Through the words of eight of those who attended, we tell some of what happened during 1991's CROSS RHYTHMS ROCK GOSPEL FESTIVAL.

An Organiser's Cross Rhythms
By Chris Cole

My body literally ached with tension. Was this the end of a heap of hopes and dreams? I'd long been critical of the sections of the charismatic church, who expect everything to go well when stepping out in faith; claiming disobedience or being 'out of God's will' if they don't. What about Paul's beatings and scourging? What about the evangelism ship The Logos which which ran aground? Or the suffering church? Sometimes mankind's highest hopes and expectations and dashed are we have to ding tightly to the assurance that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. But, as I stared out at the windswept fields of the Oakhampton Showground, it was hard to resist depression.

My mind reeled under the weight of mental calculations. The disastrous weather had wiped out the day's attendance for Saturday. Cross Rhythms Rock Gospel was going to drop money... four, five, six thousand pounds. I was assailed with doubts and fears. Did this mean the end of the magazine? The radio project? The music had been wonderful: lona, Split Level, Sal Solo; each had been special. I was hearing reports of kids saved and people touched by the Spirit. Then, as I trudged back through the mud to find my family and get them to the Big Top for the Sunday Morning Celebration, an anguished "Why, Lord?!' was never far from my lips.

That morning the Lord touched me through a dozen acts of kindness, love and sacrifice. A brother put his arm around me and prayed. Another offered me an interest-free 3,500 loan. A drama group who'd been booked to appear came up and put a 20 note in my hand. And a lady, tears in her eyes, gave me the jewellery the Lord had told her to give to the work of Cross Rhythms.

Suddenly there was a future. At the de-briefing meeting, the entire organising committee spoke of their certainty that the event should continue. It will do. Today, as I write this, I'm concluding negotiations for the '92 Cross Rhythms Festival to be held at the Devon County Show Ground near Exeter. Cross Rhythms "91 had been a devastating experience. I felt like I'd gone 15 rounds of spiritual warfare and muscles, physical and spiritual, ached for days afterwards. But I'd been blessed, blessed particularly as I remembered the Word From The Lord a brother had brought me on the Saturday. He'd said that 'if I stood in the field I'd enjoy a harvest'. I believe I've caught a glimpse of such a harvest.