2 August 2019 | Ardingly, UK [Lynne Sesinye Samwinga / tedNEWS]
A theme song should convey a strong message along with a tune that should stick in the brain. Can a fourteen-year-old achieve that? The answer at the 2019 Trans-European Camporee is a resounding ‘Yes!’
Elijah’s song, starting with the captivating line, “Let me tell you about God’s almighty hand,” was written by teenager Elijah Evans from Windsor Street Pathfinder club in Birmingham, England. Each evening it is being sung with increasing vigour and understanding during the weeklong Camporee in Ardingly from 30 July to 6 August.
Elijah submitted the song as part of a contest run by the TED Pathfinder department. The song is catchy with words that focus well on the camporee theme: ‘Exodus’. When he first heard about the contest, he contemplated working on a song but wasn’t completely sure if he should do it. Then he talked to his sister about it. She encouraged him to enter. He first wrote the lyrics before sitting with his older brother, a piano player, to work on the music part. That was only the start. He then asked two friends to sing the song on a demo recording for him to submit.
Elijah seems to understand the importance of working with others to achieve goals. Ask him and he can’t stop praising the people who helped him along the way.
After a two and a half months wait, on 20 June, his father received an email from the TED. Elijah’s song had won. “The whole household erupted with joy as if England had won the World Cup,” he said. Elijah is a keen musician who plays the trombone and has recently completed his grade 4 exam. He is thrilled and thanks God that the song he wrote is impacting people’s lives at the camporee. Both with the TED live stream each night, and the 4,000 Pathfinders who will return home singing his song, that impact will only grow.
“We are proud of him,” states his Pathfinder Club leader, Caroline. She appreciates his insight into the Exodus experience as expressed in the song. Now, thanking God for his ability to write this powerful song, Elijah plans to write more songs in the future as other opportunities arise.
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Deana Stojković, associate editor
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