Omwoyo Oguwangula '15

Soul Survivor Crew 2015

As you all for the past 3 years, I've been going Soul Survivor and if you don't know what Soul Survivor is; lemme explain.

Soul Survivor is this incredible festival that takes place over the course of 3 weeks. However the main center around the whole festival is God and how young people can improve their relationship with him. It's truly a phenomenal experience! And every time I've been, it's always been an honour to examine where my faith lies and I have come to a conclusion after 3 years.

No, I'm not religious. I don't believe in organised religion even though I was baptized earlier this year in February. However I don believe that there is a higher power. Something that imagined and created this exquisite world. My issue with organised religion is that it limits you so much from exploring other religions, which I don't want to do. Whilst I believe that there's only one true God; I also want to be able to practice other faiths in order to help strengthen my own.

Now I bet you're imagining, why I bother spending a week in a tent when I'm not religious...There are 2 simple reasons:

1. I miss my friends. I spend some of my best moments of the year in Shepton Mallet with some of my closest friends. It's no lie that we are growing up and we are all of different ages, so this week is the only time that we can truly be together once more before the year ends and another one begins reminding us of the busy and fast paced lives that we lead. 
2. Soul Survivor is for EVERYONE! Whether you're religious or not, you are welcome. It's not like they ask you a million questions at the entrance. Mike Pilavachi, the founder of Soul Survivor encourages people to be themselves. You don't need to pretend to be someone that you're not in order to feel accepted. I've seen thousands of people give their lives to God and it's a great thing to witness.

I go to Soul Survivor for the adventure within it. For the terrible weather. For those 5 nights that I spend shivering because I'm freezing to death. For night time cricket. For the incredible hosts. For the 10,000 people that come for different reasons. For my friends. For MYSELF. But most of all, I go to Soul Survivor for the guy who's the center of the whole festival because I have a hunger for knowledge. I want to learn about every possible opportunity that's offered to me and that I can grab for myself. 

There's still so much for me to learn. I know that being baptized means to some that you're religious but it doesn't to me. I don't want to be defined by some man made cult because I'm constantly hearing all the time that God was against religion. I'm turning 18th in 3 days and I do believe that life is only just beginning. And this is my first proclamation.  

Soul Survivor: http://soulsurvivor.com/