Editing Nico's Youth Group Years (section)

== The Awakening (January–June 2022) ==

=== Spirit Baptism and Early Doubts ===
On January 20, 2022, Nico received what the charismatic church calls the "Spirit baptism" and prayed in tongues for the first time. In retrospect, he describes this experience with characteristic bluntness: he was extremely skeptical, he played along, and he was mentally influenced by those around him. The practice of speaking in tongues—literally "blablabla" as he would later call it—felt manufactured rather than supernatural. The social pressure to conform was intense. People surrounded him, encouraged him, told him what to do. He went along with it. Looking back, Nico considers the entire experience to have been psychological manipulation rather than genuine spiritual activity.

Despite these doubts, Nico did not leave. The community was compelling. In his journal from January 16, 2022, he wrote about the "drug-like high" he experienced after youth group meetings, the social circle he was building, and his genuine affection for the people: Sarah, Samuel, Dario, Andreas, and "ALL the others." The youth group had become the center of his social life, and whatever skepticism he harbored about charismatic practices, he kept to himself.

=== The Brotherhood with Dario ===
On January 24, 2022, a significant friendship formed. Nico met with Dario near his home, and what began as casual conversation became a deep exchange of personal testimonies. Dario shared his story—how he became a believer, how a vacation in Mallorca caused him to backslide into depression, and how he had rebuilt his faith over the past year. Nico reciprocated with his own testimony. They discussed everything from the music industry to demons to pornography. At the end of the evening, Dario prayed against Nico's porn addiction, and they sealed their connection with a handshake: they would form a brotherhood. Before Nico left for Dubai, they would build something meaningful together.

=== Baptism ===
On March 19, 2022, Nico was baptized at Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude. During the ceremony, Ulli Wirte prophesied over him, declaring that he saw in Nico "the new generation" that would awaken and move much in the church.

=== The Prophecies ===
Around this time, Nico received multiple prophecies from various members of the church. An American visitor told him he saw a rake in Nico's hand, with which he was working the ground, and many people were receiving what he produced. He was told that God loved his "boldness" (courage), that many looked up to him, that he was a leader, and that he would use these gifts for Jesus because he burned for the faith. These prophecies—declaring special calling, leadership potential, and divine favor—were typical of charismatic church culture. They speak for themselves.

=== Damaris ===
In early 2022, a romantic dynamic developed between Nico and Damaris, a young woman in the youth group. What began with prolonged eye contact and flirtatious table football games evolved into lengthy phone conversations and eventually a relationship. On June 12, 2022, they officially became a couple; on June 18, Pastor Daniel Exler gave them his blessing.

Nico now describes this period with regret. He knew from the beginning that it was not right, that she was not the one, but he convinced himself otherwise. When doubts arose, he dismissed them as "attacks from the devil." They had disagreements about worldviews—she had been influenced by mainstream narratives about vaccinations and politics that Nico considered brainwashing. The relationship was, in his own words, "cringe" and "childish garbage." But at nineteen, caught up in the social dynamics of the youth group, he continued.