Recap: Parents' Appreciation Day
Well Parents' Appreciation Day has come & gone. Apparently the food wasn't great, not up to the parents' standard lah. It's a good thing that several families didn't make it, because we had shortages!! Apart from that, the event went quite well, surprisingly. The planning was rather slow, then hectic at the end, so I didn't know what to expect on the day itself. I discovered one leadership key through this: Do all your worrying & rushing at the planning stage. Once the day comes, just relax & ENJOY. Note down all mistakes made, & make sure they are rectified for the next event.
We kicked off with 2 games, in which the parents just went crazy!! Some of the youth gave feedback that they never thought their parents or the adults in church were capable of such madness... Watching them have fun & let loose was a lot of fun. Haha. Daniel & Anndrea did pretty well as master of ceremony. Once the food came out of the kitchen, the performances began. Daniel & Ben Soo sang their self composed song. "Always There". Ben Soo also sang "Daughters" by John Mayer (with Jezreel & Jason), he did so well someone commented that he reminded him of John... John Denver... Haha.
I thought the speeches were amazing. Jean & Sabrina gave sweet & touching speeches. Then Samuel, Chi Wing, Brian Ong helped lighten up the mood with their humour. I felt they set the tone for the evening lah. Jason, on work & holiday back here in Malaysia after 9 months in London, spoke about being away from family & understanding the weight of a parent's responsibility. Finally I took the stage, addressing the parents as youth leader. All those that spoke before me really gave me confidence, considering that it's my first time addressing the church from a pulpit (well, half of the church anyway). I think I did pretty well. Sadly, Joseph didn't bother to get a second tape, so he recorded only half of my speech. Sad sad... We ended by getting all the families together, I prayed for them & then we took group & family photos.
At the end of it, parents came to me to thank me for my leadership - that's how touched they were!! give me hugs some more... But honestly, for once I really felt that I didn't deserve credit at all. Credit should go to every other person who contributed to the event. It was a group effort. The kitchen staff were organized, disciplined & had good response. Ushers were great too. Everybody did their job & they did well lah. I'm proud of what the youth have done that day.
I thought the speeches were amazing. Jean & Sabrina gave sweet & touching speeches. Then Samuel, Chi Wing, Brian Ong helped lighten up the mood with their humour. I felt they set the tone for the evening lah. Jason, on work & holiday back here in Malaysia after 9 months in London, spoke about being away from family & understanding the weight of a parent's responsibility. Finally I took the stage, addressing the parents as youth leader. All those that spoke before me really gave me confidence, considering that it's my first time addressing the church from a pulpit (well, half of the church anyway). I think I did pretty well. Sadly, Joseph didn't bother to get a second tape, so he recorded only half of my speech. Sad sad... We ended by getting all the families together, I prayed for them & then we took group & family photos.
At the end of it, parents came to me to thank me for my leadership - that's how touched they were!! give me hugs some more... But honestly, for once I really felt that I didn't deserve credit at all. Credit should go to every other person who contributed to the event. It was a group effort. The kitchen staff were organized, disciplined & had good response. Ushers were great too. Everybody did their job & they did well lah. I'm proud of what the youth have done that day.
I believe this event will be a great starting point for partnership between parents & youth workers to better serve the youths - which only means better things are ahead...
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