LifeLight finds long-term home for Festival and Ministry near Worthing, S.D.
Pederson Family of Worthing gifts long-term lease to LifeLight Communications
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - (November 17, 2009) – At a luncheon today, LifeLight Founders Alan and Vicki Greene stood with members of the Pederson family to announce that the long-term location for the LifeLight Music Festival will be the Pederson family farm, which is located at 47468 280th Street, Worthing, S.D., approximately 2.5 miles east of Worthing and 11 miles south of Sioux Falls. The Pederson’s gifted LifeLight Communications a long-term lease on 225 acres for use in its ministry work and as the new home of the annual LifeLight music festival. The first festival it hosts will be Labor Day weekend, September 3-5, 2010.

LifeLight received numerous calls from cities such as Mitchell and Yankton, SD and was even being courted by other states to be the ministry’s new home. In the midst of exploring these offerings, LifeLight received a phone call from the Pederson family.  Farmer Dwayne Pederson passed away in November 2008. Members of his family, including his widow, Evelyn Pederson of Worthing and daughter and son-in-law, Karla and Gaylon Lems of Canton, were offering the use of their land.  “We had heard they were looking for land,” said Evelyn, “after much prayer and consulting the rest of the family, we decided to make the call.  I told them, this family has used this land for decades to harvest crops, now we want it to be used to harvest souls for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.”

“The Pederson family’s gracious donation is truly a miracle of God and an answer to prayer,” says Vicki Greene.  “We are so thankful for Evelyn and her family’s response to the Lord’s prompting in their hearts and we give God all the glory.”  

Gaylon and Karla Lems will be the liaisons for the family in working with LifeLight on the land development.  Karla Lems was announced as the newest member of the LifeLight Board of Directors.  

Alan Greene’s message to the luncheon guests began by playing a video clip of the press conference held in May 2009 when LifeLight first announced that it would be seeking a new, permanent location for the Festival.  Greene estimated the land needed for the expanded new site would be 200 plus acres.  A member of the press inquired if there was a hope that someone might donate the land for the new site.  Greene replied, “We believe right now, someone is sitting on that land and if they just know the need, they’ll say, ‘this is God’s land anyway and I would really like this to be used for ministry.’”

With this site selection just completed, there is much to be done to complete initial preparations of the site in time for the 2010 LifeLight Festival. Going forward, LifeLight will be visiting with its partners and others about needs for the new location.  

LifeLight Communications is a faith-based, non-profit organization http://www.lifelight.org

Matthew 19:29  “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
On behalf of Evelyn, my two sisters, and our families, we are excited to be able to support Lifelight as they move forward to a new location.
For over 50 years, my Dad, Dwayne Pederson, brought in a harvest of corn and soybeans at the same place that Lifelight now is moving to.  However, he also had a heart for bringing in a harvest of souls for God’s eternal kingdom.  Upon his passing on November 20, 2008—almost one year ago—we as a family prayed for God’s guidance as we prepared for the future.
At the same time we were praying for direction, Lifelight was also seeking the Lord for His hand to lead them to the new location they were to call home to the festival.
God brought our paths together as well as a single minded purpose to now bring in a harvest of souls in these last days.
Let us now go forward together in faith believing for the great days that are ahead for Lifelight.  Today we partner with them, along with you—the sponsors that have stood with them in the past and will continue to support them in the future. 
As the word says in Deuteronomy 1:33,  speaking of the Lord “who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.”  May God go before us and continue to pave the way ahead.  Great is His Faithfulness!

Pederson Family