SOAR Teen & Young Adult Christian Magazine

By Julene Fleurmond, Editor of SOAR

Impact 2011: The Remedy made a real impact and brought healing to hearts in New Orleans for their 11th Annual conference December 28, 2011 through January 1, 2012. I keep telling myself that I have to make it out to the Impact Conference ever since my friends from church shared how amazing it back when I was in college.

Though I haven’t made it out yet I was excited when Impact first introduced the live broadcast in 2010 (click here for my previous recap). Even through an online stream I was able to experience the powerful effect when college students around the country gather together to spread the truth and love of Christ.

During the online experience you get to see the behind the scenes activity of the event while getting to meet the leaders who make Impact a reality, attendees, special guests. The chat room allows the online audience to interact with each other, the speakers and music artists when they are interviewed – so if you’re not in New Orleans this year you’ll miss out on the in-person impact but will get some exclusive sneak peeks. Here’s a little glimpse at the Impact online experience:

Wednesday Behind the Scenes Pre-Conference

Above: The Impact 11 LIVE Broadcast was hosted by Rebecca Gilmer (far right) wife of the Impact Movement’s founder Dr. Charles Gilmer. Above she’s talking to the event’s co-emcees, Impact Alum Francine Saunders and Steve Gaskin Jr. (Impact Fellow & Stv G of Level 3:16) who talk about their own Impact involvement.

“What does it look like to look for Biblical community when it doesn’t just fall into you lap?” – Francine Saunders (left) speaking on what she’s learning and how she’s found community training with a modern dance company.

Wednesday Evening Session

Rasool Berry Brings the Word

Rasool Berry, director of Impact Music and the music ministry in the Impact Movement, brought a message the first night

Message Notes

• 3 stages to being able to experience a remedy – a diagnosis, a prescription, and a treatment – paralleled to the hurricane that occurred in New Orleans
• The world gives the wrong remedies – money, sex, fame
• Diagnosis in the Bible Roman 10 – no one seeks God, they have all turned aside.
• The world is sick and needs a remedy. The prescription is Jesus Christ.
• Jesus healed the deaf man. We are plagued by deliberate deafness
• You need to spend time with Jesus. God took the deaf man aside privately.
• Are you open to what God is trying to say?
• Weapons of “mass distraction” have apps, make it hard to focus. We’re too distracted to hear Him.
• The remedy is Jesus. Be opened to what God wants to tell you. Are you open?

Click here for more detailed notes on Rasool Berry’s The Remedy Message

The evening continued in moving worship with Brandon Camphor and OneWay…

Thursday Morning Session

Thursday began with reflections on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and people sharing their experiences behind the scenes.

Pastor Keith Battle Gives a Dose of Encouragement

Later Pastor Keith Battle brought a message about letting God use situations in your life as lessons for your growth:

Message Notes:

• What’s been troubling you? What situation is in your life that you want to change?
• God can turn the worst situations around. Sometimes God uses the situation to change us, we look for an escape but God wants us to endure. Preach a sermon to these dry bones as in the book of Ezekiel.
• God’s going to use human instruments like you and I to be apart of the remedy for hopeless situations.
• Whenever God does something radical in our lives His ultimate goal is for us to know who He is.
• God will form a thing before He fills it. He wants to strengthen us before He uses us.
• When you’ve been in a dead space so long when a door opens it’s hard to go through it because you’ve been dead for so long. You need God to help you go on.
• God waited till they got to the end of themselves. In your own strength can’t change it. You’re not giving up on the situation, you’re giving it up to God.
• We have to be able to say to God, “Whether You do it or not, I will still trust You, because if You don’t fix it you’ll give me what it takes to get through it.”
• God is working through the situation, and there’s some good in it even if the good is bringing us closer to Him.
• Let’s not marry the outcome we want to see. It is what it is. You can do everything you can and it may not happen. It may stay this way, but it’s all good because God is still with us.

The members of Level 3:16 their their journey of becoming “musicianaries” through Impact Music

Thursday Evening Session

Impact Theatre

Thursday afternoon began with the premiere of Impact Theatre with the production “If the Pillow Could Hug Me Back.” Below Candace and Steve of Level 3:16 play friends in a dramatic scene. The play had multiple story lines with both humorous and serious themes about the things people use to to find fulfillment or comfort, yet how those distractions can become idols that destroy relationships with God and others.

Jada Edwards Challenges Us to Check Our Rep

Jada Edwards brought a message about making sure our lives are a true reflection of the Remedy…

Message Notes:

• The remedy is the fix in our lives, our plays a role in how we portray the answer…
• Maybe your reputation is why the remedy is not making an impact in your life? What if your life contradicts, not compliments what you’re saying
• We think we can just ask for forgiveness because we are under grace
• You’ve got to know the word of God. Delight in the law of the Lord. Not taking one step without God’s guidance.
• Pursue a reputation that supports the Remedy…

Below: Behind-the-scenes live stream host Rebecca Gilmer (center) chats with NBA player Carl Landry and his cousin Priscilla Eubanks who is on the Impact Team. Carl talked about his passion for God and supporting the movement even after a game that week.

Below: Snapshots from a lively Level 3:16 concert with Bethini Williams and t.Jay.

Friday Morning Session

Below: The morning kicked off behind-the-scenes with interviews of some of the attendees, including Shalyssa Mitchell who has been involved in various parts of Impact’s music ministry and says it has brought her closer to God. Tim Swain shared an encouraging spoken word piece and how Impact has taught him so much about finances, being smart about saving money and raising funds for ministry.

Pastor Keith Battle on Purity: “Imagine how your ministry would be if you were clean?”

Below: Pastor Battle was raw and real about purity and how every aspect of our lives matter, not only the physical. He illustrates the importance of dealing aggressively with sin, not even giving our flesh a small foothold and making a new commitment to purity and righteousness in our lives.

A Word of Encouragement from Mali Music

Mali Music shares how God has been faithful in his journey and how he places ministry first and lets Him open the right doors…

Mali Music’s encouragement to others who wonder if God can use their gifts: “I just want to say do it. You know what it is, there’s a whole lot of reserve, a whole lot of insecurity and whole lot of things built up just because you are who you are, but that will be the one thing that causes you to catapult more than you ever have before. I’m a witness, I’m not asking you to do it for me, I’m asking you to do it for God because for you to suppress it is to be ashamed of the very thing you were created to be. So flourish, thrive, be the tree and produce the fruit that God gave you and you alone so that we all can benefit as a ministry and as a body…there’s no time to fear it’s time to let faith dominate.”

Friday Evening Session

Above: Behind the scenes we got to hear from present and auditioning artists from Impact Music. There was also some food tasting of New Orleans cuisine (in this case home-style gumbo).

Below: In a session all about mission projects Maverick from France Skyped in and talked about how he found out about Impact, raised money to come to the U.S. for the summer and took part in the Impact Music mission project.

Darryl Smith

Message Notes:

We need to pray that other people receive the Remedy.

God delivers us from certain people to send us back to them to be light, not to condemn them. Love them into the Kingdom.

One of the biggest hindrances to pursuing the Heavenly vision is the American dream. We think material things define us.

If you’re going to dream like being like someone, dream of being like the men and women of God. What drives the movement of Impact is a purpose.

Any relationship that pulls you away from your relationship with God is unhealthy.

Got brought him out of prison and a life of drugs and broken identity, he wore a mask in high school, smiling but hurting on the inside. He was facing several years in prison but in his prison cell he accepted Jesus into his heart. He was reconciled with his wife who he had divorced, they remarried. He had no degree, no seminary but is not spreading his story and the Gospel, all he has is Jesus.

Mali Music Concert

Above: The atmosphere was vibrant with heartfelt worship led by Mali Music.

Report for the New Year’s Eve Day of Outreach Where Attendees Shared the Gospel Around New Orleans

• 227—Shared Passage Brochure (The bridge to God)
• 97—Shared Satisfied Brochure (with their relationship with Christ)
• 133—Prayed to received Christ in their hearts/lives
• 107—Prayed for the Holy Spirit to help them follow Christ, live fully, and shed their old lives
• 278—People Prayed with about life’s circumstances
• 223—People interested in follow up with area churches
• 150—People interested in more information about The Impact Movement

Saturday Final Sessions & New Years Celebration

Photos above from The Impact Movement Facebook page, click here for even more photos from the conference!

The last day of the conference was a colorful celebration of dance, music, spoken word, reflections, closing words and excitement to bring in the New Year. Overall Impact 11 The Remedy touched hearts and changed lives – and this is just the start. Be sure to keep up with Impact this year at www.impactmovement.org and on Twitter @impactmove and get set for Impact 2012 where the movement continues…

You might also like

Be The Remedy: Impact Movement Conference 2011

Upcoming Events: Impact Movement Conference 2012 – Mission in Action & Mali Music Concert

Inspiration: Remedy from Rachael Lampa (Official Music Video)

Recap of Impact 2010: THE COME BACK Part 2