Rob Lohman is praying that the biggest dreams start with small gatherings.

His vision, to bring a massive, 200,000-person Christian music and prayer festival called LifeLight Colorado to the Western Slope, had its kickoff event June 9 at Pathways Church, 1595 Pearl St.

Around 75 people attended the event, which featured music by local artists and a presentation on Lohman's dream.

Lohman said that the event was not only about raising funds to go toward the $1 million needed to finance LifeLight, but also to expose more people to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Lohman grew up in Fort Wayne, Ind. and moved to Texas at the age of 9 with his parents. Not long after he moved, Lohman began a love affair with alcohol and gambling that would last for the better part of two decades.

"Even though I was raised in a good home, I felt I was wired differently than most kids," Lohman said.

He describes the first time he drank alcohol, as a 14-year-old feeling the pressure to be social, as an awakening.

"That void inside of me was filled up with the booze," Lohman said.

Lohman described how he became "kind of a goofball" and a chameleon that would act differently around different types of people.

Finally, after barely keeping his life together through college, a marriage to another alcoholic and a stint living in Vail, he hit rock bottom. He started having suicidal thoughts when driving down the road. He would constantly think that things would be easier if he were dead.

While sitting in a bar on June 7, 2001, he had what he describes as a revelation.

"The music (in the bar) went down and I heard a voice say, 'You're done.' Then the music came back up," Lohman said. "I thought it meant that I was done living."

He described how he put more than 300 pounds of weight on a bench, laid down and was ready to let the weight drop, crushing his throat. Then, he saw his dog looking at him. He couldn't do it.

"When I heard 'You're done,' it was God telling me that I was done with my old life and he was taking me to a new one," Lohman said. "God reveals himself through people and things. I think God revealed himself through my dog that night. Now, I've asked God to use me."

Lohman now believes that God has put on his heart the desire to "lift the darkness over the I-70 corridor" with a free three-day music festival.

Since that fateful day in 2001, Lohman has remarried and working toward fulfilling his vision. He has met with the organizers of the original LifeLight festival in South Dakota, who have given Lohman their blessing.

Lohman is hoping that the festival, which is set to take place June 6 through 8, 2008 near Glenwood Springs, will feature 100 speakers and bands and play host to more than 200,000 attendees.

To make his vision a success, Lohman knows that he must rely on God.