Carols by Glow-sticks – a huge success
The theme of the evening was Christmas in Africa, and Christmas was celebrated – African style.
On the evening of Sunday, 3 December, the community was invited to celebrate Christmas a little bit earlier than usual, when Randfontein Baptist Church held its annual “Carols by Glow-sticks” event.
According to Pastor Brett Smitsdorff, it was the third year they hosted the event. Many people remarked that this year’s one was the best yet.
The ushers ministry greeted people warmly as they arrived and then the evening was kicked off with the MCs doing a skit about the Three Wise Men getting lost in Africa.
“The theme of the evening was Christmas in Africa, and Christmas was celebrated – African style. People were invited to arrive dressed in their traditional dress, whether this was the traditional African dress, Indian saris or Afrikaans safari suites,” said said Pastor Brett.
The church was also decorated with a wide variety of Shweshwe African-print materials and natural wood items. Even the humble calabash was given a Christmas makeover and turned into an indigenous Christmas décor item. A large three square metre Nativity scene, hand-painted by congregation members, was displayed on the wall, and a 2,5m tall Christmas tree made of treated poles and handmade by some of the men was decorated beautifully for the evening .
The children’s and junior youth ministries did a dance as an opening item, and then the congregation was enthusiastically led by the worship team in singing Christmas Carols in different languages. The MCs also did a wonderful job of keeping the programme going with lots of creative humour interspersed throughout the evening’s activities. The senior youth later presented a dance item done to a medley of songs and ended with some drumming and traditional African dances.
Pastor Brett shared a brief message, highlighting that Christmas was about Jesus’ mission to Earth. He showed that God saw our need and sent Jesus on a rescue mission to save people from their sins and the harm that sin brings to individual lives, to families and to society.
Afterwards, the congregation was treated to some light snacks and refreshments served by the church’s hospitality team. The evening was a great success and everyone left in high spirits after lingering to chat and relax.
Pastor Brett would like to invite the community of Randfontein to the church’s Christmas Day service, which will take place on Christmas day at 8 am. There will also be a programme for children, so families are welcome to bring their children along. Randfontein Baptist Church is situated on the corner of Karee Avenue and Nartjie Street, Greenhills. They also have an active website which can be found at https://www.rbapchurch.org/.
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