Students and leaders, who participated in the 2013 Passion Conference, gave more than $3.3 million to fund 23 causes with 19 partner organizations in the fight against modern-day slavery that affects 27 million people today.
More than 60,000 college students have convened at the four-day Passion 2013 Conference at the Georgia Dome from January 1-4th.
Passion founder Louie Giglio and his wife, Shelley, expressed amazement at the student’s generosity when sharing the updates on the “End It Movement” initiative to end modern-day slavery.
“You guys are absolutely crazy people,” Giglio said. “I don’t know who counted you out, but they really underestimated the power of your generation.
According to The Christian Post, Giglio challenged the students to “live for Jesus and free the captive,” exhorting them to take what happened in their hearts and inside the walls of the Georgia Dome and carry it into the world. “You would have to be clueless and utterly blind not to realize that this is all about Jesus,” said Giglio. “Let our lives explode today for Jesus’ sake.”
Giglio referred to the scripture passages from his opening talk, Ezekiel 36-37, and emphasized
the importance of depending on the Holy Spirit’s power when seeking to carry out one’s God-given calling.
"In our journey with God, He is always bringing us to a point where we stand on our feet and in His power," he said to what was the largest single Passion gathering in the movement's 18-year history. "There is no disconnect, no divide between God breathing us to life and launching us into mission. The moment God breathed life into you, you became a missionary, a representative, an ambassador, part of this army."
Christians' identity and message to the world should be clear and not confusing, Giglio said, and believers must authentically share their own struggles in an effort to identify with a wounded world. "Our message is, 'I was dead and now I am alive forevermore,'" he said. "Don't try to hide your scars because your scars are your story. Our witness to the world is that our wounds are being healed by Jesus."
On the final night of Passion 2013, students had joined their individual candle lights together with one large beam shooting five miles into the sky in downtown Atlanta, and lifted a shout which would "touch Heaven and shake earth," Giglio said, describing the event. "60,000 people shouting at midnight was the sound of freedom coming. We need to take this collective horsepower to start movement across America and shine a light on slavery." The powerful visual display represented students' collective desire to expose slavery out of the belief that when darkness comes to light, people take action and lives are changed.
