Festival ignites spirit

Bonfire Crusades attendees dance as Dean and Gayna Forrest of Big God Ministries perform Sunday night at the Iredell County Fairgrounds. photo.

VIDEO: Monday’s Bonfire Crusades

Sunday was a hot night in Troutman.

Shirley Walker admits much of what went on at the Iredell County Fairgrounds was, in a manner of speaking, preaching to the choir.

Walker is one of the organizers of the Bonfire Crusades, a mixture of youth-aimed music and ministering.

“We are trying to bring Christ to unsaved young people of Iredell County,” Walker said. She then confessed that most of the more than 2,000 people who showed up for the event were probably already Christians.

“Well,” she said, “even people who are saved need to be uplifted once in a while.”

But according to one of its creators, the purpose of the Bonfire Crusades was to set ablaze the souls of Iredell County.

“There is a verse from Jeremiah in which he speaks about having a fire within him,” said Dr. Ben Shelton, a local farmer and veterinarian and the person who came with the idea of a kind of morality-based music fest.

Shelton said God had been pushed out of the lives of young people and a new kind of thinking was needed to get to them.

“First they took God out of schools, and before long, they will take him out of the Pledge of Allegiance,” Shelton said. “So if we’re going to get kids to learn about God, we can’t wait for them to find a church; we have to bring the church to them and get them excited about God.”

As lofty as that goal sounds, Shelton and his group - Iredell Youth Crusades, Inc. - are aiming even higher.

“Our mission is to change the moral and spiritual fabric of Iredell County,” he said.

Shelton called on local Christian churches of every denomination to try to make that happen.

“We want to have a united body in Christ,” he said.

One of those he contacted was Theresa Slade, the youth minister at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Statesville.

“Our goal is to reach out to all the youth in Iredell,” Slade said.

“And to do that we had to have a countywide vehicle that includes all the churches.”

Sunday’s event was the first of the Crusade’s three nights held under a massive tent meant to accommodate 1,500 people.

But as Shelton and Slade looked around at the overflow crowd occupying space, picnic-style, far outside the tent, they knew they had been effective in getting the message out.

“This is overwhelming,” Shelton said.

“It’s much better than we anticipated,” Slade added.

Nick Simmerson, 18, made the drive down from Wilkes County.

“I like everything about it,” he said. “The music is great, the message is good. I like the people. It’s all good.”

Tyler Howard, 16, came over from Davie County to attend. Howard said he heard about it at church and had been looking forward to it.

“It sounded like something I’d like,” he said. “And I do.”

Shelton said at the start he didn’t know what to expect, but now he is thinking of the next event and beyond.

“We are thinking of at least one per year and maybe two,” he said. And then, playing perhaps on the incendiary title of the gathering, he added, “I hope it catches on in other counties.”

The Bonfire Crusades are from 6:30 to 9 p.m. tonight and Tuesday at the Iredell County Fairgrounds.

There is no charge for admission to the nightly concerts, and tonight’s edition includes free pizza.

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