On 29 January 2022, Pastor Herbert invited all the youth to an exclusive 'Pattie and pineapple juice' event at Coventry Central Adventist church.
For many people, the period with the numerous lockdowns has been challenging until this year. Not being able to meet up face to face has left many people feeling isolated and out of touch. The situation has weighed heavily upon our youth.
The evening began with prayer. After which, Herbert engaged the young people in a couple of curious ice breakers, which helped the attendees get to know each other better. The first was 'find the owner of the shoe'. Each youth had to remove their left shoe and place it in a box. (Some of the young people were very embarrassed to take off their shoes, but they all participated.) Once everyone had placed their shoe in the box, Herbert gave them a few seconds to pick a shoe from the crate and find the owner of the shoe. They then had to find out three things about the shoe owner. Even though it was a challenge for many to release their shoe and take up someone else's, they took the challenge. The interaction was fun, and they all shared information about themselves, which drew them all closer together.
Mthu Mesako, the games master, organised many old school social games, which generated memories and much laughter. Also included in the night's programme was a few moments of gospel karaoke whereby the youth had the opportunity to showcase their voice as they sang gospel songs which helped emphasise that Jesus gives us a song. Participants were thrilled as they received prizes for their efforts.
The colour scheme of the 'Pattie and pineapple juice' event was blue. So, it was only fitting that each person wearing blue showed off their blue outfit to the rest of the youth on a makeshift catwalk. While many contestants were fighting to win the award for best dressed, Takunda won the best blue outfit, which featured a Puma tracksuit, Puma T-shirt, Puma trainers, and even Puma socks. Along with this award, he also secured himself a free paintballing ticket.
Church minister, Pastor Herbert, also took time to speak to the youth, encouraging them to hold on to Jesus Christ, and if they have not given their lives to Him, now is the time. He then offered a prayer over them.
What also made the night unforgettable was the refreshments served up by their church pastor and Ann-Marie, his wife. The refreshments consisted of patties, pineapple juice and some other finger-licking delicacies. The food received a 5-star rating from the young people.
The evening event concluded with prayer, and all the youth were allowed to give a 45-second speech about how they found the event.
This event brought people from Henley Green, Coventry North and Coventry Central churches. All attendees enjoyed the night, and, more importantly, they were glad to have come back together after the separation since the first lockdown. The event's impact was so wide-reaching that it caught the attention of many of the adults and parents in the church who began speaking about it with joy even though they were not there.
