For children living at the low-cost Lagoon Perdana apartments in Sunway, it’s not every day that a colouring contest is held at their place of residence. What a great way to kick off year 2018, as Bandar Sunway Gospel Centre (BSGC) visited to organize the contest for children aged four to 15 years on the Saturday evening of 20th January 2018. I believe it is no coincidence that the church is situated at the shoplots located right in front of the Lagoon Perdana flats. As Mark 12:31 says:
“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
The weather was humid as residents and BSGC members alike gathered outside the Lagoon Perdana community hall, starting the event by fellowshipping over dinner at 7pm. Under some tents set up on the grass, people of all ages ate and chatted while more guests arrived. Even residents who did not have children participating in the colouring contest were spotted at dinner, stopping by to have a meal as they arrived home from work.
Shortly after, an ice-breaker session commenced in the hall for the children. BSGC Sunday School teacher Tan Ban Chin led the session, asking questions and making banter with the kids, getting them involved in the activities as they erupted in laughter at his jokes.
Registrations continued until 8:10pm, upon which, 88 children in total have signed up. Coloured pencils, crayons and colouring pages have been distributed, and the colouring activity begins! The children got busy filling up their pages with colour. Parents sat and watched from afar. Some couldn’t help but move nearer to get a closer view of their child’s progress as they colour. One even used his mobile phone to record a video of his daughter colouring.
Some completed their colouring in no time at all, handing in their work well ahead of the 8:40pm cutoff time. Others made effort to draw the background for the characters they are colouring, adding details. Parents were asked not to obstruct the front of the hall, as magician Cephas Yap started setting up props for the next agenda.
After every child’s colouring was submitted, music started playing and the magic show began. The audience was entertained by the many tricks Cephas had up his sleeve. Oh how the kids loved it. Magic tricks offer a feast for the eyes and show that we cannot always trust what we see – or what we think we see. While the main objective of the event is to demonstrate love and care for the community, BSGC also aims to promote the English tuition they offer every Saturday afternoon at the church as a community centre. Thus, Cephas incorporated the message into his magic tricks and his puppet show thereafter, encouraging the kids to join the English tuition. Each time he asked for volunteers for the magic tricks, nearly every hand would shoot up and he would have trouble choosing. I was humbled at how genuinely appreciative the children were of everything prepared for them that night, big or small.
Then came the time for the colouring contest winners to be announced. The judge of the night was none other than BSGC member Foo Lai Ning, who said his eyes had become dizzy from selecting the winning pieces because there were just so many good ones. One by one, the first, second, third and consolation prize winners went up to the front to collect their prizes, many of them with a proud smile on their faces.
All good things must come to an end. But those who did not win any prizes did not go home empty-handed, as goodie bags and a Milo bag are distributed to each child. It is hoped that those who attend the English tuition might one day attend Sunday School as well. This evening’s event was the culmination of a collaborative effort among close to 20 BSGC members, and involved coordination with the Joint Management Body (JMB) Malaysia. Working together as the body of Christ,
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” Hebrews 10:24
*For more information about the English tuition held at 4pm-6pm, every Saturday at BSGC, 57, Jalan Lagoon Timur (9/1), Bandar Sunway, 47500 Petaling Jaya, please contact Tan Boon Hong (012-3207061) or Joyce Mow (019-2535570).
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