Hello My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As I type this letter, The Three Rivers Festival of Hope at the CONSOL Energy Center this past weekend is now over. During the three-day weekend, over 25,000 children, youth and adults attended this incredible time in the Spirit, and close to 2,000 folks (both young and not so young ) gave their lives to Jesus Christ. There are no words on this side of eternity to describe this past weekend other than to say -- Praise God!

As many of you know, I was the Arrangements Chair for the Festival. My job was to recruit a leadership team both inside and outside our church family to then assist the Billy Graham Associates with planning and coordination of the Festival. My team's main job was to oversee the counselors, and pair them up with those who came forward near the end of the service to accept the gift of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I am so proud of what I saw over this past weekend. I would though like to name-drop some wonderful servants of Christ who had leadership positions. First is Amy Fahringer who was the Materials Captain. Amy led a team each night to make sure the hundreds of counselors were stocked with booklets and other important Gospel-related publications so that new believers had Scripture in their hands as they left the arena. Dale and Lea Ann Ostergaard were the Pairing/Counselor Seating Captains who organized and placed hundreds of counselors throughout the arena to be ready to become friends with new believers. Bob Jamison was the Supervisor Captain who walked and ran miles each night to help the handicapped counselors be placed throughout the arena, and help to get counselors paired up with those folks who came forward to receive Christ. If a new believer got up to the stage area, they would have met Pastor Steve who was one of the fifty pastors known as Echelon Supervisors waiting to share the Gospel with new believers.

Although the above folks held leadership positions, there was an army from our church who were also extremely involved. They helped with set-up of the arena, were counselors, ushers, distributed materials, and the list goes on and on. They encompassed both our youth and adults! Everywhere you looked you saw an MLEPC member in action, and in the stands, who came to be part of this wonderful time in the Spirit.

What will be impossible to remove from my memory is when Franklin made the invitation for folks to come forward to give their lives to Jesus. With my position, I was first on the floor of the arena, and got to see hundreds and hundreds of people of all ages come forward. The looks on their faces told the story of emptiness, brokenness, sadness and no hope. There were those who came onto the floor by themselves, and even more astounding were those who came down as an entire family. The defining moment though was when all of us said the prayer of commitment -- admitting we are sinners, asking for forgiveness, and asking Jesus to come into our hearts as Lord and Savior. Many smiles and many tears were shed at this time, but there was no mistake that God was indeed powerfully present. Pastor Steve and his Follow-Up teams will be inviting several of those new believers to join us here at MLEPC. Please pray for these new faces as they grow in their new faith in Christ.

It was kind of funny many of the counselors who I prepped each night came by to say goodbye to me on Sunday before they left: They wished me a safe trip back to the south as they thought I was with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. When I told them I lived in the south, but only the south hills of Pittsburgh we all laughed. After we got done laughing they told me how the Festival had changed their lives for the better, and had a renewed commitment to serve Jesus Christ in a mighty way. Lots of tears were shed as we hugged and said goodnight, but as I walked out of the CONSOL Energy Center for the last time on Sunday night, I looked back at our temporary house of worship. I stood at my car and paused for a moment to reflect on how a non-traditional-looking house of worship changed many lives forever. Is there a reason for hope? You bet there is! But our work is not done, it's only beginning. Let's Glorify God the way He should be Glorified, and give the reason for hope to everyone we know.

Your brother in Christ,

Andy Hromoko, Jr.

Youth Director