6th Annual Unity Fest

By Andrea Bruner
Batesville Daily Guard Assistant Managing Editor
Originally published April 15th, 2011: Batesville Daily Guard

The sixth annual Unity Fest on the River will be May 28 at Riverside Park in Batesville, starting at 3 p.m.

A fish dinner will be served, as usual. The event also includes a pie auction, special music by Gerald Craff from Southern gospel group The Crabb Family, and a Kids Korner with jumping balloons and games.

There will also be an auction for a 1960 Ford Thunderbird and a 1953 Farmall Super C tractor. Donated by Drew Zylstra the T-bird's features include a 430 big block motor, AM radio, power windows, power brakes, power steering and power seats. The seats have been recovered, the master cylinder and fuel pump replaced and the body repainted "Ford Red."

Tickets are $10 and include the fish dinner as well as entry into the drawing for a new truck autographed by NASCAR's Mark Martin, as well as a 46-inch Sanyo TV. A Bad Boy Mower will also be up for grabs.

Gerald Crabb spent half his childhood on the streets of Louisville in the ghetto and the other half in Horse Branch, Ky. (population 300), according to a bio on cbn.com. He lived in poverty with an alcoholic father, and when he was in eighth grade Gerald dropped out of school.

Gerald married at age 18, and by age of 24, he was divorced with four school-age children. Gerald followed in his father's footsteps and turned to alcohol. In the midst of his serious alcohol problem, Gerald met Kathy, a divorced mother of two, and she began to redirect his goals. She began to tell him how God had blessed him with an abundance of talent. One year later they married. Gerald got saved and God delivered him from alcohol.

All six kids (three boys and three girls) began to sing their dad's music and doors began to open. Five of the children sing; Krystal runs the family office.

From a storefront church to living in a church because that was all they could afford, to an annual concert audience of 800,000, the award-winning Crabb Family reaches people from all walks of life. Their lives are a living testimony of how God can take desperate circumstances and use them for His glory. Since stepping out into a full-time ministry nearly 10 years ago, a divine calling from God to reach the lost and mountain-moving faith have been the keys to their family's success.

Gerald and Kathy retired from the road two years ago, but their children continue to minister all over the country. The couple is very involved in their children's ministry, and Gerald continues to write songs. Kathy helps the ministry's business.

Gerald Crabb will also be at the Sunday morning service following Unity Fest.

To purchase tickets, call (870) 799-2525.