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 approximately eleven or 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. At around thirteen 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, Sofia mentioned Nico's resistance to Asur, one of the youth leaders. Asur turned to Nico and asked simply: "Do you have plans tomorrow?"

Nico said no—and with that, he was trapped. He had stated he did not want to go, but he had also admitted he had nothing else to do. 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.

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 of his closest friends and Bible study partners, 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.

December 17, 2021: Kebab with Samuel Exler

Before the youth meeting that Friday, Nico went to get kebab with Samuel Exler, a member of the youth group. What followed was an unexpectedly deep conversation. They discussed NoFap, pornography, and personal struggles—topics young men rarely address openly with each other.