SAN ANTONIO – Thousands of teens and young adults who are all members of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod descended upon the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention center Monday to kick off the Missouri Synod National Youth Gathering.
The event is a week of worship, faith education and service that takes place in a select U.S. city every three years.
"Its just a great time," said 19-year-old Adam Hiles of Carlisle, Ill. "You can grow in your faith. I mean, what could be better?"
The event draws teens ages 14 to 19 from all over the nation and the world.
"They're here from 49 of the 50 states and 11 foreign countries," said Rev. Terry Dittmer, Dir. of Youth Ministry for the LCMS.
The Gathering has been held in San Antonio twice before, the last time in 1995. And throughout the coming week, teen participants will be doing service projects to benefit their host city.
"Couple of thousand kids throughout the city doing things like cleaning parks, building houses, repairing roofs," said Dittmer.
"Being a good Christian means helping others when they need it, and we love doing that stuff," Hiles said.
You will likely see the group around town throughout the week wearing matching T-shirts and carrying matching backpacks.
And every evening, they will gather at the Alamodome for a giant faith production, which include things like worship, dramatic performances and Bible readings.
"I used to say its like putting on five Broadway shows in five nights," Dittmer said. "They love the Lord and they want to serve Him and this is a great way to do it."
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