Earlier this month, Harvest Kidz held their annual Big Day event to celebrate Children’s Day. Children came from all across the land to have fun and to activate the dreams God has given them.
When it comes to high energy, nothing emits it more than a throng of excited children. They came by the bus loads, from the east, west and north of Singapore, many attired in sporting gear, steadily filling up Hall 606 at Suntec Convention Level 6, joining the children and parents who had come on their own. They were all excited to attend this year’s Children’s Day event held by Harvest Kidz on 7 October
The whole hall was filled to overflowing, even before the official start time of 11am. More chairs had to be brought to the front of the stage for children under 5 years and many adults gave their seats to the older children and lined the aisles instead. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement as all 3,374 attendees waited for the programme to begin.
The theme of the event was “An Extraordinary Sports Fest”, and fittingly, things kicked off with a rousing cheer competition between the “Power Star” team and the “Mighty Star” team. Teacher Adrian Cheung then led the children in warm up exercises before each team competed in various games.
The Endurance Test saw four competitors hold up dumbbells while another two focused on dribbling balls in the Basketball Dribble contest. Team Power Star won both contests to the delighted roar of their teammates.
Team Mighty Star struck back in the Giant Ball and Balloon Volley competitions. In the Balloon Volley, each group had to send as many balloons as they could to the opposing side within a time limit. Team Mighty Star’s concerted paid off as most of the balloons landed up on the opposition’s side (children wanting to hold on to the balloons notwithstanding).
Next up was a magic show from Eccentric Magic & Circus. The magician began by swallowing a very long balloon which wowed the crowd. After performing some nifty juggling and sleight of hand tricks, he came to the highlight of the show: he placed himself inside a large balloon. There was silence in the audience as they watched him shrink into the balloon until even his feet seemed to disappear. Gasps rang out when his head finally popped out, followed by the rest of his body. “Do not try this at home!” the magician reminded the young audience as he took a bow and left the stage to raucous applause.
ACTIVATING THEIR GOD-GIVEN DREAMS
The Harvest Kidz worship team took the stage and launched into two power-packed praise songs: ‘Jesus, You’re My Super-Hero’ and ‘Go Crazy For You’. With all the energy that only children can generate directed towards Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit was immediately felt as hands went up in worship all over the hall.
In the worship-anointed atmosphere, Pastor Lynn Tan shared how God makes dreams; not the ones we have when we go to sleep, but dreams of being champions in sport or other occupations. Pastor Lynn said her dream was to become a lawyer and she eventually graduated from law school. God made her dream real, and now, not only can she tell people about the right things to do, but she can also tell others about how God makes our dreams come true. She emphasised: “God is our dream maker. God loves us so much. He has a special plan for every single one of us”.
Next, zone supervisor Johann Sim demonstrated how what it looks like to act on one’s God-given dreams. He wound up a mechanical duck and placed it in a little pool. The duck immediately paddled in the water. He told the young ones that, in the same way the potential energy stored in the duck is discharged in the water, they can release the potential God has placed inside each of them by acting on it. By doing so, every child can move towards realising his dream.
He then called on two Harvest Kidz members, Travis and Austin Tan, to share their aspirations and how they were making their dreams real in dance.
With somersaults and backflips, the two brothers bounded up on the stage. Their entrance was so dramatic, every eye in the room was fixed on them. As they talked about their experience in their father’s dance studio from the age of four and about the competitions they enter and what their life goals are, many of the little faces glowed with inspiration and admiration. When the brothers demonstrated their street-dancing skills, there was loud applause from all corners of the hall.
Teacher Connie Yong brought the programme to a close with a short story on how a champion never quits. “No matter how small, how big or how fast you are, a champion is a champion because champions never quit,” she said. “Your dream can come true if you never give up.”
RESPONDING TO JESUS
On that note, Pastor Eileen Toh came forward to pray for all the children. She encouraged them to never give up because Jesus loves them and believes in them. She told them about a child whose dream was simply to be kind to others and to love himself. The love of Jesus came on him in a powerful way and assured him that with God’s love for him, he could love others and love himself.
Pastor Eileen highlighted the promise in Jeremiah 1:5: “God knew you even before you were born in your mother’s womb. He already knew you, and you have a special gift. Every one of us here has been given something special. As you continue to love God and release your potential, you will find your dreams coming true.”
When Pastor Eileen gave the altar call, many hands were raised in response to the love of Jesus. There was a hush even as the worship team sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ in the background. Not a single child cried or fussed during the altar call.
At the end of the event, each child was given a goodie bag. There was also an opportunity to collect more gifts and prizes when Harvest Kidz announced their upcoming programmes. As the children filed out of the hall, their happy chatter flowed all the way to the bus pick up point on the ground floor. The work of the staff and volunteers was impeccable in moving so many people, particularly the children. Choo Meiwen, a bus ministry volunteer who guided the children, said that the extraordinary turnout was the result of several weekends of spreading the word about the Big Day, and following up with phone calls and text messages.
When asked what he liked about the Children’s Day celebration, Thaddeus Chia, 6, said, “I liked the magic show.” When asked if he would like to come back again, he shyly gave a thumbs up.
It was a meaningful day of fun that saw 1,140 little ones give their hearts to Jesus. All glory to God!
