JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Everyone knows that youth are the future of Africa, and once every year, South Africans get an opportunity to honor extraordinary young Africans from across the continent.

From dusk until dawn on this December 31st, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome will be providing a massive free celebration, intended to give Christians time to reflect on the past year and allowing them to dedicate themselves to God for the upcoming year. In what is now an annual tradition, Pastor Chris and Christ Embassy will host a grand event to usher in the New Year. The December 31st Service will be held in Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, an arena capable of holding more than 36,000 worshippers.

This event will not be limited to those in attendance – the December 31st Service will also be broadcast live over radio and the internet, and also over LoveWorldTV, the world’s first 24-hour Christian satellite television network.

It will be a night of worship, prayer, singing, and dancing, but perhaps the most important aspect of the event will be the distribution of the Future African Leaders Awards (FALA); these awards have also become a tradition sponsored by Chris Oyakhilome. The FALA project is meant to honor and encourage outstanding young citizens of Africa who – in one way or another – have managed to make their continent a better place.

The Future African Leaders Awards gives scholarships and grants to those young people who are selected; past winners have gone on to achieve great things for the continent of Africa, including speaking in front of a panel of U.N. and international leaders. By working in conjunction with the United Nations, 2015 FALA winner Rose Salaka managed to have several thousand tons of food donated to the impoverished citizens of the nation of Malawi, a country with one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world.

Other winners have gone on to speak out about women’s rights, won awards for artistic projects, organized fund-raising concerts to benefit homeless children, donated textbooks to remote and impoverished areas, and created youth empowerment and mentoring programs. Truly, this is a worthy group of award-winners, and an award-program that should be supported. FALA has only been in existence since 2014, but it has already changed many lives, and should be respected as the centrepiece of this important New Year’s Eve event.

If you wish to support FALA, you can contact them by calling +234 8093 595 868. Information about the December 31st New Year’s Service held by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome can be obtained by calling 011 781 8341/2/3/4. Tickets for the event are available for free, and free transportation to Orlando Stadium will be available from various locations throughout Johannesburg.