Mobile hosts alternative to Mardi Gras

Several thousand Mobile teenagers and young adults “just said no” to the excesses of the port city’s Mardi Gras celebration this year.
   
While an estimated crowd of 868,000 people crowded into Mobile’s streets during celebrations that included alcohol and rowdy behavior, another group of about 8,500 celebrated March 5-7 as part of a Christian alternative — “Live at the Bay 2000.” About 2,000 people participated the first night, around 3,000 the second night and about 3,500 the final night.
   
The event was a joint effort of Breakaway Ministries of Gadsden, Mobile Baptist Association, Christian radio station Power 88-FM and area churches.
   
Christians attending the event said they believe Mardi Gras’ two weeks of festivals, parades and balls encourages sinning with its feeling of misrule and “anything goes.”
   
“We know in our hearts what God wants to do here,” Breakaway Ministries president Eddie Nichols told the crowd during the opening session March 5 at Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile.
   
Among those at the opening session were 30 youth from Fulton Road Baptist Church, Mobile, who expressed the belief it was more important for them to be there than anywhere else in the city. The youth said they hoped their presence would represent a strong witness for Christ.
   
Brandon Morgan led The Breakaway Praise Band, and youth speaker Antjuan Marsh challenged those attending to be bold about their Christianity.
   
Dressed in black and performing on a darkened stage, youth from Shiloh Baptist, Saraland, had their audience applauding at the end of a production that featured lighted gloves dancing to the beat of Avalon’s “Testify.”
   
Speaking March 6, the eve of Mardi Gras, Marsh told youth to “draw closer to the Son” and start a revolution in their life. “This town needs to be redeemed — saved, but people are asleep,” he said.
   
“Do something bold and brave — meet me here,” he said, encouraging youth to come to the altar confessing Christ or rededicating their lives, with students filling the area in front of the stage.
  
Brent Rawson, minister to students at First Baptist, Satsuma, said 85 people registered a decision of one kind or another. Rawson said more than half, 52, were from individuals committing to a deeper relationship with God. Five decisions were for salvation.
  
The March 7 program featured a presentation of the musical “What Would Jesus Do?” by Breakaway and the mass youth choir, and a concert by Big Tent Revival.
   
Helping with the events was Richard Cagle, who has led in Alabama Baptist state organiza-tions, served as vice president of the University of Mobile and is now minister to college students at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile.
   
He said at least 30 Mobile-area Baptist churches worked to initiate and coordinate “Live at the Bay,” stressing the importance of such events.
   
“If the Baptists in this state don’t lead out in these kinds of events, it’s very difficult (to organize them), because half the state’s population is Baptist and the rest is a mix of everything else,” he said. “So, really, as Baptists, I think we have a responsibility to lead out and make things
happen.”
   
Nichols said he was overwhelmed by the attendance over three nights. “It was bigger than anything I could have imagined.
   
“My prayer is that churches can get a vision of what can happen when they come together,” Nichols said.