MOSES LAKE — People here know all too well of the devastating after-effects of a fire. Fires can change, consume and forever alter a landscape, leaving it almost completely unrecognizable to even the most keen observer. A different type of fire was ignited over the course of the two-day Fireshed Music Festival in Moses Lake over the weekend. A fire that grew in the hearts of those who were in attendance and cannot be put out by outside forces.

“I had tears in my eyes almost all night on Friday,” Eustolia Rodriguez said. “My grandson is not going down the right path right now and he told me on the way home Friday night after we left the concert that he wants to change. I cannot put my finger on it, but I could just tell that he was serious and there was some sort of change that went on inside of him.”

The contemporary Christian music concert was organized and sponsored by Sendero Life Center. The festival came about after church leadership came up with the idea of sponsoring a music festival for local youth and received a grant from the Ministry Branch Fund.

Fireshed brought together a true variety of Christian music artists to the Centennial Amphitheater stage at McCosh Park. Ranging from hip hop to praise/worship music, even though the styles of music were different, the message behind all of the songs remained the same.

“Let me be frank here, I have never been a fan of hip hop or rap at all. But coming here and actually listening to the lyrics I kind of had a light-bulb moment and came to the realization that putting labels on what is acceptable for a Christian to listen to was wrong. I really felt convicted by that and am so glad there is so many different ways to praise God,” Moses Lake resident Greg Soller remarked.

Featured artists at the festival were David Perez, a singer/songwriter from Wapato, Yvonne Munoz, a popular artist in Latin America, rapper Aaron Cole, a rising star in the Christian music world, James McTague, a worship leader at the Moses Lake Presbyterian Church, and his wife Rachel, rapper KJ-52, who has won six Dove awards over the years, and Christian Cuevas, who was a finalist on the 11th season of “The Voice.” The festival also featured a number of different bands, including the Fireshed Youth Band, the Sendero Life Center worship band and New Vintage Worship, from New Vintage Church in Richland.

The stories of positive change as a result of Fireshed are vast and numerous, which was one of the goals for festival organizers and will be a rallying cry for making the event an annual one.

“Me and my friends are praying that they do Fireshed again next year. We all had so much fun listening to the music, but even more importantly I feel like each of us took something away from it that we can build on and incorporate into our everyday lives and tell other people about,” Moses Lake resident Aubrie Jacobs said.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.