Yay! Finally it's here....Finally this year has come to an end. Can't really tell how I feel. Happy or Sad?? Well..., mixed feelings....Happy about things I achieved, Sad about things I couldn't achieve, and wrong decisions I made. Well, I guess it's time to right the wrongs...I'll have to make serious amends to whatever needs to be amended.
I'll be in Church tonight for Countdown. Looking forward to it. I know it's gonna be great...Wonderful service..Singing praises to God in different languages (Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, Mandarin and English)....Wow! what a multi-cultural body....Yeah! That's what the body of Christ...We still are one body in Christ...
As for my resolutions for the New Year...Yeah! I'm done with it, but I've decided to keep it as my little secret...I mean, there's no need making it public...But if need be, I'll tell whoever I feel needs to know about it.
Got to go now, just trying to update, since I'm not sure to be here later tonight. Will be in Church all night. 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
As the year 2008 comes to an end, I see the need to reflect as always.... I've decided to take time to Fast & Pray throughout the last 3days of this year. Purpose - To seek God's face, ask for His forgiveness in areas I have erred in the year 2008
, find out what He has to say about 2009
.
Well..., so far, I must say it has really been profitable. I feel closer to God each day. First I realized how unfit I was to stand before God, coz of the wrong things I have done this year, and the times I have neglected God's path. But then, He reminds me that He is a God that forgives, and all that He requires of me is that I take a 180 degree turn and return to my place in Him, in His Presence.
I'm still waiting to see what the last day of this year will be for me. Seeking to hear more, more of God's voice. More of His intentions towards me, and His plans for my life in the year 2009, and also for the Church (All Christians are in this category).
I've got to update. I'll put up what I think is needed to be seen by all as soon as I can. God has a lot to reveal to His Church. I believe it's going to be Glorious.
Cheers!!! 
Finally, it's Christmas day! Today was a very wonderful one for me. Went to bed at about 3am, and had to get up at 7am to prepare for Christmas service at 9am. Had to leave school at 8am, and that's my reason for waking up at 7am...lol...
Service was wonderful. Singing Carols, worshiping God for His wonderful gift to the world (JESUS CHRIST) and also listening to a very challenging sermon from our Beloved Pastor - Rev. Chan Nam Chen. I got to learn a lot from the message, and although he didn't give it a particular topic, I think I am free to tag it as "Life's Uncertainties and God's Certainty". He talked about how Uncertain life is....how we can be so unsure of what our tomorrow may be....People live today, yet tomorrow we see them no more...Finances are good today, yet tomorrow you hear of world financial crisis...You have happiness this moment, the next you encounter something that makes you so sad.
Something he said struck my heart, and caused me to ponder. Although we live in a world of uncertainties, Our God is a God of certainties. He took a very good example, pointing us to the birth of Christ which we are now celebrating. He talked about how the birth of Christ was prophesied about 160times in the old testament times of the Bible. How Esias (Isaiah) the prophet talked about the birth of Jesus, and what the birth of Jesus would mean to the situation of Israel at that time. "Christmas is not an uncertainty" said Rev. Chan. God was certain that someone had to be sent to redeem the world. and so He saw the need to send His Son Jesus Christ. When God looks at us, He does not judge by our appearance. We might be living a life of uncertainty, but all we need to do is accept God's gift to us, and make our life insured in Him by drawing close to Him. Then we can be assured about things in our lives that seem uncertain
.
Some things about God's certainties:
- They can be confirmed through the Bible. Constant study of the Bible makes you certain of what God has done, cannot do, and what He still can do.
- It has the power to transform us if we allow it to rule our life. Very clearly, this means when you believe in what God can do, and you trust in His word, you will be transformed by the power of His word.
Certain facts:
- We need a Saviour. Datz why God sent His Son right???
- We need God with us. His Son is called "Immanuel" meaning "God with Us"
God's precious gift to Us should be accepted with thanksgiving. That's why as Christians, we celebrate Christmas differently.
Powerful message right? Yeah it was! Though it was a short message, we made a lot of references to books of the Bible especially the book of Isaiah. The message ended with a call for all those who felt uncertain about some things in their lives to step out in Faith and be prayed for. After the message, we had 2 more songs sang, as everyone went about to wish those in Church a Blessed Christmas.
I had some photo sessions with my friends and that was it for the morning. What was next? Go home, take a rest, study a little for upcoming exams, then prepare for outing with friends at 6pm. Yeah! That was what I did. Many people had studying out of their plans for the day...I pride in myself for being so studious...lol... 
The outing was a wonderful one. We all went out to a renowned shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur (Mid Valley Mega Mall). The trip down there wasn't so cosy, since we had to go by Train. Five of Us had to catch the 6pm school bus down to the train station, while the other 2 had to come later on cause they were in a meeting and couldn't meet up the school bus. When we got to the station, the train passed by while we were still trying to get our tickets. We therefore would have to wait for another 15mins....Yay!
I hated doing this, standing for 15mins coz there were a lot of people there also, and there were no empty seats. Then I prayed so well that I wouldn't have to stand all the way in the train since this has been the trend most times I've used the trains here in Malaysia. There seems to be a lot of people who prefer to travel by train...Luckily, I didn't have to....Thank God!!!
The train arrived and I quickly dashed for a seat. I was pretty lucky!!! It seemed like a long journey from Kajang to Mid Valley, unlike the 30mins it usually takes... or was it just me being too impatient to get there and have fun??? ha ha!!!
Well, finally we got there, and while we had to wait for the other 2 to meet up with us, we spent time taking photos, window-shopping and watching a very funny dance that was going on there in the Center Court of Mid Valley Mega Mall. Very funny one it was!!! The other two finally came, and down we went to NANDOS...Now Nandos is my favorite, and you can imagine how I felt when we got there and realized that there were so many people and we had to be on a queue before we could get in. Well, luckily it wasn't for long, as they found a comfortable position for 7 of us within 10mins. We made our order (I didn't need to look at the menu cos I already knew what I wanted..... ha ha ha!!! ) and then we spent the time waiting and chatting about a lot of things. Food finally came, we took some more photos, and all went into the munching session...Nice meal it was!!!
We finally got set to leave at about 10pm, coz we needed to catch the train, and the 11:30pm bus back to school. On getting to the train station, we realized that the counter had closed, and there were several long queues of people waiting to get their tickets from the ticket vending machines. We decided to queue at different points while the first person to get to the front of any of the machines where we were queued up would have to buy for all of us. That really was a good idea since we were all together.After getting the tickets, it was time to wait for the train. We waited for about 15mins for the train to arrive, and luckily it wasn't so full this time, though I didn't get a seat. The journey back wasn't so bad, and we were grateful to God that we met the school bus.
Everyone of us was excited about the outing, and we hope to have another one for New Year's day. I'm going to bed now. No need to study again since I'm very tired. I'll add the photos to my album as soon as I get them.
BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!
Yeah!!! Christmas is here again... And with the hustling and bustling of the year so far, the achievements and the losses... the good times and the not so good times...everyone is preparing for one of the greatest times in human history....THE CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST!!!
Although Christmas is a time when almost everyone in the world celebrates and takes time to have fun with friends and family, it's kinda embarrassing to realize that a lot of people still do not know the significance of Christmas. Some think Christmas is about giving gifts, some think it is about getting together with friends and family to have fun and a kinda family reunion, some think it is about singing Christmas songs/Carols, and the rest think it is about a guy in a fable...the guy they call "SANTA CLAUS"....It's really saddening to hear a lot of people give such opinions about Christmas. Well, they don't know, and we really must let them know ~~ CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST!!!
As I think about the real significance of Christmas, I'm amazed at how God chose to come in flesh just for the sake of a "bunch of sinners"....I'm amazed at how he chose to die for me, for you, for us all...He sent His Son...His only begotten Son (John 3:16)...who would ever do that??? (Yay! Not me!!!). But He did, and I'm must grateful to Him. Cool isn't it???
Now to what today was like for me...It's 24th Dec, 2008....Christmas Eve. Malaysia is not as bubbling as it would be in Nigeria, the UK or even the US....Why??? Well..., I leave that to you to figure out....Maybe it's becoz it's known to be an Islamic nation....Well, just maybe...However, today wasn't so bad for me. Although I cannot be home to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends, I still had Fun!!! My Family here (African Students Fellowship) which consitsts of mostly Africans had a get together organinzed for us all. It was tagged "LOVE FEAST!!!", and we were to celebrate God's love for us by singing carols, exchanging gifts and we had a lot of food to eat. It really was fun!!!
Although I miss being with my family in times like this, I still thank God that I'm not left alone here in Malaysia....It would have been a terrible one if I was. I'm looking forward to what tomorrow (Christmas day) is gonna be like. My friends and I have made some plans to have dinner out in one of the renowned malls in Kuala Lumpur (Mid- Valley Mega Mall). It sure will be fun...I can't wait!!!
Ok! Got to go to bed now...Will update y'all on the rest of the Christmas experience tomorrow. But permit me to leave you with one message: CHRIST is the reason for Christmas, and we ought to realize that fact and draw closer to Him in love. He is deeply in love with Us, and He wants us to fall in love with him too!!!
Luv ya!!!
For sometime now, I've been trying to do a recap of what this year (2008) has been like for me: My achievements, my good works, right choices,... the times when I screwed up, the things I did wrong, and even the wrong choices I made. I've come to realize that though I wasn't able to meet up to all my expectations for this year, there's been a lot that I've learnt.
I've learnt to love more, tolerate more, work harder, appreciate more and above all, to Trust more in God. Yeah! There were times when I screwed up, doing the wrong things, going my own way, getting involved in things I wasn't s'posed to get myself into, but God has really been merciful. I've faced situations were it seemed difficult to extend love to certain people, swallow all the sh** one received from some people, etc. etc...but God still showed himself strong in my life.
There were times when I felt like a total nuisance...helpless
, weak and trembling before God, times when I felt I had no reason to live, but it was in those times that God stepped in and reminded me that He had already given me a reason to live when He sent His Son (Jesus Christ) to die for my sin and bring me undeserved Grace...Salvation for my soul.
There were times when I felt I had arrived, I felt I had achieved so much on my own, but then God reminded me that "Without Him, I can do nothing". Then I would have to repent of my self-righteousness and return to rely solely on Him.
I've lived by God's grace throughout this year, and now I am left to ponder on what I want the coming year (2009) to be for me. I had this thought in mind for a while, but didn't think deeply about it until just recently. Taking a count down, it's obvious that I've got about 8days to the end of this year...and if God tarries, I've got to set plans spinning on for the coming year. I promised myself that I would make a self-checklist, but as is the result of procrastination, I haven't done so until now. Got a call from someone special today, and one of the questions he asked me was this "Winnie, watz ur plan for the coming year?"...I could only whisper a few words as an answer...Here's my reply "emmm...well, I haven't set out any definite plan, but what I have made up my mind to do is to Draw closer to God and work harder towards fulfilling His plans for my life, by making use of His grace that He has made available to me..." Now that's a very general statement right??? Okay! I'm working towards making them more specific, and I believe that before this year runs out, I should be ready to implement it.
Life is not always the way we want it to be, but what matters most is who or what controls our life. For me, I think the best thing to hold on to is the sayings of the Bible "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's Purpose that prevails" (Prov 19:21 - NIV).
I work towards fulfilling my Purpose is Christ....Mine is a Purpose-driven life!!!
For over 2months, there's been a group of people who have been pretty busy preparing for a Christmas drama production tagged "THE DREAM 2008". It had been a wonderful time, from auditions for cast, voice recording, rehearsals once in every week (from Oct to Dec), final rehearsals with costumes & Props, and then to the D-Day1!
The Christmas Drama Production by Kajang Assembly of God Church, Malaysia promised to be a blast, and sure it was!!! The play got so much publicity, that it even appeared in one of Malaysia's renowned Newspapers "THE STAR"...Here's a little write up about the play, as published by THE STAR newspaper....
To see the full story, check it out on http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/12/10/central/2724537&sec=central That's the link to the actual publication by Star Newspaper. You may also find out more about the drama on http://www.kaog.org.my/thedream2008
For me, I must say it was a wonderful time... Not just because I had fun while playing my role in the drama, but because I know that the name of the Lord will be glorified through the drama. It was a tedious one for me, especially the aspect of having to practice every Sunday in the months of October, November and also about 3times in the early weeks of December, but amidst all the time spent and energy expended, I must admit that God was really in it...He made all things go as He wanted it to.
The drama was staged on two different days (19th & 20th Dec), and we had the hall filled with lots of people, a different crowd on each day. The exact number of those who came to see the drama presentation, I really can't figure out for now.
There's really a lot to say, but I really do not know exactly how to say it. Now I regret why I haven't kept up-to-date for the past one month. Well....I'll see what I can do to put up some of the photos of the event as soon as I get them from anyone.
For now, I've got to sit my ass down and prepare for my exams that comes up in 1st week of Jan '09. Well....nothing to fear, God is in Control!!!
