Students in Adam Fears' Fellowship General Baptist Sunday School class were excited to hear their youth pastor would be delivering the message at this year's Field of Faith event Wednesday night.
"You should tell no jokes," Fears was told by one of his students.
Thinking of himself as a funny guy and that the student must be kidding, Fears blew it off. He was then quickly told again to seriously not tell any jokes.
"I brushed it off until the girl next to him looks at me and said, 'no, he's right, don't tell any jokes' as the whole table agreed I was terrible at jokes," he said.
Getting the point his students were making, Fears led the crowd to turn to Mark 1:1, where "no bones are made about what he is going to talk about."
"That is what we are going to do tonight and go straight to the gospel and see who Jesus is," he said.
Fears told the estimated crowd of 4,000 people the only thing that matters in the end is did they know and have faith in Jesus.
Attendees from all over Southeast Missouri packed Mules Stadium at the 11th annual Fields of Faith from as far as Caruthersville and even Canada.
Dozens of youth groups and Fellowship of Christian Athlete huddles from area schools were among those in attendance to hear testimonies, worship and read Scriptures together.
Three Rivers FCA Area Representative Josh Mills opened the event expressing his prayer for the evening that all distractions be gone to hear the messages.
"(Wednesday's) event was one we couldn't script," Mills said. "The breaker was thrown not once, but twice, leaving us without power. Our worship team climbed up into the crowd and went acoustic, as an estimated 4,000 people joined in song. What a powerful moment."
Mills added Fears delivered one of the best Gospel presentations he has ever heard.
In addition to Fears, several area students shared their personal stories during Fields of Faith.
"Our students that stepped up to share their stories and read Scripture were bold and encouraging to their peers," Mills said.
Poplar Bluff High School junior Savannah Hicks said she accepted Christ when she was 7 years old, but being too young to remember, she reaccepted him in 2015.
The following year, she went to take her high school sports physical and failed. Hicks was told by the nurse practitioner she thought she heard a heart murmur and was sent to take more tests.
"This was very confusing for me because I played sports all my life," she said.
After being sent to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, a cardiologist found a hole the size of a wristwatch in Hick's heart that required open-heart surgery.
"I was confused and asked God why I was going through this," she said. "God continued to provide for me."
Never having any symptoms was a miracle, she said, and she was never short of breath on the field.
Allowed to play softball her freshman year, Hicks' surgery was scheduled following the conclusion of the season for Nov. 22, 2016. The six-hour surgery went well and there were no complications.
"Six weeks later I was back on the basketball court playing with my teammates," Hicks said of another miracle in her life.
"I never had health problems so I had to have faith in God and trust in the doctors," she said.
Asked to speak at Fields of Faith last year, Hicks said she declined because she was too nervous.
"I believe sharing my testimony is part of the plan and I heard God whisper in my ear," she said. "I believe all of us have a story to share."
According to Hicks, the moral of her story was she had a hole in her heart spiritually and physically and God healed both.
Poplar Bluff graduate and Three Rivers College freshman Preston Burroughs also shared his story of feeling the pressures to "be cool" and the many invites he received to attend church.
"Going through high school I got caught up in the lie that you had to go to parties and do drugs and drink alcohol to be popular," he said.
Sophomore year, Burroughs shattered his leg in football and was out for a year. This caused him to take a look at his life.
Asking the crowd if they knew the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," Burroughs said something was missing from his life. He was not sure what that was because he said he had friends, football and popularity.
"I found out later what I was missing was God," he said.
While still on the search for what he was missing during his senior year of high school, Burroughs said a guy he never saw coming who turned into one of his best friends, Boone VanDover, continuously invited him to attend church and youth group.
Blowing off the invite numerous times, Burroughs said he was approached one last time by VanDover, which he also declined.
While walking away, Burroughs was told there would be pasta at youth group that evening and decided to accept the invitation.
"I went to Wednesday youth group and was just amazed," he said. "I finally found what I was missing, I found a home and church family."
Burroughs hoped the crowd would take away two facts from his testimony -- don't get caught up in the lie that you need to party and do drugs to be cool and invite people to church.
"Bribe them with food, like with me, or get them to play basketball," he said. "Get them in the door. Once you build the relationship, drop the bomb and ask if they know about Jesus."
To close the evening, hundreds of youth poured out of the bleachers and onto the football field in prayer.
"We couldn't have asked for a better night," Mills said. "God showed up in a powerful name and we give Him all of the credit once again!"