by Elisha Salandanan & Rowena Pagtakhan

Did you ever get a candy cane treat during Christmas? FBCV members and visitors did! It was more than a treat for our sweet tooth.  It was a blessing of the true meaning of Christmas by FBCV’s Faith Kids presentation entitled “Candy Cane Lane, A Recipe for Life” during four performances last December 10, 11, 17 and 18.  We learned that the candy cane symbolizes Jesus in so many ways.  Aside from the letter “J” for Jesus, the shape also looks like a  shepherd’s staff and reminds us that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (Joh. 10:11). The white represents the purity of Christ.  The red stripes remind us of  the blood that was shed for us at Calvary so that we can be forgiven of our sins.

The musical was opened with a greeting by our main character, Candy Cane Jane (portrayed by  Kaisa Edano).  She took everyone on a journey to the sweetest of all streets – the Candy Cane Lane.   There she introduced Marsha (Jaylyn Advincula/Lauren Calica), Mark (Gab Lucas/Nathan Sanchez) and Mindy (Jayme Advincula/Hailey Ambrosio) to the spunky Ms. Ginger (Cynthia Arenas), who once had a hungry heart but found the secret life recipe – Faith, Hope and Love.   They met Baby Bob (Erick Sioson), our comedic character that gave so much laugh.   We learned that we have to feed our bodies with spiritual food (by reading God’s word-the Bible) so we do not stay spiritually immature.    Casey (Joel/Joshuelle Alcaraz), our Glory Bound Express train conductor emphasized to train up a child in the way of the Lord and to spread that learning by lending a hand to others.   Candy Cane Jane got a big help from the Christmas Candy Kids (other members of Faith Kids) for solo parts and narration, while the older kids performed choreographed dances with their beautiful and colorful costumes. Thanks to our junior dance instructors, Mico and Kristen Arenas.  The siblings’ mom was played endearly by our very own Elisha Salandanan.    How can we forget our littlest of characters, who made the nativity scene the cutest one ever!

At the end for the musical Pastor Reuel gave a gospel presentation and shared that the letter “J” can also represent Judge when Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats (Mat. 25:32) and we need to be ready putting our faith in Jesus as our savior.  We are very thankful to the Lord for His guidance and strength, and for all those who supported us in prayers and in any way to make this event a success. We are also grateful that we were able to raise $1,000 which we collected during the last performance to help out with the Cagayan De Oro disaster relief fund. More treats on the way as the Faith Kids prepare for more performances.  Please continue to pray for us.  To God be the glory!