Yes, you read that title correctly. My friend Shelby and I have been following Justin Bieber around the world, two girls from Atlanta just traveling all over the globe.
Over the years we have seen him live six times, which included five different continents – North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Africa. We have traveled approximately 49,544 miles and spent 103 hours on a plane. The best part of all of this is that four of those have been during the Purpose Tour.
We know you have questions, imagine our families and close friends. The idea of AA for concert goers has been mentioned more than once. The more you all question, the more we go, but not for the reasons you think. Spoiler alert: y’all are the crazy ones.
So turn on your favorite Bieber tune, and I promise you’ll have booked your next concert by the time the song ends and you’re finished reading.
First, if you have seen him perform either you will agree or you will simply deny you agree that he is an incredible performer all around. Second, there is something to be said about a boy who has the world for him and against him all at the same time. Third, you can’t tell me you don’t love a comeback story.
Disclaimer: Yes, the cliche fangirl in us loves the fact he is fashion innovator, his vocals are authentic, the only time he is lip syncing is when he is dancing the night away, and the list could go on.
We will not deny the fact he has made some unwise choices in the past, but we will also not claim that we can fully understand what it is like to have so much at such a young age. We are not advocating for those mistakes but we are advocating the power of God’s grace.
Last October, though the London concert was the best one vocally and performance wise we have seen from Justin, something was missing. We didn’t come home from that trip with full hearts like we have all the others. Looking back now we realized it’s because we missed it. We missed interacting with the people. We made it all about Bieber.
In March, we traveled to Australia where we met two girls, Rikki and Jazmine, waiting in line waiting for sweatshirts. We still stay in touch. At Cafe 95, we ate breakfast every morning and had the same waiter that we got to know and hear about his story. We met a photographer who travels around the world taking pictures, discovering models all over the globe. We met an Australian Ambassador, amazed by our dedication, and proceeded to put us in front of Australia’s three major news stations. Though they only cared about our obsession for Justin, we got to highlight the transformation we’ve seen in Justin’s life that many people don’t take the opportunity to learn. We got the chance to weave the name of Jesus into all of those news segments.
Recently, we just got back from South Africa. Before going, we were connected with some people at Hillsong Church through Shelby’s nonprofit Pur[shoe]ing Joy. Upon arriving at church on Sunday, we were greeted by the young adults ministry leader, who had reserved us two seats and introduced us to various people at the church.
After church, we went to lunch with him where we came to find out he is a Ted speaker. (You can listen to his ted talk here) The conversation at lunch that day will single handily go down as one of the most encouraging conversations we have ever had with someone – let alone a complete stranger.
While in South Africa, we went on a Safari tour where we spent the day with the greatest tour guide, Moqoqo, some people from Russia, and Spain. By the end of the day, we just grew to learn more about these people. They were curious as to why we were there and what we were going to do in such a short amount of time. Yes, we told them about JB, but that led to the real reasons were explaining now. We told them about Hillsong Church and the curiosity was sparked as to what that was.
At the end of the night, we were the last ones to be dropped of by our tour guide back at our hotel. We had learned that he had been out of a job and freelancing to earn money but was not doing as well as he thought. We were able to bless him at the end of the night with a tip. On this safari trip, we didn’t do anything special. We simply just asked people questions to get to know them and their stories.
On the concert day, we arrived at 1 pm to line up, stood in the rain with two sisters, Isabella and Gabriella, a young girl and her dad, and a little boy named Mohammed. We had plenty of time to get to know each other, but with our track record of concerts, they began to ask questions. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was telling them about a tattoo I wanted to get, how it was significant to me because of losing my dad at such a young age, and how the Lord calls Himself a Father.
Shelby was sharing about her time living in Capetown and how it changed the course of her life, eventually leading her into Pur[shoe]ing Joy. Tony, the dad of the young girl, proceeds to invite us to serve in a township he is connected in outside of Durban. Crazy enough, he is an evangelist who uses our pastor here in Atlanta, Louie Giglio, videos to better himself at sharing the Gospel. The other two girls heard us talking about Louie and said they had a friend who recently lost her brother in a car accident and was wanting to maybe start looking into the whole Jesus thing to help encourage her.
Lifelong friendships formed, connections made, great conversations had… all in line for a Justin Bieber concert. Is it too late now to say sorry?
It rained for 40 days and 40 nights at the concert. Soaking wet and by far the most incredible one to date. The concert was over but we found ourselves arkless (uberless) and were going to be stuck for hours waiting to get back to our hotel in a not-so-safe area. We aren’t sure how it happened and our mothers would have probably killed us, but we ended up getting a ride from the sweetest South African families. Two moms, seven kids, Shelby, me, all in a car that holds only five.
As you can imagine, they were shocked when they learned who we were and where we were from. One of the moms started going into Justin’s past and how she thought he was still going down a rough path. We started telling her about Carl Lentz, Chad Veach, and Rich Wilkerson, who are all pastors that have been investing into his life. Her response was, “pastor? what is that?”
Meanwhile, Shelby was in the backseat learning that one of the mom’s son was set to compete in the Summer Olympics for swimming in 2020.
I got the chance to explain the whole concept of a pastor and tell this mom Justin’s story and his desire to have his pastors and positive influence around him. She was amazed at where Justin came from and where he is now. In a way, it felt like we were defending Justin, but really we were just advocating for a God that has enough grace for a Justin Bieber, for you, for me, for Moqoqo, and everyone in between. But let’s be honest, if you aren’t a belieber, let alone a believer, you were probably right where the mom driving the car was that night was, thinking to yourself there is no way he has turned his life around.
We cannot put boundaries back on the cross that made a way for limitless love just because of who someone is, what they have done, or who they appear to be.
It’s not JUST about Justin. It’s about the story God is writing in his life and watching Justin discover his purpose and learning how to use it for God’s glory. I know the Lord is writing a story in my life too, but I can tell you right now I don’t know all the little details or how they will piece together. However, the more I travel, the more people I come in contact with, the clearer it starts to become.
That brings me to simply this: it’s all about the people we have encountered, their purposes, using every opportunity to simply say “what’s your story?” starting the conversation, loving them well even as a stranger, and encouraging them.
At the end of it all – It’s not about encountering Justin Bieber, it’s about encountering people, and sometimes even getting the chance to allow them to encounter Jesus.
There you have it. The real reasons we follow Justin Bieber around the world.
Where should we go next?
South Africa, May 2017
The Comments
Amy
“Is it too late now to say sorry.” Favorite lyrical insert 🙂