Editing Nico's Youth Group Years (section)

== First Youth Group Visits (November–December 2021) ==

=== November 5, 2021: The First Evening ===
On Friday evening, November 5, 2021, Nico drove with his cousin Sofia to the church building at Dennigstraße 22 in Pforzheim. He found approximately twenty to forty young people gathered. The evening followed a structure he would experience hundreds of times over the following years: worship with raised hands, a teaching session, more worship, and then informal fellowship in the youth rooms.

After the official program, Nico joined some of the young men in the youth rooms. He reconnected with Salvatore, whom he already knew from the home group, and met Rouwen and Sven Zink. They played pool (billiard) together. He noticed attractive girls in the group but did not approach any of them. The evening ended late—Nico drove Sofia home around midnight. Nothing spiritually significant occurred. It was simply an evening he had attended because social pressure made refusal awkward. He remained shy and reserved throughout.

=== December 3, 2021: The Second Visit ===
On his second visit, Nico attended a Unity service featuring a talk by Pastor Daniel Exler. This evening marked a deliberate behavioral shift. Nico had decided that with so many people present, he needed to be confident and actually engage with them. For the first time, he actively approached people and initiated conversations rather than waiting to be approached. He was opening up and building his confidence.

=== December 10, 2021: Meeting Adam and Arthur ===
On his third visit, Nico met two individuals who would become significant in the years ahead: Adam, who would later become one his closest friend and Arthur.

However, around this time Nico experienced an early spiritual struggle. He did not feel God. He was skeptical, and this skepticism led to doubt—he thought that if this was real, he should feel something. The emotional displays around him—the charismatic expressiveness, the raised hands, the tears, the apparent spiritual experiences—struck him as performative rather than genuine. His conscience told him it was manufactured. He recognized what he would later call "the show" for what it was. Rather than pursuing this discomfort, he dismissed it and moved on. The struggle was brief. 

But from there you could say Nico started to attend the youth group meetings, every friday, regularly. And his confidence was just building and building.