It was fun, glitz and glamour at The Breath of Life Youth Church in Lagos State, which clocked three in December.
The event featured ministrations and diverse performances including, rap; singing; chant; spoken words and dance; playing of the drum set; key board and guitar, as well as other musical instruments, which spiced up the occasion. It was held at the church hall Obanikoro, Lagos State.
Guests came elegantly dressed and danced to their hearts’ delight, even as the master of ceremony ensured there was no dull moments.
The youths displayed lots of talents, while some distinguished ones were given awards in recognition of their contributions to the growth and development of the church, the academia and the society at large.
The awards presented to the deserving youths included “academic excellence award”; “vocalist of the year award”; “musician of the year award”; “evangelist award; “most promising youth of the year award”; “best dressed award” and “leadership award”.
While commending the winners, the Youth Church Pastor, Temitope Odebiyi, said all nominees were those who had shown commitment to the service of the church over the years. She said: “People were nominated in each award category, but the winners got the award. Every nominee deserves the award, but there must be a winner.
“These people have been committed with their time, ideas, money and innovation in all areas and this is why we decided to reward them. The award is to encourage and charge them to forge forward.”
She was of the view that the church has contributed to national development of the main church and societry at large by creating an enabling environment where the strength of the youths can be harnessed.
While stating that the church has several events and programmes that help to develop the youths, including youth empowerment programmes and training, she said the its musical and handworks trainings were also aimed at equipping the young to make money, fend for themselves and contribute to the national development.
“Our goal is soul wining and our mission is to empower the youths to make an impact in their lives. As a Youth church, we discovered that young people are energetic, vibrant and strong and this is why we decided to create an environment where we can enhance the strength of this young people to make an impact in the society. This is one of the things that gave birth to the youth church three years ago.
“We often times bring young people together to train them on several skills, including employment skills, to make our graduates employable. This is a major skill that graduates lack, they need it and they are not taught in school. We also train youths in what we call ‘imagine skill’, we teach them etiquette and we train them in respect to new technology. All of these and more are what we do to impact our society as a youth church,” she said.
She urged youths to ‘start local but think global’, even if there are no resources.
“Youths must learn to think big and the sky will be their starting point.”
On the part of the award she received, she said she feels great, noting that leadership has to do with service.
She described the award as a challenge, saying she has to keep on with the standard.
One of the award recipients, Victor Marcus who won the Evangelist Award, said he felt excited about the award, saying it means a lot to him.
“I feel very excited on this award, even though I was not expecting to be rewarded. I just did my duty in the church as required. This award means so much to me, it is a privilege to be awarded alongside others and I hold it in high regard because it is a thing of joy to me,” he said. He urged youths to be focused on whatever they do.
Another award recipient, a singer and first-class student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Precious Bassey, who won the Academic Award and Vocalist of the Year Award, said she felt privileged and humbled to have received two awards.
“I don’t know what I did differently, but I think it is God’s Grace.” According to her, youths are going through challenges because they go to church and not Jesus.
“Most people think Christianity is about going to church and I think we have to uplift our sight from going to church alone, but also meeting with Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him.
“This award signifies a charcoal under a pot that needs more fire, the standard must not drop, God needs to help me and I also need to put more work to ensure that next year, I won’t be the only one receiving the award, many others will be receiving too,” she said.