Over the weekend, more than 1,500 people and almost 200 volunteers filled the church for our annual Light Party. Every room was full of colour, life, fun and games. It was wonderful to see our building – the one we’d prayed for – being used to its capacity!

Our church was almost like a light atop the hill, welcoming in our community with open arms… with giant inflatable dancing toys at the entrance.

The Light Party is primarily an outreach event, designed to invite family and friends along. And one of those parents, Riverlifer Jenni, shares her experience of why her kids invited their friends along and what it meant for them as a family:

“I always want my boys to be able to have shared experiences with friends in healthy environments, and that’s what the Light Party provides. My youngest son had a small troupe of friends with him, and it was interesting to see all the things they liked to try and run around doing. Even for my other son nearing adolescence, he had a great time, and the big balls were fun!

 

“We also had another family come along that have invited another family over the years. The event sells itself. All I had to do was invite people and I can only let God do the rest.

 

“I am in such a busy phase of life parenting, and working, and trying to feel the joy myself.  But I know that nurturing our kids is a priority because they will only be physically close to us for a precious short while. It was great to have the Light Party as a place I can bring them and have fun with them.”

We want to honour and thank the 200 volunteers who gave up their time to make it such a fun and safe event! One of those is Geoff Beckitt, who stood over a BBQ for 3 hours. He writes:

“Out the back, it was quite a sight seeing several big barbecues, churning away to enable more than 1,500 sausages to be sizzled into tasty morsels and sent without haste to the hungry crowd. Despite the eagerness, the crowd was well behaved with no unruly rushes or breaches of the cue. Instead, there were lots of very happy tummies contemplating sausages, drinks, the next challenge… and a few lollies.

 

“Jesus was famous for his “crowd food” and am sure he approved of the Light Party cook-up!”