As the Aug. 21 solar eclipse prepares to draw millions of Americans’ attention to the skies, one Kentucky ministry is using the opportunity as a chance to reach people with the gospel.
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H.R. Ministries is holding Sol Quest 2017, a three-day festival from Aug. 19-21 at a location in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, that is being heralded as “the prime viewing spot” for the total solar eclipse. With live music, vendors, food and speakers, it’s a Christian event aimed at reaching the hearts of those visiting the area to observe the celestial event.
And it’s an effort made possible after a farmer and his wife generously granted the use of 75-acres of farmland.
Harrell Riley, director of H.R. Ministries, told CBN News that he sees the eclipse as a chance to talk to people about Jesus — and with his town of 6,000 expecting up to 250,000 visitors, the opportunity will be ripe to chat with people about the Almighty.
“I’m not an astronomer,” he said. “Anything that shows the power and presence of God gives us the liberty to point people to Jesus Christ and in that, everybody needs to be prepared for his return.”
A local farmer named David Ginn reportedly came alongside Riley and cleared 75 acres of land for Sol Quest, an event that is free and open to the public.
It’s an effort that Ginn said he and his wife got involved in after feeling a nudging from God.
“We sowed it down last year. It’s been dedicated to the Lord,” Ginn told the Kentucky New Era of the land. “It was just very plain from the very beginning the Lord laid on our hearts — and it wasn’t audible, I didn’t hear, he didn’t speak aloud to me — but the Spirit said, ‘Honor me with this and watch what I’ll do.'”
When presented with the idea that it was pretty remarkable that he so generously donated 75 acres of fertile farmland for Sol Quest, Ginn’s response was telling.
“It’s all [God’s] anyway,” he said. “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so it’s all His.”
In the end, Riley said that Sol Quest aims to show every tourist in attendance that it was God “who put the sun and the moon and the stars up there” and that he’s a God who wants to have a personal relationship with every person.
Ginn, too, is hoping that the event can help spark a revival. Read more about the Sol Quest effort here.