Sea of Youths Flocks to Revival to Praise God

By Erika Hayasaki

Feb. 23, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The 20,000 young people at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl on Saturday looked like they belonged at a Britney Spears or Ja Rule concert. But instead of lip-syncing Top 40 hits, they waved Bibles and sang to religious music.

“Close your eyes. Let God love you,” one pastor said as his voice echoed over loudspeakers during the 12-hour Christian revival. “God, kiss the youth of California.”

As the live Christian rock music pulsated, a sea of young people, some wearing Abercrombie & Fitch, Phat Farm and UCLA sweatshirts and others sporting spiky hairstyles, bandannas and hip-hugger jeans, stretched their arms to the sky, rocked back and forth, and shrieked, “Praise God!”

Some held hands and prayed. Young women hugged and sobbed. Children danced and cartwheeled. One teenage boy with a mohawk jumped to his feet and prayed. A young man dropped to his knees, overwhelmed by emotion. A girl in the stands screamed, “Have mercy on me, Lord!”

“You can let out anything here, all of your feelings,” said Aurelia Gonzalez, 11, who attended the revival, along with nearly 50 members of her youth group from Hemet in Riverside County.

The event attracted mostly teenagers and young adults from around the state. Most attendees carpooled or arrived in busloads with church groups. The revival, which made its debut in California on Saturday, was organized by the Call, an international movement that began in Pasadena, seeking to get young people excited about and committed to Christianity.

“You can dance around and yell and scream,” said Leah McCann, 13, of Hemet. “It feels good.”

“When you really love the Lord, this feeling comes over you, and it’s this really awesome feeling,” said Leah’s younger sister, Paige, 12. “Kids are having more problems today, and they need someone to turn to.”

Speakers and band members spent hours denouncing pornography, war and abortion, and asking God for peace, forgiveness and spiritual awakening. The McCann sisters said the gospel music was a “big change” from their usual musical preferences of rap stars Nelly, DMX and Ludacris, but they said they loved it because they could dance, and it wasn’t “icky, trashy music.”

The faithful were asked to fast for 40 days, either by skipping meals or abstaining from watching TV or movies.

Alyssa Adams, 15, of Anaheim said she pledged to give up television shows, including her favorites like “7th Heaven,” “The O’Reilly Factor” and Fox TV news.

“There are so many images on the TV that I think it would be better for me not to see anyway,” she said. “I watch TV a lot, and it would be better for me to give that time to God.”

Che Ahn and Lou Engle, evangelical co-founders of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, began the Call nearly three years ago to stimulate a revival among young Christians. The Call’s first event in 2000 drew an estimated 400,000 to the Mall in Washington, D.C., organizers said. Subsequent gatherings have taken place in New York, Kansas City, the Philippines and Korea.

The 40-day observance kicked off Saturday will end with a daylong event at San Francisco’s 3Com Park on April 5.

Although the event offers guest speakers and gospel bands, it does not advertise the entertainers because the focus is on worship and prayer, organizers said. Admission to Saturday’s event was free, and the estimated $1 million in expenses was paid by churches, individuals and businesses, organizers said.

“It is focused toward young people, because this is the generation that has been the most ripped off,” Ahn said, adding that teenagers are faced with gang violence, high suicide and abortion rates, abuse, neglect and broken homes.

“We want to give them hope and encourage them and love them, and give them the greatest gift, which is the love of Jesus Christ,” he said.