"I had so much fun! It was my first time learning how to make a video presentation and I learnt a lot," ~ Anioluwa, age 7.
Twenty-five young budding writers across the Scottish Mission joined in the second year of running Miracle in the Pen creative writing workshop on the 23rd of July. This year though, with an added introduction to video recording and editing. The workshop catered for ages 7-16 but split into two groups and was presented on Zoom by the Scottish Mission Children’s Ministries Department in collaboration with Divina Reynolds and her team, Brenda Archibong and Darell Phillip from Creative Spiritual Insights Ministry in the South England Conference.
The younger group, ages 7-11, spent the morning learning more about creative writing - what a good story requires, how to write a devotional or reflection, and fictional stories with a moral or spiritual message. The teens, ages 12-16, were introduced to video recording and editing with the aim of encouraging them to create their own recordings of their written stories, devotionals or reflections.
“The training was really good and exciting. I enjoyed the part of the video the most. I love learning how to edit and enjoyed listening to other stories. Learned more about writing. I love writing and want to write more stories so that other children will learn more about God.” ~ Joakim, age 8.
“It was really good, and I enjoyed it. I am happy to write a devotional creatively for the first time. I am so proud of myself because I did not know I could use my personal experience to write that way. Thank you, Mrs Cedrene, for organizing it." ~ KK, age 11.
“It helped me a lot. I loved the writing session but enjoyed the video editing the most. I'm grateful for this training as we learned many skills I can use during my life. I also gained more confidence and praise the Lord for everything.” ~ Jared, age 10.
“I love the process. I wish we could have another one again soon. I am happy I was able to write about my experience. It was the first I would write a devotional. It was a really good experience." ~ Maya, age 9.
There is momentum and excitement following this event. There are currently 8 stories which are to be edited, collated, and put together with those from last year’s event with the aim of these being published as a collection from our very own Scottish Mission writers. Look out for one of these stories to be ‘spotlighted’ on our social media platforms and shared with the British Union Conference (BUC) and Trans European Division (TED) for their Children’s Ministries publications! Creative juices are flowing within the Scottish Mission!
