sydney and goodbye to a journey around the globe that has united students from Sao Paulo to Tokyo, Cape Town to Mexico City, London to Jakarta.  And, as in the case of Passion Sydney, we have seen the faces of university students who are serious about their faith and passionate to see the name of Jesus reach every person on the planet.  8000 of us were together tonight, with more than 80 colleges and universities represented from all across Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

That we found Passion friends and made new ones tonight is pretty cool.  And that we reconnected with those who have been at Passion events somewhere else in the world is amazing.  During the giving tonight someone handed me a piece of paper from the front row which read, ” Dear Louie, I was there at Shelby Farms and am so glad you finally made it to my country.”  For those who are new to the movement, that was the first OneDay in 2000, where 40,000 university students gathered outside Memphis for a solemn assembly of prayer and worship.  Jane, we are so glad God finally allowed us to come to your country, too.  It’s a place we love very much and one we believe God is anointing to be a light to the nations.

To all of you reading along and praying from the four corners of the world, this has been OUR tour, yours and ours, and we are incredibly blessed to have you along for the ride.  Fortunately, the story doesn’t end here in Sydney tonight.  There’s much more to come as God continues to do “immeasurably more than we could think or imagine.”

With love from down under,

Louie

Present company excluded, this is one gorgeous group of people, the real faces behind Passion’s global journey to seventeen of the world’s greatest cities.  While those of us on stage stand more often in the light and have our mugs super-sized on the screens every night, it’s the rest of these guys who make our world go round and are responsible for the experience that tens of thousands of you will hopefully never forget.  They make things bright and make sure the details are looked after well, and they allow us to be heard and make sure you find your way.  They have labored many long months, sacrificed much because they truly believed in a awakening generation, done well when no one was watching and said goodbye to people they dearly love to serve the students of the world.  Their reward is the look of wonder on the face of a student in KL, the tears in the eyes of a pastor in Kampala, small gatherings of city leaders who are becoming friends as a result of a Passion stop and new Believers in Hong Kong.  And their prize is knowing that Jesus was pushed to the center and adored as only He should be.  They are an amazing team who have allowed us to circle the planet more than once in recent weeks and Shelley and I are so proud to call them friends. They are the ones who deserve your thanks.

We snapped these pics at our team dinner in Sydney tonight as we await what we are hoping will be the strongest possible finish to a tour that has exceeded our dreams.  Some of our Sydney team are included above, representatives of the 16 other City Team Leads, without whom these days would not have happened.  And a few of our Staff Team are pictured as well, carrying the banner for our whole Team back home who has not only joined us along the way, but held things together while we have been gone.  A few production folks from legs 1 and 2 are missing, as well as a few bands who have rocked other stops.  To all of the above, you’re beautiful people and the cause of massive gratefulness here and on every continent.

Louie & Shelley

This place is beyond belief!  We have just arrived back at our hotel in Central HK, and area that is known as the SoHo of Hong Kong, and though it’s 12:30 AM the streets are teaming with people enjoying a night out in the city.  I’m about to fall over, but HK feels like it’s just revving up for the night.  But before I crash, I wanted to share some of the pics from a night that was “Wooooooow.”

Needless to say, we are pretty blown away by the privilege of being in China tonight, even if it’s the more open and “western” HK…it’s still China.  And right in the middle of it all close to 2100 people filled Queen Elizabeth Stadium to worship the One who breathes all things to life.  It is still a little hard to believe what just happened…it was truly awesome.

I think half the world was there tonight…friends from the US, people from Canada, Africa, and some who had been at other World Tour stops in Seoul, KL, Manila and who knows where else.  Like HK, it was a melting pot of cultures and nations, yet our voices were united for His name.

Sam Lu, our friend from Passion DC who just graduated from a university in the mainland, was with us and brought a bunch of her friends.  And we know of many other mainlanders who were there as well.  I don’t have all the details yet, but someone told me on the way out about one of them who came to know the grace of God tonight for the very first time!  Right on to that, and I am sure there are, and will be others that we may not know about until heaven.

Once again, there was sheer amazement and joy on their faces as different songs would start throughout the night, and the same looks on ours as we kept scanning the crowd in wonder.  And tonight was a 360 night, one where people kept looking around the room because they were stunned at how many people were in one place celebrating Jesus.

Passion Hong Kong was a spark, but there is a massive tide in this city that is moving without any thought of any god but those of success, accomplishment, place and pleasure.  We are praying our time here tonight will be a catalyst for this city and the cities of what is the most populated nation on the planet.  Great things are happening here, but there is more brewing in the heart of God for these precious people.

Thanks to Tokyo for all your support tonight.  You gave over $140,000 HKD (more than $18,000 US) for this night and covered us with your prayers.  On behalf of HK and all of us on the Passion Team, thank you!

Let God arise!
Louie

Night is falling across the Americas, but it’s a beautiful new day here in HK and the city is buzzing as it has a tendency to do most of the day and night.  We are just a few hours away from Passion Hong Kong, and when you stop and think about it, that’s really Passion China…and we couldn’t be happier.  Tonight will be filled with students from HK and the mainland as well, many who have never in their lives heard the Story we are carrying.  It’s good to know you guys around the world are praying like crazy, and believing with us for a movement of the Spirit in this city tonight.

Speaking of praying, we are LOVING the link between cities, and even though this sign did not appear at the Tokyo event it was sent to us later in the hopes of communicating love for those coming to HK tonight.  I know it represents not only Passion Tokyo, but countless others around the globe.  Though it’s close to noon here, and approaching midnight back home, our 15 stops have scattered this World Tour journey into so many time zones your prayers (and comments) really never cease day and night.  That, my friends is pretty cool, and what the Kingdom we are a part of is all about!

Louie

Hello from Tokyo, where the city lights blanket the skyline for as far as I can see in every direction from my 30th floor hotel.  Looking across the vast expanse, I know that somewhere among the tens of millions of people who are in my view are 2000 who have had a really great, and for me unforgettable, night at Passion Tokyo.  An over-capacity crowd jammed into CC Lemon Theater for what will certainly be a highlight on a tour filled with such incredible memories it’s beginning to make our heads spin.  But when you are in a metro area of close to 30 million, where only 100,000 or so are followers of Jesus, you get pretty fired up about a gathering like the one we just experienced, and you don’t want to be anywhere else on earth.

Though the numbers of Believers in Tokyo are not in our favor yet, the Church is coming to life here and there is an openness to the story of grace.  And there are enough people carrying the light of Christ to absolutely see a huge turnaround among the people of this city.  That’s what we are believing for…and what this night was all about!

Passion Tokyo was a dream come true for us, and for so many others.  One of them was a university student named Natsuki, who while attending a Passion Thirsty conference in Atlanta put her faith in Christ.  Funny story–Natsuki didn’t speak hardley any English, so she fell asleep during my talk that night, but woke up as we were having Communion and felt the power of the gospel come oer her life.  As we were celebrating the death and life of Christ she leaned down the row and told someone in her group that she wanted to become a Christian!  Natsuki has been at several events since then, most recently Passion Boston while she was studying in New England, and she told me she had always wanted to hear me talk in Japanese.  Well, tonight Natsuki was in the middle of 2000 crazy, loud worshiping Japanese, and my talk was translated into her native tongue.  She told me afterward she was so happy her dream had come true.

Chris, David, Matt and their bands did a phenomenal job tonight and the place was alive from the moment the “Hello Tokyo” video hit.  And speaking of the video, it’s so powerful watching that video night after night, tonight’s version being all Japanese.  But when “JESUS IS ALIVE” fills the screen it really doesn’t matter what language it’s in, the power of that confession brings people to their feet.

Seoul, your many, many signs of love for Tokyo were a huge hit tonight…and we left them all in the hands of happy students.  And, I only saw the Hong Kong sign when I got these photos tonight…so forgive me for not making mention of it during the night.  But, way to go Tokyo.

Little lights are glistening as far as the eye can see, a beautiful picture of what is to come for the land of the rising sun.

It’s late, so I will sign off now, but our whole Passion Team is stunned with our love for this place and humbled to be a small part of what our great God is doing here tonight!

For us all, Louie

They call this place “The Land of the Morning Calm,” but today at Passion Seoul was anything but that.  In fact, at one point tonight it felt like the roar was going to knock us off the stage…and that was the prayer time!  To say that these people go all out in worship is an understatement.  They go for it in the music, go for it in the prayer and go for it when they are listening and responding to the Word of God.  And being with them today has left us all full, and massively hopeful about the future of this nation.

Francis began the day with an incredible message about the love of a perfect father, a talk Matt followed with such a well-placed “Father’s Song.”  From where I was standing I could see tears everywhere, as young people brought up in a high-octane, achievement-based culture where the father’s presence and embrace is often scarce came to realize they are in the hug of the God of the universe who knows their name and calls them His own. From that moment the wonder of God’s grace swelled throughout the day, finding it’s climax with thousands of hands raised across the arena in surrender to the One who rescues and frees.

Tokyo, be assured, the loudest wave of prayer I have ever heard is headed your way.  And did we mentioned the signs?  There were, like a dozen of them…all shapes and sizes, each one carrying the love of the people of Seoul for you guys in Japan. That is amazing!  And not only are Seoul and Tokyo connected, but the whole world is uniting.  We have seen that now in fourteen cities around the globe, but also witnessed it here as four of our friends from Kampala came to join us for Passion Seoul.  As we prayed together before the last session we also prayed for them as they head back to Uganda and carry on what God began on that campus sports field back in May.  The thought that they would come half way around the world to be with us again is really, really special.

I’d like to write for an hour, but even if I did it would be hard to capture the heart of this day in mere words.  But I think the words of one of the local pastors (and one of our partners here) sum it up as he told us the consensus among many of his friends in leadership was that God did something in these days that they have never seen at a conference here before…and with that, that they felt like Passion Seoul has not ended, rather has just begun.  To that end I say “right on.”

To the people of Seoul… Passion loves you and believes the best is yet to come!

For all our team, both Korean and American, Louie

Friday is ending in Seoul, but not without a rowdy night in the Olympic Gymnasium as thousands of Koreans kicked off Passion Seoul with a blast.  For me, the highlight of the night was the connection between students, that global thing that’s happening as you guys grab onto the idea of praying and giving for each other.  It’s that thread that makes these nights more than just concerts on a tour, but rather a united wave of passionate followers of Jesus who really do feel connected all around the world.

As tonight opened and we did our little geographical recap of the tour to date, you could sense that the cities were taking on a new friend as Seoul joined the ranks of those of you who have gone before. And when I started telling them about the love Vancouver showed them (giving over $40,000 US–which is over 56,000,000 [yes, that's million] in Korean currency!) and about the promise of your prayers, they were stunned.  But when I unrolled the “God Bless Seoul” banner you guys sent with us tears filled the eyes of more than one of the people who were standing near the front of the stage.  In fact, there were three girls standing a few rows back that were visibly shaken by the thought of it, and as that sign unfurled tears started streaming down one of their faces – a powerful moment I will never forget.

When we prayed at the beginning of the night, again tears everywhere…not only as we welcomed the Christ we have come here to amplify, but as we prayed for you guys back in Vancouver, returning the prayers that you are sending our way right now.  Speaking of which, students at Trinity Western are meeting on campus Friday night and praying for us as we begin our 10 AM session here tomorrow.  That, my friends, is very cool.

Speaking of very cool, four of our friends from Kampala have come to Seoul to be a part of this weekend.  So the world is uniting, shrinking into one voice as many cultures and languages form a loud anthem of His renown.

It’s already a beautiful weekend here and things have only just begun.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more from Seoul!  LG

Downtown Vancouver is growing quieter by the minute, but somehow I can still hear the sound of 7000 voices singing “Greater Things Have Yet To Come” as we came to the close of a really special night.  I always hate to be presumptive, and the truth is we rarely know exactly what God is up to in the circumstances of our lives, but there is a very real sense that tonight was a significant link in the unfolding story of a beautiful church that is coming to bloom in this city.  For one, I think it was the largest gathering of university-aged believers the city has ever seen, and for two, I think that’s a pretty big deal in that tonight made clear to any student wanting to live a life of light and love in Christ that they are not alone. God is alive in this place…and there is so much more to come.

[I'm editing on Tuesday AM because I was told this morning last night was the largest Christian gathering Vancouver has ever seen!]

Mexico’s love was felt all around, and your Vancouver sign prompted a Canadian response for our next stop in Seoul!  (So, no pressure Seoul, but if you have no visible “signage love” for Tokyo we are going to be disappointed!)  Thank you for praying for us and ushering us into this night with hope and faith.  All through the day there was a feeling that freedom and healing were going to come in and through the songs.  For me, two of the most potent moments were Chris leading “Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone” and Crowder singing “Here I Am To Worship” after Ashley’s story of grace and life.  But then again, both bands, as always, led in phenomenal ways and I’m sure people could say the same for every musical moment.

I can’t tell you how humbling this journey is for us.  Once again we walked into a city where an incredible team had worked for many, many months to make what we experienced possible.  All of them carry the spirit of Passion so well and make possible a global wave we could never sustain on our own.

Vancouver is a uniquely poised city with the prospect for unparalleled influence throughout Canada, Asia and the world.  For every campus represented tonight our hope is that the clarity and gravity of the cross will inspire and awaken a generation that will never settle for less than lives that reflect something greater to this generation.  We are so happy to have played a tiny role toward that end.

For His fame in Canada!

Louie

PS-We forgot to mention, Vancouver’s “beans and rice” is onemillioncan.com.