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FLASHES of vibrant lights and the aroma of flavourful dishes drew in a large crowd to the Indian School Bahrain’s Jashanmal Auditorium in Isa Town to commemorate The Full Gospel Church of Philadelphia’s 30th anniversary in Bahrain.
Merry visitors crowded around the food stalls which featured delicious dishes from around the world.
Guests experienced delicious stewed dumplings known as ‘momo’ with chilli sauce, or samosas and bright orange jalebis from the Punjabi stall.
The Pakistani stall offered zesty chaat, kebabs and biryani and the African stall featured colourful traditional dishes from countries including Cameroon and Nigeria.
The Kerala stall provided a warm and hearty chicken stew and the Karnataka stand had rice with a spicy fried fish curry. The sweet aroma of barbeque chicken from the Philippines was mouth-watering too and complemented the sweet rice cakes perfectly.
If there was one thing that was for certain, it was that nobody would leave the event hungry.
A magnificent red carpet led guests into a dazzling auditorium filled with bursts of colour in every direction, which embraced the sentiments of the evening – blessings and joy.
Outside, smiles were abundant and many visitors enjoyed showing off their own traditional dancing skills as a circle formed next to the stalls before the programme commenced.
Once inside the auditorium, the event opened with the National Anthem of Bahrain. The programme showcased vivid garb and brilliant performances from across the globe representing the multi-cultural flavour of the congregation and the kingdom’s expat community. It included nine performances depicting Sri Lankan, Tamilian, Keralite, Filipino, Nepali, African, Pakistani and Kannada arts and culture.
Adliya resident Fiona Prem Nair, 39, event secretary and administrator, said: “The event pulled out the talents of every cultural group towards a common goal and brought everyone together as one.
“We have more than 15 pastors and everyone made a contribution. We have 11 nationalities and 14 language groups attending the church. As a result there were so many people that didn’t know each other until now and it was great to see people working together in unity.”
There were many honoured guest speakers that were presented by senior pastor Dr Koshy Mathew and pastor Samuel Jacob, including the Minister of Information Affairs, Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi, church elder Pastor Lonen George, the Gulf Council for Foreign Relations chairman Dr Mansoor Al Arayedh, businessman Nasser Al Arayedh and Al Hilal Group general manager Geoff Milne.
So how does a Gospel church that started in Philadelphia make its way to the Arab world?
While the history of The Full Gospel Church of Philadelphia dates back to 1977, it all started in Bahrain with a small prayer fellowship at the Juffair Chapel started by Chaplain Stan and his wife, Jerry, from the United States.
At that time, there were only six worshippers. In addition to the prayer fellowship, they also started a bible study class in their home in Mina Salman. After the couple left, Pastor Vic Rosado, who implemented a musical movement, led the congregation. It was then taken over by Pastor George followed by Pastor Bony Periera.
Pastor Vic returned once again when Pastor Bony left for Canada and served from 1991-1996. The church flourished during these years and drew many different nationalities in, including worshippers from Pakistan, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, the UK and the US. With the growing number of people from different parts of the world, Pastor Vic created different language groups and appointed leaders to the groups to allow worshipers to have the full experience in their own dialects.
UK Pastor Ron Grayson, who was compassionate and vigorous, led the church from 1997-2004 with the assistance of his wife, Pauline. Together, they worked day and night to help their community.
When they returned to the UK in 2004, the current president and senior pastor, Rev Dr Koshy took over the reins.
His goal is to see people grow spiritually and meet the needs of a multi-cultural congregation, encouraging people from different communities and countries to worship as a united front.
Organisation for this scale of event took some careful planning and consideration. The board started planning at the end of last September and managed to get everything in order within three months. Arranging the cultural event for the first time was exciting, but also presented its own unique set of challenges.
“There were challenges, but we overcame them. For me, one challenge was to strike a balance between home and the work of the event. Also, when you are working with so many nationalities, you have to make sure you don’t offend anyone and that everyone receives due respect and credit,” said Fiona.
All the participants and many aspects of the event involved church members.
“Everything was done in-house and talent from within the church from the creative designs to the carpentry. We also had a media team as well as a medical room with nurses within the church for any emergencies during the event,” said Fiona.
She went on to describe what it was like to prepare for the big day. “It’s like delivering a baby for the first time. You have so many doubts, but once the baby comes along, you’re able to guide others because you’ve done it before. The joy is different, because when you deliver again, it is an accomplishment and something to feel proud of,” she said.
“While there are no past results to fall back on, seeing all the raw talent and watching the final results was great!”
Although the event marked a special anniversary, its success means the island may not have to wait another 30 years for another show. The church is hoping to attract even more attendees next time round ... watch this space for details.
* For more information on The Full Gospel Church of Philadelphia, call 17277314 or visit www.philadel.org
