Pokemon In Poptropica

There was one thing on this crowd's mind and that was celebration.

Because quite a group from the Odessa Project travelled from Odessa to Kiev to be at the biggest Christian concert ever in the Ukraine - the concert with the famous group Delirious - we publish a report from Martin Smith, one of the members of Delirious. On a plane again after our very first visit to Kiev in Ukraine. On the surface the same old thing, an arena packed with people singing Delirious' songs, but there was nothing 'surface' about this occasion.

It was the biggest public youth gathering in Ukraine ever and there was one thing on this crowd's mind and that was celebration. Celebrating a new political freedom after years of communism, celebrating the rise of a nation so isolated for decades but most of all celebrating their faith in Jesus.

It was like when you put seeds in a microwave and pop corn starts to explode or like throwing your whole box of fireworks on the fire and letting them all go off at once! This was a new day for Ukraine and we were honoured to watch the youth of a nation lift their voices not in anger but in praise of a great God who breathes life into 'dry bones', bones that were meant to decay but instead tonight became a 'vast army' with one heart and one song ready to live for the king of glory. This was the closest we ever came to missing a gig as British airways cancelled all their flights whilst we were on the way to the airport. After Ian Cattle our road manager stayed up all night (respect please) we found 7 seats on Ukraines own airline and arrived in with only 30 minutes to soundcheck before we played. With only half our crew we set the stage up ourselves and just made it by the skin of our teeth! I'm so glad we didn't miss one of the most exciting nights of our year, hearing 4000 Ukrainians singing Historymaker reminded me of being in the school hall in Littlehampton in 1995 and seeing the youth of England start to believe in themselves and more so believe in their God who is infintley greater than creation itself. There was an air of 'holy arrogance' that we weren't going to wait for change but we were going to sing loud enough for the world to hear of our magnificent saviour.
Tonight that same fire was here and it touched me more than any one would know. You don't get used to this 'fire' or immune to the faith of a 15 year old in the crowd whose face is like the very sun itself and you see Christ alive in an ordinary kid who knows they have found the real thing and will give their life away for the gospel. Ukraine, please can we come back, if only so that we can catch the fire you have and keep this band focused on eternal things. We need each other in this world and singing with you was a priviledge.
Martin Smith for Delirious, Great Britain