Story by Suman Shrestha | Photos by Sam Boakye-Yiadom and Anthony J. Hill.
Burngreave hosts many communities within its boundaries, including less well recognised ones, such as the Filipino community.
This community recently celebrated it’s fourth anniversary in the Rock Centre. More than 400 people from almost forty different nations were gathered in the church. The church was transformed to a spiritual theatre with great atmosphere and high energy. Members performed beautifully on stage.
Mr Aris, Filipino leader and elder from the church hosted the event throughout the day and highlighted how the community formed and linked to the Rock Christian church. To make their celebration more memorable, the kids performed dance and other Filipino’s sang from time to time.
During the celebration, they remembered their loved ones who passed away recently. Sister Jennifer Parilla, who passed away last year was one of the active members of the church. Her son, Tim, and husband, Elwyn, gave a speech in her memory and everyone was emotional. They also prayed for the brother of Virginia who recently passed away. Church family paid tribute and prayed for the family.
The Filipino community presented various mouth-watering traditional foods. The hog roast (whole pig) was the main attraction and was donated by Mr Parilla in memory of his loving wife Jen.
Mr Elwyn Parilla, who is an active member of the Filipino community said:
“It’s always nice to gather and meet in celebration. Being away from our home country, we try to follow and present our culture and traditions which is a great way to socialise in the community.”
