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ROSE HILL — The Charity Mission Center was transformed into a prom venue Friday night for the annual Night to Shine, a formal event for people with special needs age 14 and older.
The event, organized by the Tim Tebow Foundation and hosted locally by volunteers from Poston Baptist Church in Wallace, featured a full evening of dinner, games, karaoke, a red carpet crowning ceremony and a fire truck parade through town.
The churches involved included Poston Baptist, Northeast PFWB, Sharon Baptist, Atkinson Baptist, and Bethel Weslyn Churches.
“Night to Shine is a chance for our churches to come together and celebrate every special needs individual with the love of Christ through acceptance and inclusion,” event coordinator Sonya Sholar said. “It is a time of pouring ourselves into each individual and family to loudly proclaim YOU are worthy to be included! YOU are valued! YOU are beautiful and handsomely created in God’s image! YOU are not a mistake! YOU are loved with an everlasting love from Jesus.”
55 honored guests and approximately 80 family members started checking in at 4:30 p.m. to get their hair and makeup done, shoes shined, and ties tied. At registration, everyone was given lanyards with their names and information about their interests that would be shared later in the night. The guests came from all over the county, and many of them knew each other by name from other connections outside of the event. At registration, they were paired up with buddies who stayed with them and helped them navigate the event.
A full meal with chicken tenders and sides was served around 5PM. Game and Karaoke rooms stayed open throughout the night. Long bingo tables and giant Connect Fours were enjoyed in the game room. Nearby, guests chose options from a song list, picked up a microphone, and sang-a-long. Photo stations in two strategic locations took staged photos of guests. Roaming photographers and videographers were paparazzi scattered throughout the event taking pictures.
By 6p.m., it was time to start the red carpet. Every guest was crowned king or queen in a crowning ceremony to honor “the way God sees them each and every day”, Tim Tebow says on his website about Night to Shine. After each guest was crowned, they were introduced according to the information on their lanyards and given their moment to walk the red carpet. For some, this was a theatrical pose to loud applause and cheers. For others, the walk was a quiet wave met with smiles and waves from their peers. Each guest’s sensory needs were taken into consideration and announced for the audience to be able to honor them appropriately. At the end of the carpet, each guest posed in a special photo station surrounded by silver and blue balloons and stars.
While some stayed to dance, others jumped on party buses for a Duplin County Sheriff escorted parade through town. Approximately 40 volunteers from twelve fire departments–Rose Hill, Wallace, Teachey, Northeast, Chinquapin, Beulaville, Harrells, Penderlea, Pin Hook, Greenevers, Warsaw, and Lyman–lined up forming a tunnel of flashing lights behind the fire station and near the World’s Largest Frying Pan. As the buses rode through, the firefighters all waved and cheered. Inside the buses, the guests were all smiling and waving back. They also enjoyed singing and dancing to their own mini parties on the bus.
Line dancing and bus rides continued till a little after 8:30. At that point, Tim Tebow and his wife, Demi, shared a recorded message welcoming everyone. As they expressed their love for the guests, Tim reminded everyone that there is one person whose love for them “outshines all the glitz of Night to Shine… the God of the universe”. Tim Tebow gave the Gospel invitation to anyone present who did not know God. Pastor Brandon Kelley of Atkinson Baptist Church followed that up with prayer. The night ended with a few more dancing songs and gifts to everyone as they exited.
“Next year this will be a totally community funded event,” Sholar said. “If anyone would like to make donations please contact Sonya Sholar at 910-289-6028 or Gwendy Crumplet at 910-714-8320. Thank you for considering this ministry to support. All supporters will be posted on the sponsor board at the Night to Shine event.”
