Corban grad leads one of Salem’s largest events

September 28, 2007

Reid Saunders spoke on both Saturday and Sunday. PHOTO: KIRSTEN WELLS

Salem RiverFest, a free, faith-based festival, drew an estimated 60,000 people to Riverfront Park September 22-23. It was the prayer-come-true of 1998 Corban College graduate Reid Saunders, who spearheaded the event along with a team of workers from his evangelistic association.

“Only God could have done that,” Saunders stresses.  “I’m just an ordinary guy. But I’m doing what God gifted me to do.”

“If it wasn’t the biggest event in Salem’s history, it was pretty close,” said mayor of Salem, Janet Taylor, who attended Saturday night. “I thought it was fabulous. The amount of coordinating among organizers, churches, and businesses that it took was just amazing.  And to do something positive like this--these kinds of positive events are what our community needs.”

Contemporary Christian Music group, Avalon, performed on Sunday evening. PHOTO: COREY WELLS

The Reid Saunders Association partnered up with community churches, organizations, businesses and individuals to work on the RiverFest project for over two years. Over $400,000 was raised in order to make it a free community event.

Activities at RiverFest were aimed at all ages. There were skateboarding, motocross, and BMX demonstrations; a children’s area with inflatables, face painting and crafts, drama, magic, and music; and a sports zone where people could try rock-climbing or test other skills and listen to two-time Olympian Dave Johnson speak. From the main stage, artists performed Christian music of many styles, and Saunders presented a Gospel message each evening. 


Extreme sports demonstrations were a popular event at the festival. PHOTO: KIRSTEN WELLS

Only two things could have prepared him for the sea of faces in front of him as he spoke both nights of RiverFest, according to Saunders: “First, God. And then, God’s people praying.”

When he asked the audience how many had prayed for an event like this to come to Salem, Saunders remembers that hands went up all over. “God put this on my heart, and he also put that same vision on the hearts of many others,” he explains. “Prayer is the key to our ministry. It was the key to RiverFest.”

Over 1000 people indicated that they made a decision for Christ over the weekend. Counselors helped them fill out response cards which were carefully tabulated into the wee hours after both Gospel presentations. Each one was linked to a specific church for follow-up within 48 hours. 

Even though the event was free, some festival-goers brought coats and canned goods as donations to Union Gospel Mission.  Altogether, their contributions filled 24 barrels, said a spokesman for the Mission.


Hundreds of volunteers attended Riverfest to share the gospel and counsel those making decisions for Christ. PHOTO: COREY WELLS
Saunders says the seeds for RiverFest were planted twelve years ago when he was a first-year student at what was then Western Baptist College, now Corban. From his dorm room, he could look across cornfields that stretched toward the lights of Salem. He wondered what it would be like to hold an evangelistic crusade and invite the whole city.

A year later, he did. With a number of students helping him, along with  College president David Miller’s encouragement to use the school facilities, Saunders held the “Salem Crusade for Christ” right on campus. He led two other crusades—the “Greater Oregon Crusade for Christ” and another in Saunders’ hometown of Petaluma, California—which served as predecessors for RiverFest. Saunders credits Corban with giving him a solid, biblical foundation for his life of ministry.  “Since I was saved at the age of 17, Corban gave me the teaching and discipleship that I needed as a young Christian. I knew, at that age, that God had called me to be an evangelist. Corban prepared me for that kind of future.”