Ellie is just one of my favorites!
http://lilacphotography.com/
I don’t know anything about photography, except that I love good photographs and especially when you are allowed to SEE something in a way you’d have neglected to look. I love the photos that arrest me, cause my heart to beat faster, make me shake my head in wonder. Uh-huh. I do. And Ellie does those. I have some of the BEST photos of my family members from her work.
So, she roamed around and took pictures at HF this summer. I wanted to share them and I have also included a few of the stories of Heaven Fest. People have emailed us and Facebooked us and shared a little of their hearts. There are hundreds of stories, these are exceprts from a few…
Some Photos from Heaven Fest www.heavenfest.com & some great stories, too!
Hello to the HF Team,
I’m sorry I had to work & was unable to hel and volunteerp. However, want to thank you for the whatever you can afford tickets. My wife got hurt on her job and has been out of work for about 7 months now. I have a 15 year old son who wouldn’t have been able to go if it were not for this. My gratitude and thanks go out to ALL of you for what you do. Hopefully, next year, we will be doing better and I will be able to give more. I truly appreciate it! Thanks Again!
B. E. (& son)
JESUS! JESUS! JESUS! The might name of Jesus was all my family heard all day!!!!
I got the Whatever You Can Afford tickets because I have been jobless for 1yr and 8mo and I am going through a bankruptcy.
My 5-year old son made a friend in the ticket line and they shared a bag of chips, as they talked about how they were both (black and white) formed from the dirt that they were walking in. Jesus!
…I prayed with a father that was reaffirming his belief in Christ and prepared to baptize his son. My children joined me at the table (under the shade) and asked what they were doing and I explained what was being done, why it was being done and how it was done. My youngest said, “Alright Mom… lets go… I know Jesus… He died on the cross for me and you and brother.” I look at my oldest son, and he looked back at me. I was a little hesitant because we didn’t have extra clothes or towels… we didn’t have anything. The hesitation subsided and I signed all three of us up. I told the volunteer that we had been through a lot in the last two years: homelessness, no employment, no money…And to the water we went… !!!! I REAFFIRMED MY BELIEF IN CHRIST THROUGH BAPTISM, I BAPTIZED MY OLDEST SON AND MY YOUNGEST SON!!!
After the plunge in the lake my children and I were truly grateful and call it an added benefit because we were soaked from head to toe and no longer hot. We were definitely comforted by the water and the wet clothes!Thank you Heaven Fest!!!! Thank you Jesus!!!
This was my first year volunteering and I can truly say it was a blessing. Lifebridge Christian Church, leading up to Heavenfes,t had been preaching about 1 body 1 Christ and that is all I was thinking about on Saturday. It doesn’t matter what church you attend but to come together for one day as brothers and sisters of Christ and serve together and make Heavenfest a success was an unbelieveable experience I will never forget. God willing I will be there next year to help again. ~Ana
Thank God for your ministry and all the many people that worked so hard to make it happen. My wife and I were blessed beyond words to be able to volenteer to help with the prayer team. We live 150 miles away and had 23 from the church here in Yuma Colorado so we had limited ability to help. We were assigned to a team to pray in stations all around the campus for 4 hours. We took a couple of breaks to worship in the 24/7 worhsip and prayer tent. We finished with a half hour prayer in the tower. My wife is deathly afraid of heights and I was shocked that she would go up. It was the most wonderful day of prayer my wife and I ever experienced. I can not wait to come back and serve again. I was so amazed at the mulitiudes of servants that were willing to give their all so that God could minister to so many. A God work this awsome can not happen without prayer, great leadership and humble servents. Our part was so small compared to so many but It meant so much to our lives. D and L Smith
I decided to get my church, my youth group, and friends excited to go Heavenfest 2010. We all came out including two of my friends that really didn’t know about God one way or the other, but were excited to go to a massive concert with friends. We all had a great time… I convinced them to stay for the Sacred Assembly, and so we all settled down on the grass and waited for the sevice to begin. Not long into the service, both girls who didn’t know Jesus started crying and both looked and me and said “I didn’t know… I didn’t know that there was Someone out there that cared so much.” I smiled held them and said, well now you know. Both said afterward that for the first time they wanted to go to church, and they now understood why people got so ‘into’ worship services. They felt the power of Jesus. Thank you, thank you so much for this. I have tried for some time to get these girls to even want to talk about God, and in one night, they not only wanted to talk about God, they were believing in Him!” S.V.
heaven fest was awesome. at the hardcore stage…Chad Johnson of Come and Live (great guy get him for next year) asked us to raise our hands if we were dealing with depression so that we could be prayed over. i did this and found everyone around me had laid there hands on me and was praying for me. i had never felt this touched in my life i found myself weeping for joy. It ranks as one of the most life changing experiences of my life.
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to say what a blessing it was to serve at heavenfest!
I personally was the recipient of a miracle during heavenfest: I hadn’t felt well since the birth of my 6th child almost 2 years ago. I think that I have a calcium deficiency as a result of having a baby so late in life and I have a hernia, were my abdominal wall is weakened and tearing due to heavy lifting and childbirth . I had extreme weakness and pain in my joints and I was unable to lift or bend without experiencing a painfull tearing sensation in my stomach.I felt exhausted and weak and had barely been able to function from day to day which had made me very irritable and hard to live with. When heavenfest contacted me and asked me to be a retail manager this year, I started praying for the strength to serve.
At the leadership meetings, which -by the way -were unlike any meeting I had ever attended, I felt the Lord strengthening my spirit and preparing me to be his hands and feet! I felt an energy welling up inside of me and a calming peace and confidence overwhelming me. During heavenfest I was completely pain free!!!! I carried heavy boxes, cases of water, and equipment up hills and painted and drilled signs in the hot sun and was on my feet for 19 hours and never felt stronger or more energetic!! I prayed for strangers and co-workers boldly and felt the presence of God all around us! I felt love toward all those I came into contact with and found myself praising and thanking God continually throughout the day. At about midnight I realized that I had been using my left arm all day without any pain!! God is so awesome and I know that he equipped me to serve him in a way and with a strength that was supernatural!!
“Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6
Annie Baker
I got healed at Heaven Fest last year in much the same way, Annie! Praising God with you! What an honor to serve alongside you.
How perfect is this for today?! God rocks!! Encouraging Word …For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. ~ Habakkuk 1:5, NLT
Here’s some thoughts for you! Thank you and God bless you! Another amazing year….
Three years of Heavenfest, and three years of being in the presence of God surrounded by thousands. This year was no different. I think our Lord marks this day on his calendar just as we do now. We bring them together for his glory, and it makes him glad. [boldened by Jeanie...love this!] I saw God baptizing people in the lake, I saw God dancing to techno music, I saw God pumping his fist to hard rock, I saw God beating on drums, strumming on guitars, and walking through the front gates holding peoples hands. I saw God smudging chalk with his fingertips, telling jokes and reading psalms. He sat beside me and whispered words into my ear as I prayed at the front gates for all those who passed through. God was everywhere.
The best moment for me was as we knelt with thousands listening to his word during the Sacred Assembly. As we stood at one point with our hands raised and eyes closed hand were placed upon one another in ~ The body of Christ was united. That feeling of having the hands of others on your shoulders was only surpassed when after, bowed down in the dust I felt God’s arms around me in the most gentle and purest of love. It was at that moment that we were asked to raise our eyes to heaven and smile. I did so with tears streaming down. When you seek him – he is there. When you are with him- you know his love. I have been so blessed over the years to only begin a relationship with my father I knew never was possible. Each year at Heavenfest I pray for that for others, and I have seen the seeds be planted in the fields each year. Yes the music makes us rock out, and sometimes cry, the people you meet are amazing, but the time with God surrounded by the body of Christ is like no other.
This event has changed our lives and continues to help us grow in faith each year. Both of my sons made their decision to be baptized after the time they spent with God at Heavenfest. (’08 and ‘09) We have all grown in our convictions and calling to bring others to know Christ. Prayers and promises made in these fields each year have brought our family closer, helped us to forgive each other, ourselves and others we know, reach out to others, and to be better children of God. We were on Holy Ground in Longmont this year. We will never know the extend of all the miracles that happened there that day- but there is no doubt that they happened. One happened to me. I felt God touch me- something that has only happened several times in my life- and because of it, I am humbly and joyfully one step closer to him.
In his Grace, Let’s share our miracles!!!!! Smiles and blessings~ Alison
*Thanks for letting my boys help with clean-up!…. Can’t wait to help next year!!!!!!!!
