On a late November evening, about a 20 minute drive from Oslo, Norway, I enter a meeting room where there will be a youth meeting for A-team with around 300 participants. The hall is not large, but tonight’s meeting will be streamed to 22 different locations around Europe and Canada where groups from the youth program will join. They will also be given the opportunity to testify at the meeting.
More about this later.
One of the first things I see is technicians working hard at the back of the hall to establish contact with different locations.
The hall gradually fills up with young people from various locations in central Eastern Norway. We are talking about young people from many different nations: France, Ukraine, Romania, South Africa and India, to name a few.



While the technicians get everything ready, I have a chat with Gershon Twilley, who will be leading the meeting. Originally from Canada, he has lived in Norway for decades and worked with A-team for almost 22 years.
I’m curious: What does Gershon want the young people to get out of the meetings? Why is testifying a big part of the meeting?

“What’s important to us is that everyone feels part of the A-team. Even though they are in many different locations, we like the idea that they are still gathered in one place for edification. That’s the idea. We see it as a great way to keep a good connection with the different places,” says Gershon enthusiastically.
Come to a living faith in the word of God
When asked why so much space is devoted to testimonies at the meetings, he answers promptly:
“I consider that very important. We are all part of the body of Christ, and then there should be many who get an opportunity to say what God is working in their hearts. Then you get to hear about it from many different sides and areas. This makes the meeting much richer. It says in the Bible, ‘… according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak’ [2 Cor. 4:13]. It also says ‘… they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,’ [Rev. 12:11].” Gershon emphasizes the last five words.
He continues:
“If everyone just sits quietly as a listener, there won’t be the development in the individual that there should be. It’s remarkable; when you’re excited and speak about it yourself, it’s not so easy to walk away from it in daily life. Then you remember it very well. It’s firmly in place.”
Boldness in faith
Gershon says that he notices a development in the young people’s faith during their year on the A-team. He finds that many young people have already made a personal decision and want to move forward in their personal Christian life when they start at A-team. So, as Gershon describes it, working with these young people is a rewarding job.
Their boldness increases, their conviction, their firmness and everything that comes with that. Not to mention joy and happiness. This is really edifying to see. It is also the main reason why I want to continue with this work, because it is so rewarding to see this development.
Gershon Twilley



Faith must be evident in everyday life
I sit down in the hall, wondering what the content of tonight’s meeting will be.
Gershon starts the meeting.
As he speaks, I’m struck by how he speaks in a very practical way. Being alive to God must be reflected in how we live our daily lives at work, at home, etc. Gershon highlights the difference between a young person who is lazy, lethargic and indifferent to their everyday tasks versus a young person who is diligent, interested and alert to their tasks. If you are alive for God, the latter option is the only relevant one.
If you’re not there yet, you can get there. Faith and hope is conveyed for those who want to live as followers of Jesus. The fact that many young people have been motivated and inspired by what they have just heard becomes clear when they are invited to testify. Many of them share what is close to their hearts and speak about their personal decisions.
First, the microphone is open for those present in the hall and then it is switched to the different places where there are young people participating in the meeting.
Enthusiasm for the A-team meetings
Among the attendees this evening we find Alisa Sophie and Maxime. Both of them are 19 years old.
Alisa comes from Hessenhöfe in Germany and is part of the A-team in Grenland. Maxime comes from Nancy in France and is on the A-team in Oslo.
Alisa is excited about the concept of a meeting that is streamed, with participants from different locations.
“I find it incredible that someone sitting in a completely different country can hear exactly the same thing as me. What is edifying for me can also be edifying for somebody sitting in a completely different place.”
Maxime agrees:
“It really motivates me a lot to see that young people all over the world have the same goal. You feel like you’re one because you hear the same things and want the same things.”

Tobias Fotland is 21 years old and comes from Hamar in Norway. He is following the meeting online from Fulda in Germany. Like the other two young people, he is enthusiastic about the meetings.

“I’m left with the fact that you have to be in the same spirit that Jesus was in. In other words, don’t be someone who is being served, but rather someone who serves and gives. Then I show that the love of Jesus is in me and that I truly love those around me. And then I become more like Jesus.”
Testimonies from friends can be as inspiring as the main message
All three say that they have testified at several of the meetings they have attended. When asked how they dare to share something so personal in front of others, the three young people are surprisingly unanimous.
They say that they first and foremost testify before God.
For them, it is important to testify to God and people about their decisions and goals because it is then easier to stick to those decisions in everyday life. It becomes more serious in a way. Tobias adds:
“It’s very comforting to know that the people listening wish me well.”
Maxime says that he finds it easy to trust the listeners because he sees the other young people partaking of the body of Christ, of which he is also a part. He finds it faith-strengthening to hear his friends testify, and says that this touches him. Their friendship is strengthened by this. He says that he can then be along in praying for his friends in everyday life.

Alisa adds:
“I actually feel that testimonies sometimes help and inspire me more than the main message, because I see that my friend is going through the same thing as me.”
She continues:
It’s easy to talk together about the word of God when you have the same goal in life. If we both work on our development in Christian life, then we have a spiritual fellowship. My friends can also be great examples for me.
Alisa
It’s clear that the friendships have already become very strong over the past six months. Maxime and Alisa find their way back to their friends and end the evening in lively conversation.