Ah life jacket foh Gospel Fest

Somewhere in one ah de Newspapers last week ah read way Gospel Fest is losing its impact, ah was kind ah surprised. Nevertheless, de man who bin Taylor-in dis outfit, has done ah great job cutting cloth, stitching pants, sewing on buttons, hem-in skirts etc. It is de biggest Fest thru-out SVG, in terms ah “youth expression of talent foh Christ”, ah month ah zonal preliminaries and shows taking place all over SVG speak volumes. In addition Gospel Fest has become de Life Support foh de Nine Mornings, which by de way, is losing its focus as well.{{more}} Ninety percent ah all de talent displayed at Nine Mornings comes out ah Gospel Fest: de Devotions, de dances, de music, de drama, de musical groups. One ah de come-plain dah surfacing is dat de Fest getting too Sick-allah. De ole-ah folks calling foh de Taylor to put on wes-cut and jacket to tighten up de outfit! Dey bitching over stage-craft from some ah de Artiste, too much body movement, dey fraid foh de free-up yo bam-bam ting dah surfacing. Personally ah ha no problem wid dat! Is young people we dealing wid and if dat is de way dey choose to Glorify de Lord, den let de Lord be de Judge. King David was dancing in de street foh de Lord, but his wife got jealous, she mek big noise wid him say how he dey pon street joy-rating and wine-in-up wid women (my words eh). Some ah we Christians love to play most righteous when dealing wid young people. We believe nobody watching us when we dey scoping dirty movies pon TV, getting I-dare?? Christianity is wuking wonders foh dem youths and I am curious to see de figures related to Christian youths involved in criminal activities. Ah bet it is close to zero percent.

Be all ah dat as it May, if we must continue holding Gospel Fest and Nine Mornings, greater emphasis must be placed on de number ah Souls won foh Christ. Dey’s lickle or no talk bout dat, maybe we need to bring in ah clothes Designer, ah Seamstress or two and so on, wid experience in Taylor-in. It is now imperative dat all Shows, whether in de country or town, be Designed and Taylor’d to wind-up or wind-down wid an Appeal or Altar Call foh Converts to “come forward”! We can’t afford to bring dem hundred ah Youths so close to winning dem over to God and mek dem slip way go back to meet Satan!.

RECORDINGS! RECORDINGS!

One ah de shortcomings ah Gospel Fest is dat it’s becoming just another “ Show Committee”. Like all de others, be it CDC, Nine Morning, de Blues Fest, dey only show case; dey show no interest or do nothing in de development ah de talent. I listened to some great performances at de Gospel Fest Grand Finale over de last weekend, sadly dey’s no tangible reward foh de large number ah young Artistes to look forward to, apart from ah medal. Just like de Kaisos and de Pan and de Mas at Carnival, everything is laid to rest right dey at Victoria Park until de nex year.

De young Artistes need to hear and see demselves pon CD’s, DVD’s and Videos. Talent is what de Lord gave dem, yes to Glorify Him but also to mek ah living too. And it would help ah great deal if at de end ah de Fest, dey produce ah couple CD’s or DVD’s, highlighting most, if not all ah de top Artiste. SVG Broadcasting Corp is opening ah-nah-dah FM Gospel Radio Station, ah one-dah full opportunity foh young and ole Gospelites to have dey music played and eared/aired, but if dey’s no recording how will dat ever happen.

Ah not going to knock anybody, except to say dat de Gospel Festival needs to be revisited, its is bordering stagnation, lacks incentive, and most of all de real purpose, which should be to Glorify God and win Souls foh de Kingdom, is not pursued vigorously enough. So ah support de concerns ah some ah young Christians who raised dem in de Newspapers. Whatever all yuh do, nah mash it up!

READY TO TUN MAN TIGER

Ah hear dat in Venezuela ah female Judge made ah ruling dat didn’t blend wid Who-go Shove-his vices, and before she could leave de Court House, de military surrounded de building and lock up everybody wuking dey. Ah got to read what ah write more carefully now, because ah can’t trust dem here in SVG anymore. Ole people say “ah man is no different dan de company dah he does keep”. Don’t forget Dug-he De freitas wake up one morning to find SSU and Black Squad surrounded his home and Radio Station looking foh ah piece ah paper. Ah piece ah Paper!

Strange enough, Lie-Za was telling me ah story she RED in de Royal Reader, way ah family was living near de jungle among ah lot ah wild animals, dangerous Tigers in particular. So de father gave his son ah club and told him, “don’t mess wid dem wild Tigers, even de baby cubs, no matter how tame an aint-no-saint dey look”. He explained to de lickle youth-man dat even as ah baby, de Baby Tiger would have “tasted blood” thru de meat dey feed pon, and de day dey “ Tun Man Tiger” dey will eat human beings, including himself. Yuh know de lickle boy found ah lovely lickle “ Baby Tiger, and he still carry it home and raised it as his pet. One day after it “ Tun Man Tiger” de lickle boy far-dah was in his hammock reading and he felt dis Man Tiger licking his hands, but ruffah dan usual, he kept feeling ah tickling pain. De Man Tiger had opened up an “ Ole Sore” he had on his hand and was slowly draining his blood. In ah very calm and controlled voice, he carefully instructed de servant to bring de shot-gun and do what was necessary. So even dah nice, pretty, baby tiger cub dah “Tun Man Tiger”, was stopped! After Lie-Za done tell me her Nansi story, she dey putting question to me, asking if wid all dis fren-fren social-is-him ting going on among de Tigers Chavez, Ortago, Castro and others, if ah think dah our Baby Tiger from SVG ready to “Tun Man Tiger”? Ah tell her dat when de SSU and Black Squad surround she house, she must ask dem dat. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.