MARSHALL – When the Christian band Newsboys came to Marshall to perform a concert on Sunday, the members had no idea a crowd of more than 4,000 awaited them at Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility.

“They were blown away by Marshall, Minnesota,” Robin Knudson said. “It was an astonishing number for Marshall. The band has eight more concerts left on their (“We Believe God’s Not Dead”) tour, and Marshall is the third-biggest they’ve performed for. It was an amazing thing.”

Knudson, field associate for the Marshall Area Fellowship of Christian Athletes and coordinator for the concert, said that FCA organizers had originally hoped to sell 2,500 tickets. Eventually, the organization was given permission to sell 4,000 tickets. Knudson reported that 4,100 were actually in attendance at the large gathering.

“It’s the largest event that has ever been held there,” said Doug Wing, senior pastor at Grace Life Church. “It was an amazing concert, to have that many people. It touched the whole southwest region.”

“It was a fun event to be part of,” Knudson said. “Even if people didn’t know the band or weren’t into Christian music, they would’ve been entertained. Michael Tait, the lead singer for Newsboys has great stage presence. They sang 14 songs, which is a lot, and they also did some speaking. Tait shared what the Lord had done in his life. I believe God had his hand in this the whole time.”

Knudson noted that many hands helped make the event a possibility. Nearly 150 vital volunteers assisted in the effort, she said.

“It definitely took a huge team of people, an army of volunteers,” she said. “We had 145 volunteers, including a starting committee of 15 people. They did all the planning, and they kind of found their group of people to help out for all the different needs. And there were lots of needs.”

Julie Christensen and Kelly Deutz took care of ticketing, while Jill Schwarz, Chad Bergjord and Karen Bofferding were in charge of catering. Jacki Peterson was on hospitality duty. Linda Saugstad and Tracy Soehl took care of the VIP stuff, while Bruce Saugstad rounded up 20 volunteers for set-up on Sunday morning in addition to lining up 15-20 security people.

“All of our donors were given VIP tickets, and we also had 26 more VIP tickets that we could sell online,” Knudson said. “So we had 150 people that got to do a meet and greet with the band. Bruce found people for set-up, the stage crew and our security. I think we had 25 men from the community and some college students at the gym until 1 a.m. helping clean up.”

Committee members Kim Deines and Alison Marshall fed the volunteers, while Bill Mulso secured the venue. Stacie Mulso was the personal relations go-to person. The Mulsos also helped with the set-up. Three SMSU employees – Tory Scheurs (electrician), Laura Bottin (maintenance) and Ron Schoephoerster (scheduling) – were also instrumental in the concert’s success.

“The college was awesome to work with,” Knudson said. “The staff there was top notch. They found value in having the concert, too, with just having people on their campus, I think. Bill made everything kind of tick. And we couldn’t have done it without Tony. Laura made sure the garbages were where they were supposed to be and were emptied, had crews set up the bleachers and got all the dressing rooms ready.”

Knudson said she starting meeting with Schoephoerster, Bottin and Scheurs back in September, to see if the event was even doable. Early on, the band’s booking agent wasn’t convinced that the small-town organizers could rally the troops enough to bring a big band like Newsboys to the area. But Knudson had faith that it would happen.

“The booking agent said, ‘Robin, I don’t think you should try it. You’ve only done a few other concerts, and this is really big,'” Knudson said.

Knudson’s persistence and support paid off, and eventually, gained praise from the managers.

“The band’s managers were amazed at the crew we had,” she said. “I knew there were many, many hands that would be involved, hands of people who volunteer because they love the Lord and know this is for a greater cause. This was a ministry opportunity for the volunteers, so they were here for the right reason.”

Eight firemen also donated their time to be on-site for the eight hours necessary in order to allow the fire system to be shut down. Knudson said she spoke with Marshall Fire Chief Marc Klaith and explained the situation.

“I told him we had to have firemen on location, so there were eight firemen who volunteered from 2:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. That says something about our community. It’s amazing what can happen when our churches and communities work together. Just to see the favor of the Lord shine down on Marshall was absolutely priceless,” she said.

In addition to the message that Newsboys and the other bands shared with those in attendance and the volunteerism that took place, there were other positive examples of good will shown.

“An anonymous gentleman bought 200 tickets for Marshall FCA kids to give away, to pay it forward,” Knudson said. “He gave each one of our huddle kids a ticket to give to someone who would like to go or who maybe needed to go. It was a neat gift.”

Knudson noted that although Tait was a new addition, Newsboys had been around long enough to attach different generations to their concerts. That was evident in the variety of ages that attended the event, she said.

“We had people from all over,” she said. “They came from Rochester, St. Paul, Iowa and South Dakota.”

A 70-year-old couple from St. Peter were among those were traveled to Marshall for the concert. Knudson said their presence was inspiring.

“This couple was thrilled to be at the concert, and afterward, they helped pick up chairs,” Knudson said. “They chose to serve at the end of the concert because they felt blessed. It was really an awesome experience to be part of.”