Quad Cities Celebration Draws 20,000 - Ralph Bell Answers the Question, Where Was God?

Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn
Sunday, 21 October 2001

As the final night of the Quad Cities Celebration event was drawing to a close on Sunday, church and community leaders alike were quick to share their exuberance at the results of several years of prayers and planning. When the first group of pastors and lay-leaders came together to pray and discuss the possibility of an area-wide outreach, they could not have known that almost two years later after a national tragedy, they would see scores of churches from different ethnic, geographic and denominational backgrounds, join ranks to accomplish this formidable task.

Long-time Billy Graham associate evangelist, Dr. Ralph Bell, and his team led the campaign, which drew a four day combined attendance of 20,258 at The Mark of the Quad Cities, October 18-21. The opening night service on Thursday began with a welcome by local businessman, Jeff Tunberg, Executive Chair for the Celebration, and ended as Ralph Bell answered the question on many minds, "Where was God on September 11?"

The Colorado evangelist explained that the Bible makes it very clear that God never changes. "He is the same yesterday, today and forever," said Bell. "Sin is still with us in the world and God has given us a free will to do as we see fit. But there are consequences for our sin. The good news is that God loves us and is willing to forgive our sins -- no matter how bad they are -- if we will ask for His forgiveness."

Executive Chair Jeff Tunberg said, "The Quad Cities faithfully sought God's face and God blessed our area with His favor and a bountiful harvest. Through the Holy Spirit fruit was produced, and to the Father's glory it will be fruit that will last forever. The strong name of Jesus was lifted up and men, women, boys and girls were drawn to Him. What a Celebration! What a good and gracious God!"

According to local clergy leadership, one of the most important elements to come out of the Crusade process is the unity among the churches and pastors in the immediate area. The scores of churches that worked together over the past months found that much can be accomplished when efforts are combined. No participating churches are ever asked to put aside their individual convictions to be a part of a Celebration. If a church can agree to work toward the common goal of reaching out to people with the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then they are encouraged to be a part of the Celebration effort.

The simple message of salvation through Jesus Christ, which Dr. Bell shared each evening, was met with great interest and acceptance as more than 1,200 inquirers went forward at the close of the services indicating a desire to know more about the peace, hope and salvation promised through faith in Christ.

Among the many positive comments from both pastors and lay-leadership was that of Professor William Gerard Woods of Kaplan College and Administrative Vice Chair for the Celebration. "After seeing so many people excited about Jesus Christ during the entire Celebration process, it is uplifting to know that God is moving in the lives of the people of the Quad Cities."

Popular children's puppeteer and ventriloquist, Lesha Campbell, provided the spark for 2,800 elementary age children who attended the Kids Fest on Saturday morning. Along with the puppets, Lesha was able to share the Gospel message with the children in a very clear and straightforward manner. There were 340 recorded decisions at the Kids Fest service.

Both Friday and Saturday nights were dubbed Youth Nights. Friday's program featured the high-energy, Austin, Texas based Latino Christian rock band, Salvador. Saturday night's crowd of 7,300 plus, were treated to the sounds of Grammy Award-winner, Kirk Franklin and 1 Nation Crew. There were 647 young people and adults who stepped forward to make some kind of commitment during the two Youth nights.

Highlighted each evening were members of the Celebration music team. Chicago based pianist Huntley Brown, originally from Jamaica, furnished the audience with some of the most electrifying keyboard artistry imaginable, bringing the crowd to its feet on more than one occasion. The contemporary Christian group, Ekklesia, also performed nightly. The group is made up of eight multi-talented musicians from Nashville, Atlanta and Colorado. Their style ranges from praise and worship to Christian pop.

Real-life cowboy Brent Smith and former rock guitarist Jimmy Mamou joined forces to share their respective testimonies in the area prisons during the week of the Celebration. Both men have had their lives turned around by God after different experiences convinced them that Jesus Christ is the only answer to life's problems. They spoke in several different institutions and saw scores of decisions made by inmates in those facilities.

Local pastors and lay-people from participating churches in the area will follow up with all of the individuals who made commitments during the week. The budget for Celebration was set and is being raised by the local Executive Committee.

For more information, or to contact Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn, see their website at: www.billygraham.org