BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MANY churches closed their doors last night (Feb. 1) and ushered their respective busloads to Sandy Point’s new Recreation Ground to join the Unique Touch Christian Centre in celebrating the grand opening and musical gala of the 10th Annual Hosanna Festival.
The week-long gospel event, which started as a small community project, has evolved over the years into the largest gospel event in the Federation and features local, regional and international talent. The evening’s ceremony saw a number of tributes in song, dance and poetry as the gathering thanked God for the ten years of existence and for the support received from local churches.
Following the official declaration and opening of the festival by Bishop of Faith Tabernacle Ministries Dr. Joseph Henville, the programme featured worship teams from the Faith Tabernacle Churches and the New Birth Gospel Tabernacle as the joint congregations sang collective praises unto God.
Founder of Hosanna Ministries Pastor Clive Saunders told SKNVibes that he was very pleased with the start of the event and stressed that the 10-year milestone is symbolic as it represents that “little is much when God is in it”.
“We started very small and it’s good to see Hosanna grow to such a big event that so many persons all across the region look forward to being a part of it. I am pleased that we are able to attract hundreds of young people from all over St. Kitts-Nevis to showcase their talent, an opportunity that Hosanna intends to continue providing.”
Director of Youth Geoffrey Hanley echoed the sentiments of Saunders adding that Hosanna allows young people an avenue to channel positive energy through “spiritual uplifting”. He stated that the gospel event is an ideal instrument of change which has been and will continue to challenge youth to live for positive lives. He also indicated that “these are the things that we need to do among our youth to show them that there are alternatives; that they can be a part of something positive rather than allowing themselves to fall to the crime and violence like we hear so often that our young people are engaged in”.
In giving his feature address, Parliamentary Representative for Constituency #5 Hon. Shawn Richards said, “Hosanna signifies that the young people in particular who are people blamed for a lot of the negative things in society, are out there doing positive things not only in terms of the religious aspect but also in the administrative and organizational areas of the gospel event.
Richards said the commitment of the nation’s youth to continue such religious traditions and organize gospel festivals is a clear sign that there is still hope for youth not only in the Sandy Point area but also in the nation at large.
The gospel event continues tonight (Feb. 2) with its Youth Festival, a concert organizers anticipate would be “one of the biggest and best”. It begins at 7:15 and would feature youth bands including Proclaim Gospel Band, Nu Nation Band, Tehilla, Tifara and Kingdom Singers.
