With teary eyes and open hands reaching towards the sky, you look around and see your classmates singing in unison to the live hymn. Through testimonies and worship, hundreds of students are building their personal relationships with God and guiding their peers through their own journeys.

Fields of Faith is a student-led Christian event. On Sept. 28, students, parents and staff gathered to pray, read the bible and follow Jesus Christ. Those who attend strive to spread and worship God’s words through their heart, mind and souls.

“At an event like this, you’re able to see people in a non-academic, non-punitive setting where maybe their emotion is more raw, and they’re open to hearing something that might have been said to them 10 million times, but they never truly heard it,” Assistant Principal William Harris said.

Students huddled together to laugh and cry after being saved. Fields of Faith gives everyone, including parents, teachers and students, the opportunity to be saved at the end of the event, where they can express their love and faith in Jesus and begin living their lives devoted to spreading and living by his word.

“This means the world to me, it means a life change for students, and it means a moment for us to peer into what heaven is going to look like one day, when multiple cultures come together and worship the name of Jesus,” Fields of Faith Director Eric Akin said.

People from all schools in Texarkana came together and shared their faith as a live band played different worship songs. Many closed their eyes and swayed to the beat, feeling fully connected to God. To many it’s not solely about living by God’s word through their actions, it’s about having a personal relationship with him and spreading that love to others, as Jesus did when he walked on earth. 

“This event allows teenagers across the region to come and possibly hear about Jesus for the first time in their lives,” Akin said. “Our whole goal every year is that everyone will take a step of faith. Whether you don’t have that relationship with Christ or you do, we want everyone to take that step forward. For me, that’s the motivation to keep doing what I do.” 

Students find this event as an opportunity to express their personal relationship with God and share that with others. Whether that be testimonies about how they found their faith through many hardships, or if it means sharing the steps they’ve taken and found helpful to bring them closer to Christ.

“It means a lot that I’m putting everything that I’ve known my whole life towards helping others, and I appreciate the opportunity to meet a bunch of awesome people that share the same faith as me,” senior Brittney Shaffer said. “I got baptized in July, and this is really piecing it all together. I really hope that I can grow my faith through teaching other people different things about God, and eventually, create my own Bible study.”

Whether someone has grown up in a Christian household or they’ve just begun their journey with God and Christianity, Fields of Faith welcomes everyone with open arms. It allows everyone the opportunity to communicate with their fellow students and counselors about their relationship with God.

“Honestly, it’s like a refresher for me, and it gets my mind back on the right path, where I can stay focused and live for God, not outside distractions that are meaningless in the grand scheme of things,” sophomore Kynlee Flippen said. “Hearing different people’s testimonies and stories from those of all ages improves the way I look at negative situations. Tonight specifically showed me how God can take away all the sin and shackles that you have carried in life.”