Editing Nico's Youth Group Years (section)

=== 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.