Nico's Youth Group Years

Nico's Youth Group Years
Period	November 2021 – May 2024
Church	Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude
Location	Pforzheim, Germany
Address	Dennigstraße 22, 75179 Pforzheim
Type	Charismatic Free Church
First Visit	November 5, 2021
Baptism	March 19, 2022
Departure	May 3, 2024
Youth Leaders	David Reißenweber, Asur
Pastor	Daniel Exler

Nico's Youth Group Years refers to the period from November 2021 to May 2024 during which Nico Hartung was an active member of the youth group of Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude in Pforzheim, Germany. This two-and-a-half-year period encompassed his spiritual awakening, theological development, deep friendships, recurring struggles with relationships and women, and ultimately his departure from the church due to theological differences regarding the doctrine of the Trinity.

Background

Childhood and Atheism

Nico Hartung was born on March 17, 2003, to a German father and an Italian mother. He was raised in a secular household where religion played no role. Unlike passive non-believers, Nico was an atheist by conviction—he actively mocked God and dismissed religious belief as foolish. Faith had no place in his worldview.

This changed through an unexpected catalyst: a plane crash.

The Germanwings Crash and Conspiracy Theories (2015)

On March 24, 2015, co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed a Germanwings Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Nico, then twelve years old, became fascinated by the case and began researching it obsessively. During this research, he stumbled upon a YouTube channel called "Trau keinem Promi" (Don't Trust Any Celebrity), which claimed that German rapper Haftbefehl had predicted the crash in his lyrics. Though initially dismissive, Nico found himself drawn into the channel's content.

What began as curiosity evolved into an intense engagement with conspiracy theories: Jeffrey Epstein, Pizzagate, secret societies, satanic rituals in elite circles. The more he consumed, the more a realization formed: if so much genuine evil existed in the world—people who actually worshipped the devil—then perhaps the devil was real. And if the devil was real, God must be too. After going down these rabbit holes for years - at around, or just shortly before 16 years of age, the convinced atheist had reasoned his way to theism—not through religious experience or upbringing, but through contemplating the existence of evil.

Seeking the Right Religion

The conclusion that God existed raised a new question: which religion was correct? Nico briefly considered Islam but quickly dismissed it. Christianity seemed more plausible, but which form? The Catholic Church was not an option—in his view, it was entangled in the same dark networks he had read about in conspiracy theories. Then he remembered his uncle Mimmo Tuccillo, a believer who attended a free church rather than the Catholic Church.

The Days with Uncle Mimmo (2019)

When Nico was sixteen, he stayed overnight at his uncle's home. What began as a family visit became an extended conversation spanning the entire day. Nico asked hundreds of questions about God, the Bible, Freemasons, and the difference between the Catholic Church and free churches. Mimmo answered patiently. By the end of that day, Nico prayed what charismatic churches call the "sinner's prayer" or "prayer of surrender"—the moment when someone consciously commits their life to Jesus Christ. That evening, and again the following morning, he attended services at Mimmo's church: Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude in Pforzheim. He experienced the worship, the atmosphere, the community. Then he returned home.

A Christian in Name Only (2019–2021)

After this experience, almost nothing changed. Nico now called himself a Christian. He switched to religion class at school. Occasionally—perhaps once a week—he read a page of the Bible before falling asleep. That was all. No regular church attendance, no prayer life, no community, no change in lifestyle. His faith was a mental conviction, not a lived practice. His vague plan was to start attending church regularly once he turned eighteen. Then COVID-19 arrived, and those plans were put on hold indefinitely.

The Path to the Youth Group

The Home Group During COVID

At some point during the pandemic, Uncle Mimmo invited Nico to join a home group (Hauskreis). Initially, these meetings took place online via Zoom; later, they met in person. Nico participated—it was acceptable, adults discussing the Bible—but he did not feel at home. It was not his scene.

How Sofia Got Him There

Nico's cousin Sofia wanted to bring him to the youth group. His response was immediate and dismissive: youth group was for kids, and he was an adult. He would stay with the home group. Sofia did not accept this refusal.

She employed a clever strategy. While they were all sitting at a table together during the Home group, Sofia mentioned Nico's resistance to Asur, one of the youth leaders - Nico quickly tried to deny it. But Asur turned to him and asked simply: "Do you have plans tomorrow?" Nico said no — and with that, he was trapped. If he refused now, it would be obvious that he simply did not want to attend. Through this simple social maneuver, he found himself committed to attending the youth group.

On November 5, 2021, Nico Hartung walked into the youth group of Missionswerk Strahlen der Freude for the first time—not out of spiritual hunger, but because he had been outmaneuvered by his cousin.

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.

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.

The Summer Crisis (July–August 2022)

The Summer Retreat

From July 31 to August 11, 2022, the youth group traveled to Umhausen in Austria for their annual summer retreat (Sommerfreizeit). This trip would prove to be a turning point.

As a recently baptized member, Nico was placed into a prayer ministry team alongside his uncle Mimmo. Their task was to pray for people who came seeking spiritual help—individuals who arrived hoping their lives would change. What Nico witnessed disturbed him profoundly.

The team would pray in tongues over the seekers, then pronounce prophetic words: "You were hurt as a child," "I sense that you did this or that." These statements were, in Nico's assessment, pulled from thin air—guesses based on reading people's body language and emotional state, dressed up as divine revelation. Some statements went further, implying serious sins like abortion. Looking back, Nico calls the entire practice "godless"—a complete catastrophe that exploited vulnerable people. He knew at the time that it was wrong. He felt it in his conscience. But once again, he went along with it.

Breaking Up with Damaris

During the retreat, Nico's feelings for Damaris had faded. The attraction that had seemed so compelling months earlier was gone. On August 5, 2022, he ended the relationship. The conversation lasted about 45 minutes; both of them cried. But Nico's tears were not from heartbreak over Damaris—they were from the difficulty of the conversation itself. His emotional investment had already withdrawn.

Complicating matters, Nico had developed feelings for another girl at the retreat: Mari. He had formed a close connection with her and her friend Meggi during the trip, spending hours in deep conversation. When the situation with Damaris ended, the dynamic with Mari became awkward. Drama ensued—misunderstandings, perceived slights, apologies. Nico would later describe the Mari situation as a "soul tie" that caused him genuine pain, far more than the breakup with Damaris ever did.

The Aftermath

After the summer retreat, Nico did not want to return to the church. The prayer ministry experience had shaken him, and he felt the need to step back. He believed God was telling him to isolate himself—to spend months filling himself with Scripture rather than church activities.

But his uncle Mimmo intervened. "You need community," Mimmo told him. The isolation was not healthy; he had to come back. After several weeks of resistance, Nico relented. He returned to the youth group.

December 2022: The Transformation

By December 2022, a new pattern had emerged. Nico began going to the barber every week before youth group on Fridays. He went to the gym every day. His appearance, his style, his entire presentation underwent a transformation.

Why? In his own blunt assessment: "Youth group was always only about women. Always."

Whatever spiritual seeking had initially drawn him in—or been socially engineered into him—by the end of 2022, the primary motivation had shifted. The youth group was his social scene, his dating pool, his place to be seen. The theological questions would come later. For now, it was about something far more earthly.

The Damaris Era (2022–2023)

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Theological Development (2023)

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The Woman Problem

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The Break (2024)

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Retrospective Assessment

Nico now regards the church as a sect—a charismatic free church with problematic structures and manipulative practices. His time there was formative: it provided community, friendships, and intense spiritual development. Simultaneously, it reinforced certain destructive patterns and ultimately led to a break when his theological convictions became incompatible with the church's doctrine. The charismatic practices he once witnessed—and briefly participated in—he now views as emotional manipulation rather than genuine divine activity. His skepticism from December 2021 proved, in his retrospective assessment, to be correct.

See Also

• Nico Hartung
• Futtradingempire

Sources

• Day One Journal, 2021–2024
• Interview with Nico Hartung, February 3, 2026