Journey to the Cross depicts the story of Jesus to over 800

Visitors had the chance to explore a ancient Jerusalem-style marketplace staffed by volunteer students and church members.

Ekenna Nwankwo, senior, played the role of Jesus in the first and last English versions of the drama on Sabbath.

Eddie Camacho, Class of 2020, played the role of Jesus for two versions in Spanish and one in English.

Campion Academy, Campion Church and HMS Richards School worked together to produce the annual Easter pageant, “Journey to the Cross”. The interactive event drew over 800 visitors and had more than 100 volunteers for the five different showings in both English and Spanish on Sabbath, March 30.

The audience started the program at the church watching a skit entitled, “Call the Man”, in which each actor demonstrated different problems in the world such as: abuse, war, violence, political strife, teen pregnancy, suicide, and death. In the end, Jesus is depicted comforting and helping each person. 

Lillian Resz, a drama student in the skit, shared, “We can try to solve the problems of the world, but we can’t do it alone. We must call on Jesus to help us and that's exactly what the presentation was about. Jesus came to solve each and every problem and make peace. This can happen in our everyday life as well.”

Then the group was led to the HMS gymnasium which was set up as a market during Jesus’ era. People received a few coins that could be used to buy goods at the village. Students from Campion Academy helped in the village with their Bible classes.
 
The next event was the disciples calling everybody to follow them in Jesus’ triumphal entry, ending at the Campion gymnasium where the audience watched an emotional act about the final events of Jesus’s life here on Earth. The play depicted the last supper, Gethsemane, the trial, death, and finally the resurrection of Jesus. 

Ekenna Nwankwo, senior, who played the role of Jesus, commented, “It was a really great experience, especially getting to do it twice last year and this year. It opened my eyes to what Jesus really went through.”

Eddie Camacho, alumni from 2020 portrayed Jesus during the Spanish versions of the play, and many bilingual Campion students also switched roles for this version. “It is important to have this option because there are several communities in the area of Spanish-speaking families,” explained Pastor Leandro Bizama, “We hope to help grow and reach their communities and having Spanish events in our programs provides a great way to do that.”

The ultimate goal of the event was to help people remember Jesus’ sacrifice and understand his love for us. The interactive program was able to impact people’s lives in a meaningful way. Daneil Camas, senior, expressed, “I felt so overwhelmed with emotions that I ended up watching the play three times. I would have to say that this year’s (Journey to the Cross) was the best representation of Jesus’ sacrifice that I’ve seen.”

Julia Santiago, Student News Team