(There was some kind of a glitch and the type for Monday’s “CrossRock” done got erased! So here ’tis againe …) 

“What we envisioned as something that would maybe draw 2,000 people wound up having 3,000 to 5,000 people our first year.
“But that wasn’t the end of it … then the funding started coming in, and all of a sudden this (event), through God’s direction, has blossomed into a pretty major festival.”
That’s what Witness Festival organizer Craig Deibler said about the Quarryville Christian music-and-culture event, which marked its very successful return this past Saturday.
Deibler, in an interview last week before the event, credited the 200 or more volunteers who worked the event.
Deibler, a veteran businessman who owns a Quarryville Christian-music-and-books hub, had a vision for the free festival before the first event was held, in 2002.
But give the glory to God, and not to his work … even though it was a lot, he said.
“I don’t need the showcase of the whole thing, because I just get blessed when I can stand back and see it unfold.”
That’s because what he really likes is “to have fathers and sons walk down the aisle and change their lives” by making a decision for Christ, he said: “That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”
If the focus ever starts being on the people who run the Witness festival in Quarryville — instead of where it should be, on God — it will start to have trouble, Deibler said.
Coverage of the event estimated there may have been up to 8,000 people in Quarryville’s Memorial Park late Saturday afternoon, which was during a hot, humid time of things here in Lancaster County.
Organizers say now is even more the time for donors to step up and help the festival, which is run by volunteers but must pay performers and a slew of other costs.
Organizers like Deibler hope to bring Witness back for 2009, but there’s no word yet on when, or even whether, that will happen.
“In order to keep this ministry a free event, we are asking that you would please prayerfully consider making a donation to Witness Ministries,” as the event’s Web page (www.witnessfestival.com) states.
Donations can be sent to: Witness Ministries, P.O. Box 66, Quarryville PA 17566. Call 717-806-2009 for more information.