July 29, 2008
Dear Autumn Blaze Participants,
As some of you may have heard, we
have decided to cancel this year's Autumn Blaze for a number of reasons. Those that have
seen it grow through the years know how crucial Autumn Blaze has been in meeting
the need of a large scale youth oriented concert-outreach in a region that was virtually
void of this type of event. Autumn Blaze outgrew the Zarephath Field in 2001 and moved to
the Meadowlands Arena presenting six straight years of concert outreaches.
During that time we have seen the birth of many
other events similar to Autumn Blaze that serve the same type of need in this area.
Some of these actually take place in or around the Meadowlands during other
times of the year, others take place in separate venues in our area but
during the same few months of the year as AB.
The Pillar of Fire has been gracious enough
to underwrite hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses over the past few years but is
not in a position to continue this year with a higher risk of recoupment than ever before.
For that reason we have decided to take this year off and seek God about the future of
Autumn Blaze as well as other Blaze ministries that have been raised up.
Thanks to all of you who have served so faithfully and
generously through the years. We have seen nearly 10,000 responses to the annual AB altar
calls since we first began and are constantly reminded of the fruit that these seeds have
yielded for God's Kingdom.
Have a blessed year and please stay in touch as we journey
into the coming year.
God Bless You,
Raphael Giglio
Executive Director of Autumn Blaze
