[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E307-E308]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING SPACE COAST CITY FEST

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BILL POSEY

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 12, 2020

  Mr. POSEY. Madam Speaker, on March 28th and 29th, 2020, Brevard 
County families along with 100 business owners and 190 local church 
organizations will gather together to celebrate Space Coast City Fest. 
This uplifting event will take place at Space Coast Daily Park in 
Melbourne, FL, concluding a year and a half long outreach effort to 
unite the Christian Community.
  Space Coast City Fest was created as a region-wide campaign to serve 
churches in the community and promote faith-based works. Over a period 
of 18 months, CityFest and CityServe have worked to raise the level of 
involvement of Brevard County churches in serving community needs. The 
focus of their initiatives include building long term partnerships with 
public and non-profit groups to help

[[Page E308]]

serve our schools, meet the needs of children within the foster care 
system, raise awareness & seek solutions for the Opioid crisis, tackle 
homelessness, feed the hungry, and revitalize troubled and sometimes 
forgotten neighborhoods.
  In addition, special events were held to promote unity among church 
leaders and spread a message of Christian hope. The ReNew gathering 
drew more than 2,000 people for a night of worship & teaching, a 
conference for pastors and ministry leaders was attended by several 
hundred church leaders, an educational forum on community issues, and 
various training sessions were offered to church members. In the ten 
days leading up to the final festival event, a Christian message was 
shared in several smaller settings including a surf camp with Cliff and 
Damian Hobgood, two presentations in area prisons, a luncheon and a 
dinner for women, and a business and civic leaders' luncheon.
  The final event is a family-oriented festival at the Space Coast 
Daily Park next to Viera High School on March 28th and 29th. The 
festival will host a children's area and an action sports program that 
includes professional BMX, Free-Style Motocross, and skateboard 
demonstrations. The event will wrap up with a mainstage program of 
contemporary Christian music bands from around the county, and will 
also include a message of hope from international evangelist Andrew 
Palau. Other featured performers include Adam Agee, Mandisa, Newsboys 
United, Blanca, Illusionist Jon Michael Hinton, Danny Gokey, and 
Lecrae. Thousands are expected to attend.
  I would like to recognize the hard work of the local organizing 
committee chaired by Christopher Burton and Dr. Mike Ronsisvalle in 
partnership with the Luis Palau Association. Their efforts over the 
last 18 months of mobilizing events have greatly impacted our community 
and have brought us all together in a very special way. It's notable 
that the $800,000 cost of the Space Coast City Fest Celebration was 
contributed by local churches, individuals, and businesses so that it 
could be free to the public.
  I ask my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to please 
join me in recognizing Space Coast City Fest.

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