PIA tour is undoubtedly one of my favourite creative events of the year. So, as you can imagine, I was quite disappointed to hear of the cancellation of this year’s London event. However, it was short-lived after the announcement of a virtual conference. My sadness was promptly replaced with immense excitement! And I have to say that even through our electronic screens, the PIA crew delivered. I loved the unpredictability of the conference this year. The only thing that was predictable was the sheer talent that was on display.

Chris Webb was inspiring as always with his short video stories about the heart. The level of production combined with profound truths was phenomenal. The Azonwus shared their own truth about deep wounds and failures they made during their courtship. It’s not often that transparency of this nature is exhibited in Christian settings. What resonated so profoundly was that as Christians, we often feel that there’s no room to fail or falter in church-especially when you’re in leadership positions. This well-intentioned but often destructive hyper-Christian standard can lead many to fall into even deeper transgressions.

Our fallibility as Christians does not make us less loved by our saviour and should encourage us to love others too, especially unbelievers. Preston Perry spoke so eloquently about the need to infuse thought-provoking questions into whatever creative outlets we have. For evangelistic purposes, the “piece” we produce should not be an end in itself but should provoke conversation and questions about the gospel to those who doubt it. What a great way to use all our gifts for the glory of God!

We saw several gifted poets who had the opportunity to perform for the PIA “judges” and receive feedback. There were so many amazing poems shared that I need to rewatch many of them again. The highest-rated poet actually made me scream (with excitement) as I heard her speak. Two words – crazy talent!

The night ended with Janette ikz and a Christian “rock and roll” type performance. Although I was looking forward to a spoken word piece by her, it was fantastic to see her in her element leading us to worship our creator along with her superb backing dancers and a skillful violinist/ vocalist.

All in all, it was a great event that drew focus to Christ and how we use the talents he gives us. To know that the PIA conference was highly entertaining and was used as a platform to bless disadvantaged children in the US and sponsor other children internationally, you can’t go wrong supporting such an event.

Thanks to all the organisers of the event. I eagerly look forward to next year’s live conference in May 2021!

Review above written by Jemima Kola-Abodunde. For PIA London update click here. Latest from this weekend below.