The main character, Katniss, is a 16-year-old girl from district 12 of the ‘country’ (for lack of a better word) of Panem. This nation has been around for an indefinite amout of time, but we do know that 74 years before Katniss tells her story, a major uprising occured in District 13, and the Capitol, or seat of the emperor of Panem, annihilated it. Now, there are only 12 districts and every year as a punishment for helping District 13 during the uprising and as a way to exercise its power, the Capitol puts on a major reality TV show called the Hunger Games. The contestants in these games are children between the ages of 12 and 18. The 12 districts are helpless to protect them and must stand by each year and watch two of their own, a boy and a girl, be randomly picked out of a hat. The children are then thrown into an arena and forced to fight to the death for the cameras that broadcast the footage live all over the country. Viewing isn’t an option, it’s mandatory.

 Katniss’ destruction starts when she is only 11 years old. Her father is taken from her in a tragic mine accident and her already fragile mother never really recovers from the loss. At the age of 11, Katniss becomes the sole provider for herself, her mother, and her little sister, Prim.

 The destruction continues when at the age of 12, her little sister is chosen for the Hunger Games and Katniss, not much older at 16, volunteers herself in her sister’s place. 

 After beating all odds, she ends up saving not only herself, but also the other tribute from district 12. The boy whose name is Peeta, is now on the same course for destructiong that she is. They are stuck in a deadly maze that if not negotiated flawlessly, will entangle and kill not only them, but everyone they know and care about. 

 Peeta and Katniss, who staged a mad romance during the games, must continue to play out their roles after the games are over to keep the rebellion that is stirring under the surface of many districts at bay. But, should they? Is it not time for Panem to fight back against the Capitol that has kept them enslaved for so long and sacrificed their children on the altar of supremacy? Yes, it is. But we don’t get to this point until the third book, and even then we are still shaky on a few key points. Who is fighting who? What is Katniss’ real role in this war? And, is what is replacing the old empire really better than what came before?

 Throughout this whole series there is no standard of what is right and what is wrong. The obvious choice would be to fight for the rebels because they are trying to bring down the oppressive dictatorship. But, when everyone’s choices are based on a gut feeling and not on a divine standard, then who is really right and who is really wrong?

 And from here Katniss’ mental stability is called into question by everyone including herself. Who is she when this war is over? A murderer, or an accidental savior? In the end, she cannot reconcile the things she has done even to herself. For the rest of her life, she is plagued with night terrors and a psyche that is shattered beyond repair. Her last notable acts make me hate what she has become even more than the ‘bad capitol people.’ Why? Because at this point she is so completely cruel, uncaring, and doesn’t care that she has become subhuman. But the question remains that in a nihilistic universe, can human nature ever have been established? And if not, then why does it matter what any of the characters do or are if none of them really matter? This is the depth that Katniss and the rest of the characters sink to at the end of the series. Yes, Katniss lives, grows up, marries, and has children, but she is never whole again. And neither is her fractured world, if it ever was to start with.

Oh come with me come with me- to the hanging tree
See the knots on the side
Come with me come with me- to the hanging tree
And see the tears fall from its eyes

Here it is said- the worst plans of men
Were brought to an unceremonious end
The platform would fall- or the horse would run
And the man with the necklace would curse his gun

Oh come with me- come with me to the hanging tree
To the smallest stage in the world
With no room to spare- no time left to share
This is where He gave us His love

Come with me- come with me to the hanging tree
What is it you see here?
Do you see a place to make a last stand
Or does your heart fill with fear?

This tree is no different than the one without leaves
The rope- no differnt than nails
One stands here in a forest uncleared
The other- at the end of the world

You see a tree with blood stains on the side
The downfall of many a man
But I see the cross upon which He died
To pay for the sins of all men

But, He’s never too far away.

Praise to the One who sent His own son.

Oh, what a price He paid.

—

To the cross, to the cross, to the cross they led Him.

To die, a death, of shame.

This is the God of Heaven descending.

Breeching the span sin wrought by attempting,

To pull us away from the perfect plan.

To trap us behind sin’s mighty gap.

—

But, He came, and He died, and the very sky cried.

He was pierced, He was bruised, but He never did cry-

To the One who gave Him, gave Him away-

To be put to death and enter the grave.

—

Hell tried to make Him dust in the wind.

A body as cold as stone.

But He had a plan only He could understand-

A way for Him to bring us home.

—

So, to Hell he went, and yet came away.

With His love- overcame- death’s ugly grave.

The stone was rolled away.

Love triumphed that day-

When our Saviour came back, came back from the grave.

—

Now the cross, that was a tool-

Of death and pain-

We wear ’round our necks as a way to say-

Hell could not hold Him-

Or demons behold Him-

Without fleeing the light of His love.

He conquered all, when He gave it all-

A price I could never pay.

Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

So even though I am still a person who likes to think of myself before others, I have obtained access to the power of God through my faith in Him and I have the hope of His glory in the future.

Romans 6:1-4, 8-9 says, “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life… Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again, Death no longer rules over Him.

The path the world leads us along will ultimately lead to death and for some reason we refuse to face the consequences even when they are right in our faces. When we crucify the ‘me’ oriented person that loves this world, death no longer has any power over us.

This New Year I let go of the ‘me’ who is leading me down the path of destruction, and you know, when I put it like that, it doesn’t sound like that big of a sacrifice after all…..

Dear Friends and Family,

First of all, my friends and family rock! Every single person that supported me  has a special place in my heart because you believed in me enough to help make a big dream of mine possible. At the beginning of my trip I was trying to raise $2,500. I raised $1,008 MORE than I needed and was able to help some other girls on my tour who weren’t able to raise their full support. My network of friends never ceases to amaze me in this area!

This summer was one of the best I’ve ever had. The people I’ve met, I’ll never forget. The friends and memories I’ve made will stay with me forever, and the things I’ve done and seen have grown me in ways that have challenged me to stand up daily for the Lord and the truth of His Words. Being faced with spiritual battles daily and having to fight with the enemy face-to-face made me so glad that I had a strong Biblical foundation. I have to thank my parents for always pushing me to read, study, and discover things about the Bible that most people never fully understand. This summer was not just a ministry opportunity for me, but a time of spiritual growth and a new way to flex my spiritual muscles.

I want to thank you all sooooooo much for your prayers and constant support. One night, at rehearsal camp, we were doing a dress rehearsal. It was two days before we were supposed to hit the road, so we were all pretty excited. During the second song, I dislocated my left shoulder doing a break-dance move called the coffee grinder. I was taken to the ER and after 6 X-rays, it was determined that I pulled a ligament in my shoulder. It was really tough for me at first to accept my injury because it put me at a disadvantage, or so I thought. Because I had a wear a sling for several weeks, conversation wasn’t hard to start with my host families. They would always ask me, “What did you do to your arm?” When I replied with the truth and then went on to talk about my determination to not let it get me down, but to use it as a testimony of God’s awesome power in my life, people just gaped at me. They didn’t understand the perseverance that I had deep inside of me as a result of my dedication to God’s work. I believe that I was a living testimony to many people in that way.

Mine was sadly the first of 9 hospital visits during our trip. Each and every one of us were targeted daily by the enemy and many times ended up hurt or sick because of it. I truly believe that the countless prayers and constant support from each other, our families, and our directors was what kept us on the road. During our second-to-last week, I became very sick along with the majority of the tour. We were all throwing up quite a bit on the bus. And let me just tell you, if you’ve never thrown up on a moving bus before, you’ve never really been sick.  This plus a few other things that were out of my personal control, landed me another visit to the hospital. I walked out with a strained back and a bottle of anti-nausea pills. One of the other girls I traveled with had her appendix removed while on tour, but was able to re-join us for our last concert! Even though many of us were discouraged by all the physical ailments, we still put on a full show each night with a smile on our faces!

If any of you were wondering, we covered a total of 12 states in 4 weeks including, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Good ole’ Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada! It was a long trip, but I honestly enjoyed every minute of it, and never really got tired of being on the bus, even on our 10 hour days!

There are so many more things I could say and so many more people I could thank, but I will end by saying thanks to My Mom and Dad for being part of this ministry for so many years and raising me to believe in the power of ministry though music. I love this ministry with all my heart and I hope to be a part of it for many years in the future.

Love and Thanks,

Demi Floria

PS.

I have never been in a group before where all the kids that are there, really wanted to be there, and really do their best. When teenagers put their minds to something, the results are amazing.

Seeing other kids my age work together to serve and please God was so encouraging. I loved every minuet that I spent with these kids and miss them more with every minuet that we are apart.
This summer, I really learned the importance of having good, strong, Christian friends around me and supporting me. The friends I made this summer will always be there for me, and I know this because of the deep relationships we cultivated even in a short amount of time together. These are people who have seen me at my best, and praised me for it, and they have seen me at my worst and loved me through it. These people held a trashbag for me while I was throwing up. They helped me pop my shoulder back into socket after i dislocated it, they held me and let me cry when i was hurting emotionally and i did the same for them. If you don’t have someone like that, then you are missing out. To quote Newsong, “We all need shelter and trees, friends in our lives who get down on their knees. And lift us up before the King of Kings.” We really do need sheltering trees. Friends like that are hard to find, but when you find them, never let them go.