Harvest Kidz’ Easter celebration service saw over 1,500 people giving their hearts to Jesus.
It was an Easter to remember: the children of Harvest Kidz had a blast as they played games, listened to the good news and received healing this Easter. City Harvest Church’s Harvest Kidz department held three fun-filled services on Mar 30 and 31, welcoming over 4,000 children.
Each service started with the classic Easter tradition of egg-hunting. In groups, the children ran around unearthing hidden eggs while waiting for their friends to arrive on buses provided by the church.
Once everyone settled down, the event began with a magic show that captivated both children and parents alike. Magician Markson made a life bird disappear, multiple one small ball into many in a second, and hid paper money inside a fresh, uncut lemon. The children watched in wide-eyed wonder at his series of acts.
When the worship team made their way to the stage, the children were all ready to praise God. For this writer, it was a joy watching them dancing with their friends, following the worship leaders’ moves. Parents were holding their children’ hands and dancing with them, some even jumping together with excitement.
The atmosphere changed when worship began. The children raised their hands to Jesus; some teared when they sang “Jesus Loves Me” while others had a smile on their face.
Harvest Kidz’ pastor, Eileen Toh, stepped onto the stage to pray: “Jesus loves us. We know that He is here to care for us and no matter what had happened, He is here to save and receive us.” The children agreed in a chorus of “Amen”.
WHAT DOES “EGG” MEAN?
Three different Harvest Kids teachers told stories based the acronym “EGG”.
“E” stands for “Exchange”. In the first Bible story, the children learned about the word “exchange” and its meaning. Most people want to exchange what they have for things that are bigger and better. However, there is one Person who is willing to exchange His life for the bad things in humanity. He is Jesus.
The Bible said that Jesus came to take away sickness and exchange it with healing. He went to the Cross for all the sadness and replaced them with His joy. He replaced fear with peace, and sins with His righteousness.
The first ”G” stands for “Gift”. The second Bible story was about a little girl named Jenny. She wanted to buy an artificial pearl necklace, which cost two dollars at a supermarket. Jenny’s mother offered to give her money for doing household chores so that she could save up for the necklace. After working hard, Jenny finally collected enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny wore the necklace everywhere she went and did not want to remove it. However, her father came to her one day and asked if he could have the necklace. Jenny thought about all her efforts spent and quickly refused to hand it over. Her father smiled and left her saying that it was alright.
Her father asked the same question repeatedly for weeks and Jenny offered him other valuable things in place of her necklace. Eventually, Jenny gave in and gave the pearl necklace to her father, crying. Her father was shocked. With a smile, he gave a blue box to his daughter. Jenny found a necklace with authentic pearls inside the box.
Similarly, our Heavenly Father is a good father and He has perfect gifts for His children. He is waiting for them to give up the worthless, broken things in their lives.
The last letter “G” stands for “Good News”. Toh shared her personal story with the children.
“The good news is that Jesus died 2,000 years ago on the Cross for us. I was only six years old, but I had bad things that happened in my life. I would disobey my parents and would sometimes lie to them,” she said, “[Then] I saw a picture of Jesus on the Cross and was touched at the thought that Jesus died for me despite my sins.”
She preached that Jesus died and rose again on the third day. That was a good news because the very fact gave people everlasting life. The only thing that one must do is to invite Jesus in as a personal Savior.
Finally, Toh gave an altar call for those who wanted to receive Jesus. Parents were invited to respond to the altar call if they wanted to. Toh also asked those who were sick physically to go forward to be prayed for.
Little children responding to Jesus filled the front of the stage. They told the teachers their sickness and the teachers laid their hands on them and prayed. Those who had emotional problems put their hands on their chest while they prayed. Tears filled their eyes when the children received a warm hug from the teachers praying for them.
The presence of God was remarkably real when the pastor led the kids in prayer to repentance. As a result, 1,558 people gave their lives to Jesus that Easter.
