International youth festival

Murska Sobota, Slovenia, 2016

Be Aware Of The Mistery

Liberec, Czech Republic, 2014

The international Youth Festival 2014 took place on the renewed campus of the University of Liberec. The theme of the festival was Follow the Star and Search for the Heart. Two key symbols decorated the festival this year, the heart and the star. We hosted ninety particupants from eleven different countries, most of the participants this year came from The Netherlands and the USA. Performing at this festival were the Hytha Family Band, Steve and Ainsley Apirana and a cast consisting of young people from New York performing the Broadway musical Godspell.

On the second day we left the festival site for a discovery of our host city and ended up at the top of Mount Jested from where we took the group picture after everyone first got their T-shirts. Two days later we left the festival site again and took the busses 45 minutes north of Liberec to Herrnhut, the birthplace of the Moravian mission of the Herrnhutter. At this unique historic village we played the Hernhut Heritage Hunt, a two or three hours discovery of the spiritual and history roots of this mission.

Most of the groups attending the festival were involved in a week long discovery adventure prior to the festival. From different places they became part of the KARAVAAN, a project to discover and perhaps recover some of the spiritual heritage of Europe. At the festival each of these groups shared their stories during the evening meetings.Check out the Karavaan stories under the category KARAVAAN.

Some impressions of the festival this year by the participants.

It was a good experience. I really hope someone is looking at this because I really loved it and I’m so thankful that you chose to involve Romania! (Romania) This festival is my second one.Atlantic Bridge changed my life and my personality. I think it makes me a better person and gave me a chance to build bridges and break down walls. I’m doing it. (Hungary) Good to understand and have a complete picture of the idea of Atlantic Bridge. The concept of connecting people, understanding each other, even though we all don’t have the same beliefs. It was great. (Diego from Spain) The theme of following the star was a perfect theme for me because I loved seeing what to follow. (USA) It was an invitation of love. I love how in our small group everyone was so vulnerable. (USA) The festival made me grow in faith. I saw God and I know he saw us and looked at us and thought it was good. I made lots of new friends and had amazing conversations! (Dutch) I was surprised when I came here. It’s so different from other festivals. I had a great time. (Dutch)

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Youth Festival signals the end of the Bridgebuilder year. You get together with a ton of other Bridgebuilders in a week of fun and cultural learning.

The International Youth Festival is the ‘flagship event’ of Atlantic Bridge. It is the only activity during the year that brings multiple Bridgebuilders Clubs together and best expresses the vision of Atlantic Bridge. Youth from many different cultures, countries, lifestyles and beliefs meet each other for seven days of fun, friendship and faith. The key elements of the Festival are introducing and inspiring participants to the mission of bridgebuilding and the Christian heritage and faith.

The International Youth Festival takes place in a different country each year with between 120 and 180 participants. Most groups come to the Festival after participating in an exchange with their Bridgebuilders Club. Each festival has a specific theme that is explored during the week.

The morning of each day is filled with a MeetPoint where games, music and the news and love reports prepare everyone for the speaker of the day. Then everyone goes to their Small Group where the theme is unwrapped on a more personal level and youth can discuss related issues.

The afternoon is a relaxing time with various Workshops and Optional activities. One afternoon the entire Festival goes on a Discovery Trip to learn about the town or region that is hosting the festival.

The evening program is a chance for each group or individual to present themselves through the Country Presentations and Talent Show. And Café de Connexxion provides the perfect end to the day with a cozy chat and cup of coffee, relaxing music or invigorating game.

Although Atlantic Bridge is a Christian organisation, many of the participants have no church background or belief in God.

If you are a Christian and you want to join us next summer, we will ask you to keep that in mind. This is not a festival where you will get a lot of in depth Bible studies, but one in which you will be challenged as you learn to openly share with people who think and believe different from what you are used to.

If you don’t believe in God, we ask you to keep in mind that there are people at the festival who think and behave different from what you are used to. This is not a festival where you will be ‘indoctrinated’ with the Christian faith, but it is a place where we openly share our lives and experiences with each other, and talking about the role of faith in our lives is an essential part of that. Come and join us for an incredibly fun and inspiring time.

Participation in the festival is usually per group. If you are interested in participating as an individual, you can contact us directly by email or write to us.

Liberec, Czech Republic, 2013

No information available.

Litvinov, Czech Republic, 2011

The 17th annual International Youth Festival took place from August 8-14 in the Czech town of Litvinov, just under the mountain range bordering eastern Germany. Seven countries were represented among the fifty participants. USA-Germany-Hungary-Poland-The Netherlands-Canada-Czech Republic.

The theme of the festival was SEARCH FOR THE HEART. We all took on the role of Sherlock Holmes. First we searched for the heart of Litvinov. We visited the elderly to hear the stories of their lives, went on a discovery trip to investigate the various aspects of this town and region and took surveys among the few younger people we found (most of them left for vacation or for the montains).

We searched our own hearts this week, discovering the meaning of life through the most difficult book of the Bible: Ecclesiastes. Blahos Fajmon challenged us to rediscover old books. Dr. B (John Bechtold) talked about new bridges of today, the social media, concluding that the only difference between how our grandparents communicated with each other and we communicate with each other is wrapped up in one word: speed! And what does the number of facebook friends say about the quality of our relationships? Is there really anything new under the sun? Anne Sophie from Germany shared her love story and how a relationship with God adds meaning to your life, and, in fact, makes your cup flow over so you have something to give to others. ‘Grandma’ Cathy concluded the messages about meaning when she summed up all of the week to conclude that building bridges in various directions is not only needed but meaningful.

In the evaluation afterwards, the FLASH MOB received the highest marks. Dancing in regular and irregular movement to the song Dynamite became one of the favorite activities. We did it in the town square, after the Game Without Walls and whenever an occasion would present itself. It was just fun to do and it brought a smile on faces of participants as well as observers. We tried a Flash Mob on the song Turn, Turn , Turn (the Byrds) which was the theme song for the week, but that did not create the same effect.

The FLASH MOB was Dr B’s idea and so here he is up front next to Timea from Hungary, the only gypsie girl I know that loves God, leading the troops in the town square. Dr. B is on a path to gather data for a research to discover the effects of the social media on the quality of our relationships. A real good but heavy thing! He was a great speaker and connected with all at the festival.

Other researchers at the festival were the FIVE BROTHERS OF PUNKY MONK. Punky Monk was held up in a hospital in Africa after an elephant stepped on his foot. But Five Brothers of his monastery were happy to take his place. Brothers Martin, Nathanael, Balint, Tomasz and Brother – sorry Sister – Katinka. They led the research into the heart of Litvinov and reported their progress each day at the morning Meetpoint. At the end of the week it was still unclear what was the real heart of Litvinov. Most said it was Ice Hockey but some disagree and said it was water! The brothers concluded that there was one thing that sadly was not part of the heart of Litvinov….faith in God. They were a bit dissappointed to have to draw that conclusion.

We only got 26 surveys filled out among youth in the ages between 15 and 26 but, with the conversations with folks from town, we estimate that the results are fairly accurate.

1. What is most important to you?
FAMILY was by far the most important, especially for the girls. Then EDUCATION and RELATIONSHIPS. HEALTH, MUSIC AND MONEY were not as high and FAITH IN GOD was only answered positive by three boys from a church who joined us for some of the activities.

2. Who has the most influence in your life?
FAMILY was highest, then PARENTS and FRIENDS.

3. The biggest challenge facing youth in Litvinov?
DRUGS got the most votes by far! VANDALISM and NO JOBS also got a few votes. Lastly BOREDOM

Do you know the meaning of the YELLOW FLAG?
If the yellow flag goes up, the air pollution of the nearby petroleum factories has reached dangerour levels and people are required to wear masks. In the summer young people were required to leave the area for at least three weeks so their lungs could breathe clean air.

Koszeg, Hungary, 2010

Koszeg – known as Hungary’s jewel-box – is located in western Hungary in a valley of mountains. It is bordered on the west by a national park and on the north by Austria. Jurisich Castle – the symbol of Koszeg – is famous for its role in stopping the Turkish army from advancing to Vienna in 1532. There are other famous and historic buildings, but one 21st century sight is the “honesty boxes”.

These are racks of merchandise placed on the streets with no chains or locks to be seen. According to the website this “proves that public security is excellent and the people are reliable and welcome guests with distinguished hospitality”. Sounds like an interesting place to check out! See ‘Our flagship event’ for general information about our festivals.

Koszeg, Hungary, 2009

Koszeg – known as Hungary’s jewel-box – is located in western Hungary in a valley of mountains. It is bordered on the west by a national park and on the north by Austria. Jurisich Castle – the symbol of Koszeg – is famous for its role in stopping the Turkish army from advancing to Vienna in 1532. There are other famous and historic buildings, but one 21st century sight is the “honesty boxes”.

These are racks of merchandise placed on the streets with no chains or locks to be seen. According to the website this “proves that public security is excellent and the people are reliable and welcome guests with distinguished hospitality”. Sounds like an interesting place to check out! See ‘Our flagship event’ for general information about our festivals.

Nitra, Slovakia, 2008

Vlissingen, Netherlands, 2007

No information available.

Tata, Hungary, 2006

Nitra, Slovakia, 2005

Nitra is the oldest town in Slovakia. Behind Nitra rises the mountain, and the river Nitra runs at its base, encircling the old town and the castle hill across from the mountain. Our festival was held at a university campus at the foot of the mountain, just across the river from the castle. Our theme was “Love can build a bridge”.

We had 130 participants from 10 countries:

• 4 from UK
• 7 from Iceland
• 18 from Hungary
• 5 from the Ukraine
• 36 from the USA
• 15 from The Netherlands
• 3 from Canada
• 10 from Romania
• 23 from the Czech Republic
• 10 from Slovakia

On a hill just outside of town is an old missionary institute called Calvary which sent out missionaries all over the world to spread the Good News. From this sense of history we created the story of the lost monk, a brother who came down from the mountain and shared with us his observations of the world, asking “Where is the love?”

Each day we had a Club Meeting, which was the main session where we all came together. Each Club Meeting featured a speaker who spoke on the day’s theme. At each Club Meeting somone read a fictional letter from our lost monk, which shared some insights about the day’s theme plus some exhortations.

We also had a “Love Report” each day by Margareth Ross from Iceland. She began her reports with the phrase, “The love is growing in Nitra…”; and she related stories of festival participants who were particularly helpful to others in a sacrificial way. For example, one girl from the Czech Republic accompanied a girl from Ukraine for much of the festival in order to translate everything that was going on because the Ukrainian spoke no English. They communicated in Russian. Margareth Ross also had little spies that informed her of one or two romances that began during the Festival.

After the Club Meeting the participants could discuss the main talk each morning in their small groups. These were drawn from all the participants and everyone was placed into one for the whole week in order to get know and interact more fully with a smaller number of people. The feedback about the small groups has been very favorable and they have become a basis for good friendships that many participants are carrying on through email.

One participant said: “Before the trip I was nervous about the language barrier and being open to other cultures. But then after being with new people from all over Europe, I got used to trying to communicate with them. I grew close to a lot of people from all different countries that I never would have thought I would be able to get as close to as I did in only a week.”

In the afternoons there were organized, optional activities and workshops. The four workshops were: Arts & Crafts, led by the Slovakian host team; Stepping, led by the step team SoW from Holland; Singing, led by the gospel choir Angels of Harmony from Philadelphia; and Hip-Hop, led by the YMCA group from New Jersey. These groups participated all week, but on Thursday night we got special performances from them and the pupils at their workshops. We also got to see the top three finalists from the talent contest, which ran all week with different acts each evening.

Wednesday’s afternoon activity was a Discovery Trip around Nitra; and unlike the other afternoon activities, this was done in small groups. Each small group became a team that visited three different points of interest in Nitra on foot and by bus. After about four hours, all the groups met at the castle to have the Festival group photo taken.

At the end of the week our “lost monk” actually showed up in the person of Nathan Corbitt from Build a Bridge Interantional. Asking us, “Will you love others?”, he left us with seven questions to ask ourselves…

1) Do you know what is important?

2) Are you flexible?

3) Are you open and non-judgmental?

4) Are you willing to journey? (outside your comfort zone)

5) Are you willing to see the inside and not the outside?

6) Are you willing to serve others?

7) Will you sacrifice?

These questions will be used as starting points as we encourage the festival participants throughout the year. In this way we hope to get each participant to start thinking about how they can become bridge-builders themselves in their own communities; how can they become “outposts” of God’s love right where they are?

One young man from California said this of the Festival: “Probably once in a lifetime for me because I don’t get a chance to do stuff like like this; Also, I am not a Christian, so it was like a new, new thing to me; a good way for me to learn about Christianity and how other people live outside of the States. I’m really glad I came.”

Nuremberg, Germany, 2004

Another Brick in the Bridge – That was the theme of the 10th International Youth Festival, which took place in the German city of Nurnberg.

From 31 July to 6 August, 33 Dutch, 32 Americans, 31 Germans, 13 Hungarians, 9 Czechs, 2 Slovaks, 2 Romanians, 1 Austrian, 1 Brit, and 1 Canadian (total 125) camped out at a school near the city park in the heart of Nürnberg, Germany for 7 days of “bridgebuilding”

Nürnberg Atlantic Bridge team members Christoph and Ulrike Lefherz and Klaus Sparla and Bridgebuilder Intern Vivian Kaiser did a great job of organising this festival. Everyone got to the school on Saturday 31 July for dinner and our first Club and Small Groups. Sunday afternoon we went to the city center to enjoy the Bardenfest, a famous cultural festival in town, and to see “our” steppers perform together in front of the St Lorenz church in the center. They looked like a sea of orange as they all wore their festival t-shirts! Monday, Wednesday and Thursday we had different Optionals and Workshops in the afternoons, such as: stepping, music, creative arts, sports and city and theme tours.

Tuesday we had “X-treme Bridging”! We went to the river that flows through Nürnberg and attempted to build a bridge across about 20 metres of water. Unfortunately, the bridge was only about 10 metres long and everyone who tried crossing it fell in, but we did build a bridge!

In between Club, Small Groups, Workshops and Optionals, we had Talent Shows; Country Presentations; stepping performances by the Nubian Gents, SO-double-U and Step Across and music by Beggars Fortune.

Friday we all said goodbye and made plans to see each other next year at the International Youth Festival in Nitra, Slovakia or Kortrijk, Belgium!

Some one-liners from participants when we asked them about their “best experience”:

• meeting people from Germany and finding out that they are great! (Czech Republic)
• the X-treme Bridging was my favourite! (Germany)
• learning to break down walls (Netherlands)
• the scene and atmosphere of the festival
• the common programmes when everyone could be together (Hungary)
• learning about the different cultures (America)
• taking a piece of God back home with me (Netherlands)
• visiting the court where the Nürnberg (war crimes) trials took place (Czech Republic)
• making new friends in the free time (Netherlands)
• meeting my friend from Hungary (America)
• I could talk to many people from different cultures and countries (Hungary)
• I didn’t like that the week was so short; it should have been longer! (Germany)
• My worst experience was when we had to say goodbye. (Netherlands)

Prague, Czech Republic, 2003

River Festival in the Czech Republic: The theme of the 9th International Youth Festival in 2003 was “Who’s your hero?”, with an emphasis on East-West relations.

Delegates were:

• 32 Czechs
• 28 Americans
• 21 Icelanders
• 20 Hungarians
• 8 Romanians
• 8 Dutch
• 6 Slovaks
• 1 French
• 1 Australian
• 1 Polish
• 1 German
• 1 Brit

Total of 128 gathered at the banks of the Vltava river south of Prague from July 13-19 for an inspiring time of building bridges.

Bridgebuilder Interns Stephanie Potter, Jenni Klein, Jana Sazeckova, Heather Graber and Peter Szabo together with Summer interns Ed and Amber festival director Bohunka Tominova did a fabulous job orchestrating the festival.

Comments from participants

• From New York Mr O (Lamont O’Neil)
  This is our 4th festival already. For the Gents these festivals are the highlight of their tour. To meet youth from other cultures in such a good and pleasant surrounding where they can be themselves, share and perform and learn from others is just a really good experience.

• From Iceland – Eirikus Valberg
  For us to be there was great. Most of our teens have never travelled with a group before or met teens from other cultures. All the teens loved it and are asking to go again next year. It was great for us spiritually and morally to be at the festival and we´ll definitely come back.

• From Hungary – Barbara Hohnert, English teacher
  Thank you , thank you, thank you for inviting us to this beautiful region of the Czech Republic, to this awesome festival. We could hardly leave the camp site. Everybody wanted to stay. It was a really nice time together with people from different countries. We have got great experiences. The programmes were cool, and the Nubian Gents were amazing. Their performances were fantastic, their attitude towards things was unbelievable. I haven’t clapped as much in my whole life as I did here. I haven’t even laughed that much within one week. We enjoyed everything very much. How can we continue this ? Our students would like to go to the next festival too. Even if it is in Belgium. So you can count on us.

Liberec, Czech Republic, 2001

The 2001 International Youth Festival took place in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic for the second time.

The first festival in Liberec in 1999 counted about 140 participants. With 160 participants, this one was the 3rd best attended festival in the 9-year history of the Atlantic Bridge International Youth Festivals to date. Participants came from England, USA, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic and Iceland. If you want to know what all happened, you will have to read this whole paper. And even when you have finished it, you will know only a very small part because you really had to be part of it to catch the spirit of excitement of this week!

All you need is love
“All you need is LOVE” was the theme of this festival. Doctor Love and his assistant Boris, Joel, Mr. “O” and Todd introduced this topic to us every morning during the Club meetings. Now we know there is more to love than romance. Actually, as great and wonderful as ‘love’ can be, that’s how bad the negative side effects of love are. Love makes the world go around, but the lack of it also causes people to destroy themselves and others, and often God gets the blame. Christians believe in a personal God who is the source of real and unconditional love. Leaving God out of our lives can cause us to create distorted views of love. Mr “O” taught us that love is embracing others at the expense of self, while lust is the embrace of self at the expense of others.

And what about sex?
One of the opportunities presented to students during the festival was to listen and learn more about sexual issues. In the talk for the girls, four women from different cultures shared their thoughts and relevant experiences from their lives. We touched on a variety of topics during the discussions and the following question and answer session, including: fears about sex, sex before marriage and its consequences, waiting until marriage for sex, and what God wants for each of us in regards to sex. We were able to learn a lot from each other, which was a blessing. (Reported by Leslie)

Salty sayings

• “Ingo, during an increasingly heated discussion during the leaders meeting about relations between the USA and Germany: “Do you think it will help if we take over America”.
• “You can’t get good and than get God, but you can get God and than get good.”
• “The best way to get even is to forget.”
• “God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts”
• “Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.”
• “It isn’t difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill. Just add a little dirt.”
• “The tongue must be heavy indeed. So few people can hold it.”
• “You have to wonder about humans. They think God is dead and Elvis is alive.”
• “You’ll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.”

Six Countries – Six Opinions
Some reactions gathered by Cecile Cuvelier USA – Stefany Rovito:

• The festival was amazing:
  It being my first time, I didn’t know what to expect. As we went along it was a great experience.
• ICELAND – Margaret Gudmundsdottir:
  I liked the festival very much. I met a lot of new people. I also liked the Czech Republic.
• ENGLAND – Rebecca Melbourne:
  It was brillant. I enjoyed all the activities. There was a lot of love in town and in the school.
• GERMANY – George Uberall:
  First of all I like to say thank you to all those wonderful people who put all their strength together for a couple of teenagers who do not always appreciate the ‘adult’ world. But as the main topic of LOVE definitely came true, they didn’t have to worry at all. Especially the final Club meeting was one of the most powerful and amazing happenings I’ve ever participated in. See you in Britain next year.

Talent show

1. First prize: Jirka
2. Second prize: Thomas Heijtink
3. Third Prize: PAVEL, a little short man created by Jeroen and Joachim with the help of Chris Walker.

Expression teams at the festival

The Nubian Gents
The Nubian Gents Step Ministry is an all male fraternity based on the principle: If the purpose of a thing is not clearly understood, abuse is inevitable. The team’s history dates back to 1994 when Spanish teacher and Dean of Students, Lamont O’Neil, sought to lift the morale of the youths, particularly the males, at Junior High School 231 in Queens, New York. As a part of their first summer missions tour, the Nubian Gents participated in the 1999 International Youth Festival in Liberec, Czech Republic. The profound impact of the festival lead the team to return to Liberec in 2001. The Gents’ overall response to the 2001 experience is summed up in the following quote of one Gent: “We have to return next year!” Embrace the theme of the IYF 2001-All You Need is Love- which has been implanted in the Gents’ hearts, and will be remembered for a long time to come.

Wanner Brothers
Hans and Ingo are from Wanne, a town in the German Ruhrgebiet, and that is where their name comes from. Each morning they presented a dramatic analysis of the meaning of “love” through the personages of Dr. Love (Professor of Psychology) and Boris, the unlovable vagabond who can play only one song on his guitar, ‘all you need is love’.

Chris Walker
This American troubadour from York PA took part in the exchange in Upice and was involved in the camp.

Inspector Marek
Only a few days into the week, burglars broke into the school and our sound system was stolen. Liberec ‘detective’ Marek Bistranin, started investigating the theft and found the equipment in a Casino ready to be sold. With the help of his friends and police he was able to arrest the burglars and get the sound system back. Thank you detective Marek.

Nijverdal, Netherlands, 2000

About 125 participants gathered in the Dutch town of Nijverdal for a festival with lots of fun, friendship and faithbuilding.

They came from:

• Netherlands (55)
• USA (33)
• South Africa (7)
• Czech Republic (28)
• Germany (2)

The theme of the festival was “The road not taken” from a poem by Robert Frost, so there was a lot of programming related to travelling, roads, going somewhere etc. The participants were the pilgrims and we were on a journey to Rome, because of the “Pieterspad”, a historic path that runs right through Nijverdal and leads from the north of Holland to Maastricht and all the way on to Rome.

We made only a little progress in distance (some pilgrims were lost in Goes and even Zaamslag), but we got very far in our imagination… thanks to Peter Pilgrim, a dramatic enactment by Hans Duine who crashed into various programs to share his joys, frustrations, adventures and accomplishments on his journey to Rome. Our life is like a road. What does your road look like? Do you have a compass? Where does it lead?

Artists were the Nubian Gents from New York City, Itemba (dance and drama team from South Africa), Steve Dearmont (juggler from Nebraska), Hans and Ingo (drama team from Germany) and Geert Doldersum (Dutch musician). But it appeared the participants were all artists as there were many acts and performances during the “Talent show” every evening.

Liberec, Czech Republic, 1999

This beautiful city was taken over for a week by youth from all over the world.
Some of the countries represented were: Netherlands, Iceland, America, Romania, and the Czech Republic.

It was a week of fun, friendship and learning how to build bridges and break down walls. During this week the Nubian Gents from New York City performed several street dances. These boys were able to attract crowds that created an atmosphere of enthusiasm that helped make the camp what it was… great!

It was during this festival that the first international talent show took place. There was a total of 28 participants in 15 different performing groups. Some of the performances included singing, piano playing, juggling and dancing. First place was a tie between Chelsea Oostdijk and Jesse Heijtink. Two other highlights from the festival were the small groups and the discovery trip to the Town Hall in the center of Liberec where the group was welcomed by the mayor. Wybrand Boonstra, teacher at the Buys Ballot College in Goes, Holland, created a great game in the town square as part of the discovery trip.

Douwe Visser, from the Netherlands, was the speaker. Each morning he shared with us stories from his life and from the Bible. It was a festival long to be remembered. Overall, IYF ’99 was a great success and each person involved looks forward to keeping in touch with the people they met and seeing them at festivals in the future.