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By Kafilat Akinwunmi
Impressive. That would be an apt word to describe the grand Children’s Day celebration at the Breakthrough Parish New Testament Assembly, Agege, Lagos. The event was held on Saturday May 27 2023, when the Children’s Day was celebrated across the country and all over the world.
On that day, the church organised a spectacular celebration for the children
Mrs Olusola Keshinro, also known as Mummy Kesh, Head of the Children Department of the church was the chief host and organiser of the event.
It was a great event that took place inside the church between 11am and 4pm where the young minds enjoyed themselves and had great fun. There was a massive stage built for the event, which was open to everyone.
It started with an opening prayer, followed by a massive show led by a D.J. The long music and dance session left the audience enthralled. It was followed by a short but impactful speech by the chief host, Mrs Keshinro, who nourished the young minds with her words. The speech was followed by a grand performance from the drama group.
The celebration went a notch higher when the kids began their various games and competitions, including eggs and spoon race, gele tying competition and others.
But the biggest surprise of the day was yet to come. And the children, teenagers and even the adults gathered there had no hint of what they were going to see. Suddenly, the MC announced the arrival of a clown into the church premises. The children and even the adults had massive fun laughing at the antics of the clown.
Speaking with the reporter, Mrs Keshinro explained that she always wanted to make kids happy, stating that she was overjoyed to be of help to the future leaders. According to her, the reason for the event was to make the children happy.
Said she: “I’m someone who is really passionate about children. I love it when children are happy. So last year, I just said, what do I do to make them happy since some of them don’t have the opportunity, maybe because their parents don’t have time or money to take them to fun fairs, amusement parks and others? I just decided that I should make the children in this parish happy. So we had the entertainers coming, unlike before when we just did it in-house and shared biscuits. And they have roles to play on the Sunday of that Children’s Day week. We got the bouncy castle, the clown and the entertainers and it was fun.
“What was more surprising is that children in the community have been coming in for the programme when we least expected. My teachers came to meet me and asked if they should send the kids out and I said they should leave them to enjoy the party as well, that we would share whatever we had. In fact, it got to a stage that the meat finished and they were still asking for it like that. That is to tell us how high the poverty rate in this country is and how hungry so many children are. So I decided to cater for more children. I catered for 60 to 70 children and most of the children are not from the church.
“It is also a means of evangelising, because some children who happened to come by during last year’s children day celebration ended up worshiping with us alongside their mum and aunt. Next year, I plan taking it out of the church, making it bigger because this place can’t take up to 200 kids. I want a secured environment and there are people who are also interested in what we’re doing and they are proud of me.”
The parish pastor, Pastor Olutuase Rufus, said he was always interested in building and creating a sense of socialisation among kids. He noted that celebrating the children would help them to know that they are a relevant part of the society.
His words: “As a church, we recognise the very critical role children play in the society, because on their shoulders lies the future of the society. And what motivates us is to celebrate these children so that they can have a sense of belonging and so that they can also have that mind-set that they are relevant in the society. We organised this programme to bring the children together to have some fun. The general saying is, ‘all work without play makes Jack a dull boy.’ We just wanted to create a platform for them to have fun, to know one another. It is an opportunity for them to meet other friends from other churches, because this is not just a programme for this church alone; we also invite other children to come enjoy. In the course of the programme, we want to instil morals to the children and that’s why we also did a film show for them to look at some life situations being played out in the drama. We wanted to also teach them How to become what God has ordained them to be in life.”
An official of the church, Deaconess Osunkeye also appreciated the kids. She charged them to be obedient at all time.
Another teacher in the church, Mrs Oluwabunmi Aderinto said she was happy at the kids’ celebration. “I feel fulfilled and I feel happy that we have a brighter tomorrow, knowing that this celebration is a means of motivation that draws the kids closer to God. My advice to the kids is to be obedient and parents should also create time for their children,” she said.
At the end of the programme, the children left the venue in a happy mood, their faces radiating sheer joy. Many of the attendees described the programme as a huge success and one to remember.
