Hello from Winterfest, Knoxville TN

Hello from Winterfest 2009. It's been a great weekend in Knoxville TN experiencing worship with over 40,000 people.

I sit here in a hotel room only thirty minutes away from leaving out for our last service of the weekend. We've heard front-line speakers and bands all weekend long. Thousands of people have jam packed the Thomson Boling Arena to experience God in large corporate worship. However, just as I wrote you last week, I have noticed another hole in ministry.

Friday night I attended a backstage meeting with the thousands of leaders who have brought their groups. The room filled with men and women who are leading students to Christ, disciplining, and raising up another generation of leaders. The questions began to rise in my mind; "What will they do for them? What are they going to say? Are we going to minister to the ministers?"

I would love to say that's exactly what happened, however I would be wrong. Instead, they actually asked for more participation in other projects and events. They pushed the next conference, the next band, and the next mission project. Please don't get me wrong, all good and valuable things, but no ministry to the minister.

No one said, "Some of you came in here tonight tired and burned out, and your thinking this is your last event ever. You can't wait to get home so you can quit the ministry, but we're here to lift you up and support you. We want to serve you for the next few minutes and encourage you." None of that. Once again I heard God's voice, "If you don't, who will?"

I can see something that everyone is missing and Cultivate must serve the need. We exist to serve those who serve, and that's what we are going to continue to do. I ask you to continue to pray for our ministry so that we can continue to reach the 1,200 a month who are leaving the ministry.

I will, will you?

Brandon