picture - Stornoway Gazette

Do you imagine a school to be a quiet and deserted place during the holidays? Not so with Stornoway Primary during the first week of August. Singing, laughing and other happy noises filled the hall and sometimes spilled out into the corridors. 20 or so children and young people plus eight adults were busy preparing “The Gospel Show” – a children´s musical depicting the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The aim of the club was to make the life of Christ relevant and meaningful to the children who were coming so that they might learn more about His love for them.

Says Elfi, one of the club´s co-ordinators: ” What I especially liked about the script is that it didn’t plunge straight into Jesus´ life and ministry. It set the scene in an old American town and then brought alive the gospel through a group of people who were travelling to tell the stories of Jesus. The gospel parts were inserted, the biblical stories being mostly narrated and acted. There is a lot of time for thought when one of the main characters cheeky little Joe asks the narrators just the kind of questions that all of us would sometimes like to ask to be better able to grasp the love our Lord Jesus has for us.” On Saturday, 8 August, at 5 pm the summer club concluded with the children going on stage in front of an audience of about 60 hearty supporters who were there to support the children and congratulate them with for all their hard work and all that they had learnt. The audience deserve a big hand themselves coming to the close of the summer club in the midst of one of the busiest weekends Stornoway has seen in years with the carnival and all the home coming events going on. All who came, fans, friends and family members, were greatly rewarded for their resilience! What talent and dedication these young people – some as young as 7 – displayed. It was quite wonderful to behold. Nobody could remain untouched. The children and all who were involved reminded us that because of all that Christ did for us on the cross we as people need to “Remember His words, remember His love”. They reminded us of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and the glorious news of His resurrection as they sang “Hope lights the darkness, the seed has been sown. Faith can move mountains and roll back the stone.” There was beautiful singing from the whole of the cast throughout the performance peaking in the final enthusiastic song: “Hallelujah, everyone sing!” which brought the Gospel show to a sweeping finish. After the well-earned din of applause had died down, the Rev. Tommy Macneil thanked cast, helpers and parents and then engaged the children in a little story which helped them to understand the significance of the cross for our lives, finishing his address with a prayer. Everybody agreed that they – children and adults alike – had had a fantastic week together. In case of the children, a look into their glowing faces sufficed to know that something very special had come to an end. To quote little Sarah at the end: “See you, next year!”