Despite some complaints about noise level and even the content at the recent three-day music festival held in July, the stories of the positive impact to our community were overwhelming. What an amazing thing that 75 people, most of them teenagers, would pay their own way to travel to and serve Grand Marais simply out of the goodness of their heart. They painted homes, cleaned windows, picked up trash, especially focusing on those who for whatever reason could not easily do it themselves. Their message was simple. They did what they did with no strings attached because God loves everybody in the same way.
And while their nightly concerts were certainly marked by passion, and their content offensive to some, to many it was a breath of fresh air as multitudes, including tourists, came over to say just how much they appreciated what was being sung about and said.
Their message once again was simple. God loves everyone with a passion that is hard to comprehend and offers the power to set people free from some of the life-destroying addictions that so many people struggle with.
Clearly the need was great, as at least a dozen young people experienced a deep life-changing, soul-saving connection with God. And another 30 people got free of some kind of addiction that was destroying their lives. For some it was drugs and alcohol, and for others it was sexual in nature. And as a person who deals a lot with the broken families due to addictions, this was an amazing thing to see, knowing of all the grief this was going to save the families represented here.
To me, the good done for our community far outweighs the negative.
Gerry Cheney
Beaver Bay
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