NASSAU, The Bahamas – Primary, junior and senior high school students wowed the audience with their musical and artistic talents during the Festival of Carols, December 5, 2018 at the Church of God of Prophecy, East Street Tabernacle.
The hundreds of students, teachers, school administrators, Ministry of Education (MOE) executives and officials, parents and curious onlookers in the congregation received the performances with thunderous applauds and standing ovations.
The annual event put on by the MOE featured a skit, choral speaking, solo and group selections, prayers, and scripture readings. Some of the more popular performances included the welcome by Albury Sayles Primary school, a musical selection by Labron Minnis of the Salvation Army Erin School for the Blind, a combined choir selection entitled ‘Sing Gloria, Sing Noel,’ a solo by Aaliyah Moss of C.I. Gibson Senior High school, a guitar selection by H. O. Nash Jr. High School and Destin Pratt’s solo ‘Jesus You’re the Centre of My Joy’.
The costumes, the colorful decorations, the lyrics and music all evoked a feeling of Christmas. The theme for the event was “Jesus, Born to Save.”
Marcellus Taylor, Director of Education, who represented the Hon. Jeffrey Lloyd, Minister, acknowledged the students’ melodious harmonies, blended voices and dramatic presentations.
“Through the students’ voices, instruments and presentations we get an age-old message, a timeless message: a message that doesn’t have an expiry date. It is not only sufficient for the students to deliver the message, it is important for us to extract from the message the core points that we should take, use, digest and make a part of our lives,” he said.
Mr. Taylor noted that many lessons emanate from the Christmas story. Some of which include the following: Mary’s obedience and trust in God; the setting of Jesus’ birth, not in a palace, but in a stable among animals; and expressing our gratitude towards God, family and friends.
The Director encouraged those present to cherish the time with family and friends, comfort and pray for families who have lost loved ones and those whose lives are not as prosperous as theirs.
He urged the audience to hold fast to the message that “Jesus was born to save.”
