The Harvest Festival ended on a high note at the Waikiki Shell in Hawaii on June 26. Thousands gathered to listen to bands such as Kutless, the Katinas and CCM veteran artist Crystal Lewis.
The Katinas opened the event on Thursday, adding flavor to the worship times and even performed with the local Aola boys who gave the crowd sign language body worships. Kutless rocked the crowd at the Youth Jam Concert while Lewis performed classic and new hits, drawing hundreds to Christ with the help of altar calls.
On Saturday, the event featured a diversity of entertainment such as biking on ramps, vendors, and radio stations. Hawaiian dancers contributed to creating the culture theme of the event.
Duke Aiona, the Lieutenant Governor of the State came to greet Evangelist Greg Laurie who came to Hawaii to speak.
Concert-goers testified the amazing musical performances made by all the artists and speakers, including that of Pastor and Evangelist Greg Laurie.
In promoting and putting together the event, local churches gathered support and invited their peers. Prior to the festival, youths received 30,000 promotional albums put together by local bands.
Danny Lehmann, coordinator of Youth With A Mission and who worked with the local churches in Hawaii to put together the event, noted that the event "was special this year because it gave the opportunity for local churches to work together and make their relationships stronger. The event this year was 4 nights as supposed to one the last year."
"Main things that attract these people to events are friends, 85% of the people are brought by friends. In Hawaii, having local and cultural bands is more appealing sometimes. Some of the non-believers at the event won't know the big artists, whether if they are Steven Curtis Chapman. There was more local involvement [this time] and they felt they were a part of something," Lehmann explained.
The attendance turnout for the four-day event beginning on Thursday, June 24, was over 21,700 attendees. Among those, 1,161 made their decision in committing their life to Christ including some who watched from the streets.
