That was a good Friday

Good Friday saw the youth day of the Lanivet Easter Extravaganza take the village by storm. Kernowyouth's Phil Hadley went along to sample the action...

Lanivet is the village at the centre of Cornwall. In fact a stone in the churchyard marks the spot. And just over the road from the church, in the primary school playground, was the venue for the first part of the five hour youth event. It kicked off at 5pm with some games and activities in the yard.

There were competitions using the Quad Box for skateboarders, bladers, and BMXers. Even a couple of young dudes on scooters had a go! A blader called Nathan walked away with the top marks overall and an Easter Egg for his crowd pleasing aerial acrobatics.

There was also a plank challenge where a team of youngsters had to move themselves across the playground without touching the floor. Inside the Marquee on the village green was a breakdance competition. At one point there must have been about 80 young people taking part or spectating at this village event.

The young people were amply fed burgers and hot dogs at a free barbeque. In fact the whole event was free. It had been put on by Lanivet Methodist Church and Lanivet Parish Church and had gained sponsorship from several local businesses.

Then at dusk there was a Good Friday procession starting from the Parish Church, visiting various parts of the village before ending up at the Marquee for the Main Event. The procession was led by the Rev Steve Wild who read Bible passages telling the story and teaching of Jesus death on the cross. Various local people then prayed at each station. At one point the group burst into song with the old Easter hymn "When I survey the wondrous cross". Many of the people on the procession carried candles.

The Main Event was in the Marquee and was led by the EPIC group from Launceston under the direction of the Rev Steve Emery-Wright. The EPIC band launched the evening with their version of the classic surfing tune "Wipeout" before going into a number of worship songs. There were video clips from Finding Nemo and Gladiator. Sam and Dave performed a sketch of two guys chatting in a lift. Charlotte shared what she had been doing in Kenya over the last six months, before Rev Steve told the story of the Ragman. There was also a video clip from the Jesus video showing the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

The youngsters of Lanivet seemed to appreciate their day. Of those who completed the feedback form at the end of it 94% said they'd go to a similar event, 33% were interested in doing a course finding out about Christianity and 28% were interested in joining the Youth Club. One wonders whether the response from the adult events all through the week was as good as this!

It was great to see the Christians of a small village putting a lot of time and effort into presenting Jesus out in the community to the youth of the village. It's grassroots stirrings like this that will lead to revival in a new generation. It was certainly a good Friday.

Click on the photo gallery button at the top left hand corner of this page to see more of the action