BLAST 2006 - Day 1

BLAST: Battle Lords Attacking Satan’s Territory. This is the event of the year if you’re a teen in Mexico and Central America. Over 120 teens and about 70 staff congregated in Central Mexico for five days of refilling, fellowship, and just generally having the time of their lives.

Day one is always hectic. Always. The afternoon was spent with everyone arriving and checking into the camp, going through security and being assigned to rooms and room captains. This year there are over fifty YA/SGA room captains who are responsible for about three teens each. They'll be with their teen teams throughout the day, will be responsible for them, and will have the chance each day to spend personal time with their teens; what's called "bringing it home" time, when they can discuss the days classes, what they mean to each teen personally, and generally just try and "put skin" on everything that was covered.

This year we have an auditorium to hold our classes, rock concerts and other activities. The evening kicked off with a short keynote address given by Mike and Liz, outlining the camp rules and schedule, then it was time to rock! The first act of the night: the teens from the Amistad home in Monterrey rocked hard, with Richie (16) on drums, Sammy (14) on guitar, Martin (17) on bass, and Stevie (YA) and Tony (SGA) on vocals and guitar. I’d heard a little bit about this band, that Tony had taken it on himself to teach these teens musical instruments and pour into them this way. After the set I grabbed Tony to ask a few questions:

Hobbyns: I’d heard previously that you took it on yourself to teach these teens music and put together a band. How did that come about?

Tony: I like music and it’s one of the best ways to witness, especially here in Mexico. Everyone loves music so I said to them “let’s do it, let’s get out there and witness this way” and then we could reach people we’ve never been able to reach before.

H: So you started teaching the teens basic instruments. Did they know how to play at all when you started?

T: No, they didn’t. We started from scratch (laughing).

H: And how long did you teach them and put this band together?

T: About a year a half.

H: What exactly motivated you to do that for the teens?

T: I guess… well I always wished that someone would have done that for me. So I started teaching them, I mean, I started learning to play when I was twenty. Some of these guys starting out when they’re fourteen… they’re going to be amazing by the time they reach twenty! ▲

I had to agree, since these guys were already sounding tight. There were more performers that evening, then lights out for the teens. Once they were settled the staff and JT Board members were able to meet in the massive courtyard under the stars. We had a few songs before going over camp guidelines for the staff and outlining what events the staff could look forward to over the coming days.

And that's the first day! Short, sweet, and leaving everyone ready for way, way more! Click here to go to a gallery of photos from Day 1. There will be more galleries and more posts as the days go by.

It really is a BLAST!

—Hobbyns