This past weekend, thousands of people gathered on two warm, sunny days for FaithFest, a Christian music festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
From Friday to Saturday, the crowd heard the Gospel as Christians shared how Jesus Christ has impacted their lives, and artists like Charity Gayle and John Reddick led the crowd in worship.
Franklin Graham—who was invited as a guest speaker—gave a message of hope on Saturday evening.
“Father, if there is anyone here who doesn’t know Your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray that they’ll surrender their hearts to Him in obedience to Your Word,” the evangelist prayed at the beginning of his message.
He spoke of his own redemption as a young man.
“I knew Christ in my head, but He wasn’t ruling my heart,” he said as he explained what his life was like before he personally knew Jesus Christ.
Graham shared with the crowd how they could allow God to rule their hearts by beginning a relationship with Him that evening.
“Have you surrendered all to Him?” he asked, inviting them to receive God’s gift of eternal salvation.
In the shadow of the park’s 110-foot cross, people stood across the five-acre field to pray and receive new life in Christ and speak with a counselor. Some of those serving as prayer volunteers were trained through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Erin Solis, who drove 18 hours from Houston, Texas, prayed with a 13-year-old girl who was one of the first to stand in response to Graham’s invitation to surrender her heart to Jesus Christ.
“I just told her it was the best decision she’ll ever make,” Solis said.
The girl’s grandmother and sister came with her, and the three shared hugs and smiles afterwards.
‘I’ve Been in That Desert, Too’
Jeff and Joyce Steelman attended FaithFest sporting blue Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) shirts.
The couple serve as BG-RRT chaplains and came to offer support to anyone who needed a listening ear or word of encouragement.
“We all need prayer and help,” said Jeff.
The couple ministered to three people at FaithFest who had lost family members to suicide, including one woman whose husband died just a few weeks ago.
“She told me today would have been their anniversary,” Joyce said. “She was in a lot of pain.”
The Steelmans lost their own son to suicide two years ago.
“I’ve been in that desert, too,” Jeff explained. The two urged those they counseled to “hang onto [God’s] truth and His Word” to get them through.
“Jesus Christ is alive and well and drawing close to the hurting,” he said. “The more you get into the Gospel, the more beautiful it is.”
Please pray for all those who committed their lives to Christ to grow in their faith, and for those comforted by chaplains to be encouraged in the days to come.
