Just a few hours after the final song had played and groups began their varying length of journeys to get back home, we began to be inundated with testimonies, stories and declarations of 'radical Jesus living' intent from young people and youth leaders. Facebook seemed to light up with comments about 'how Awesome God is' and how He had 'changed their lives' at the Gathering Twenty Ten. Mark Pugh, S4G's national director commented 'the response has been unprecedented - we've never known such an outpouring of testimonies before - it has been very moving to get a picture of what God has done in so many people’s lives. Nita and I have spent hours just trying to assimilate the responses and encouraging young people to continue the journey they are on - we're looking forward to hearing many more stories following on from this regarding people stepping out for God and changing people’s worlds!'

With a bold theme of 'Dying to Live' the emphasis was on dying to everything of this world that would hold us back from living the adventure that God has for us. A range of excellent speakers, bands and worship leaders took to stage throughout the weekend in order to convey this message.

The event opened with [Dweeb] in concert. This four piece band were no strangers to The Gathering or Serious4God, having played at last year’s event and actively working with S4G on a few projects. Many youth groups managed to make it through the motorway congestion to be at this curtain raiser and were rewarded with a stunning display of musicianship and God driven passion.

Before the first celebration kicked off there was also time for the MC's to make their intros: Rich & Steve accompanied by the Grime music maestros: Jimmy James and Sammy G

The First celebration opened with worship and prayers lead by the Gathering Band and Mark & Nita Pugh who said they could be looked on as everyone’s 'mummy and daddy' for the weekend! 'Just don't ask us for pocket money' Nita quickly added.....

Andy Frost, the director of Share Jesus International was the first speaker of the weekend and he set the scene for the weekend by declaring 'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me'. It was a challenging message that stirred a tremendous response to the salvation appeal, with many young people coming to the front to give their lives to Jesus.

An early start concert was proceeded by many people taking advantage of the indoors 'Dodgems, Simulator Ride and Skate Park' located on site at the Gathering. The Expo area which contained these rides, along with a large dining area and a wide range of Exhibitors, was a buzzing place to be throughout the weekend. S4G had partnered with Elim Missions and Christian Solidarity to bring on site a large shipping container which young people could enter and experience something of the conditions that many Christians in other parts of the world experience when being locked up for their faith.

The first main stage event was a concert featuring the '29th Chapter' - a top notch hip hop band who had just released a single into the charts. It was hard to believe that so much energy was possible for so early in the morning!

Then the first session of the day started with a packed auditorium as the Gathering Band lead worship. The presence of God was tangible and it set a great platform for our own Mark Pugh, who was the opening speaker of the day. He spoke on the life of Samson and stirred the audience to not allow any enticement to entangle them away from their extra-ordinariness. A large response of repentance followed as people requested prayer to break free from the things they had become entangled with.

After lunch, the genders were separated into different streams. The girls took their seats in the auditorium for a powerful session on 'Image' with Nita Pugh, Shell Perris, Regs Ellerington and Tash Ellerington. The lies of 'airbrushing culture' were exposed and testimony was given by Shell of her battle with an eating disorder ten years ago which almost claimed her life. The message - 'You're beautiful because God says you're beautiful' struck a chord with many hearts and God did a deep work in the lives of many girls. While all this was taking place, the guys were given a wide range of seminar and workshop options, including age streams (under 18's / over 18's), dance, bands, vocals, worship, theology, prayer and leaders.

Then after a short break, the guys took their seats in the main auditorium as the girls took their turn at the seminar and workshop options. The guys were introduced to a world record holding blind explorer - Miles Hilton Barber captivated the male audience with incredible stories of adventures that would have been considered as impossible when Miles first lost his sight in his 20's, but over the last 12 years he has flown super-sonic planes, driven high speed racing cars, swam with sharks, walked across deserts, flown a light aircraft from England to Australia and the list went on. His message - 'never allow your circumstances to dictate what you can do - start with a vision and then work out how you can achieve it'.

The final session of the day started off with more dynamic worship, with the Gathering Band incorporating Ian Yates - a great song writer from Elim Bootle whose new worship album is soon to be released by Survivor Records. A packed arena welcomed the speaker - Pastor Glyn Barrett who leads both Youth Alive and Audacious. He captivated the crowd with a word that called people to live their lives wearing 'future glasses'. He challenged everyone - 'Don't just live for today - but have a vision for the future that God has called you to!'  It was a powerful call that stirred the hearts of many.

The crowd arrived early for the final session, eager and anticipating a great finish to the weekend and as the MC's and DJ's interacted in the pre-session it was evident that everyone was going to make the most of the final day.

The worship, kicked off by the Gathering Band, facilitated this passion, and a powerful sense of God’s presence was very tangible. Then Mark & Nita Pugh asked people to get in groups and discuss what God had done in their lives over the weekend before walking around the large arena with roving mikes, giving people an opportunity to share publicly. The stories and testimonies were scintillating and set the scene for the next phase of worship, being lead by Blueprint Worship Band from City Gates Church in Ilford. Their gospel chords and rhythms added a fresh aspect to the worship and it seemed that God was increasingly turning up 'the temperature' of his felt presence. Before introducing the speaker, Mark asked people to pause and get used to the sense of God’s presence - 'you can know this every day of your life' he said.

Up until a few days before the event, Reggie Dabbs (USA) had been due to be the guest speaker for this session but sadly he was diagnosed with 17 kidney stones with just a few days to go and was unable to travel. Rich Ellerington, one of S4G's national team had agreed to take on this session and his humorous, engaging style captured the attention of everyone. 'Being a life guard and saving the lives of others is what it is all about' he shared - and a powerful response to the challenge was evident. It proved to be the perfect final address for what had been an amazingly inspirational weekend.

Before the curtain fell there were a few other things to happen. A 'prayer warrior' - June Freudenberg, who had lead intercession behind the scenes during every single Gathering since they began around 7 years ago, was invited onto the stage and given a 'hero's' welcome as the young people honoured her ministry. She was asked to pray for the young people before being applauded again. Then a few heartfelt thank you's were given out to the vast and many workers who make the Gathering work. For every person seen taking part on the stage, there are many more working behind the scenes without whom the Gathering wouldn't be possible.

'This was my favourite Gathering' said Mark Pugh, 'and from the large response we are getting, it would seem that a lot of others feel the same'.