Suva children enjoy fun and fellowship — For a whole week in May, Motusa Methodist church in Suva echoed to the sound of happy children’s voices. What better way to spend the school break than to take part in quizzes, races and games, meet a local sporting hero and receive a new book?
More than 550 children from eight local churches participated in the KidsGames organised by the Bible Society in the South Pacific in collaboration with the Bible Society in Australia (New South Wales), Sports Wave, Scripture Union and local churches. The event started on a high note: the official opening was performed by Waisale Serevi, a local rugby hero.
“Serevi signed all their autographs and the kids were so excited because most of them had never seen their hero in person before,” says KidsGames President Melaia Tagi.
Throughout the week, energetic competitions were combined with quieter activities and times of sharing and reflection. Each participant received one of the books in the Learning About series (see below): Learning about God, Learning about Jesus, Learning about the Bible and Learning about Prayer.
“Some of the children were so interested in the books that they spent most of their time the following day just reading them! Altogether, 30 children gave their lives to the Lord,” reported Seremaia Rareba, the Society’s Mission Officer.
Following a march through Suva led by the Salvation Army band, KidsGames was officially closed by Bible Society General Secretary Solomone Duru.
The Learning About series is part of a major three-year project by the Bible Society in the South Pacific entitled Kingdom Kidz which aims to bring God’s Word to the region’s children in an attractive format using language they can understand. It includes producing translations of My First Handy Bible in Fijian, Bislama, Tongan and Tahitian and of the Learning About series in Fijian, Samoan, Fiji Hindi, Bislama and Tongan. There are also plans to produce the Lion Children’s Bible in Fijian and Tongan and the Lion Graphic Bible in Fijian and Bislama.
|
