City Harvest Children’s Church celebrated Children’s Day with the promise of the rainbow.
By Theodora Ho
CN PHOTOS: Kenneth Lee, Nigel Tan and Teo Boon Hwee.
A “rainbow” arch made of balloons greets the throng of excited children rushing into the main hall of Singapore Expo on the morning of Oct. 6–they were getting ready for Rainbow Groove!
In line with Children’s Day, City Harvest Children’s Church organized Rainbow Groove over three days—October 4 to 6—to celebrate this special occasion. Children aged 2 to 12 filled the hall, which had been decorated with balloons.
The event started with a whole string of activities that got the children up on their little feet. Laughter filled the hall as little volunteers formed two teams to compete in a game of Giant Smoke Gun. The competitors had to knock over plastic cups on a table with a huge “air gun” that was powered by pumping air into its “chamber”. The team that completed the task in the shortest time would win. While the competitors flexed their muscles to pump up the air guns, the rest of the audience formed two groups of supporters cheering them on enthusiastically.
After the high-energy game, the children returned to their seats to catch their breath while they enjoyed a performance from the dance ministry crew, The Disciples. Sounds of approval spread in the awestruck audience as the dance crew brought the energy level in the room even higher.
A magician who introduced himself as Mr. Richard was up on stage next to amuse the children with some balloon tricks. With speedy hands, Mr. Richard magically twisted long balloons into different shapes and animals—a dragonfly, a bouquet of flowers, even an octopus—were created in less than 15 minutes and given to eager children who rushed up on stage. The highlight came when Mr. Richard announced that he would be placing himself inside a mega balloon. The children in the audience stared in amazement and incredulity as they watched him pump up a balloon that slowly enclosed him. Cheers rang out when he finally exited the balloon and took a bow.
The Disciples were invited back on stage to teach the children to dance “Oppa Gangam” style. The dance crew taught the children, through a simple, step-by-step lesson, the dance steps of “Oppa Gangnam Style”, a song made popular by Korean rapper, PSY. At the mention of the song, shouts of excitement erupted as the children eagerly got onto their feet to learn the steps. Cassandra Tan, 5, gushed, “I love ‘Oppa Gangnam Style’ because I love to dance!”
RAINBOW AFTER THE STORM
With the children still on their feet, the worship team led them into an exciting time of praise and worship. Little hands went up during the worship song, “I Love You, Sweet Jesus”. A short skit put up by the drama team, “Cloud 9”, told a tale of a boy who lived in the clouds and how he learned to weather his storms. The main takeaway of the skit was this: there may be storms and rain in our lives, but with God on our side, we will get through it.
Following the drama, Eileen Toh, pastor of City Harvest Children’s Church, taught the children a lesson about the rainbow. Building on the story of Noah and the ark in Genesis 6 to 8, Toh shared on how a rainbow was originally formed in the Bible.
With the help of stage crew and props, she animatedly described how the people of the Earth were destroyed in a huge storm, while Noah with his family and an ark full of animals escaped unscathed. It was only after 40 days and nights that the storm ceased. Noah and his family then stepped out of the ark on dry land to marvel at the beautiful rainbow that was set in the clear blue skies. God then told Noah that the rainbow signified his promise to His people that He would never ever send a great flood to destroy Earth again.
At the end of the service, each child was given a goodie bag containing toys and notebooks, but their takeaway from the service went beyond those things– they brought home with them the promise of the rainbow. Teo Zi Jie, 11, said, “I learned that Jesus’ faithfulness is boundless and it reaches the skies!”
