Preaching Jesus, living Jesus… All day everyday!

Isaiah 54:1-4 God will do things in my life that will reverse whatever shame or loss I’ve suffered. Amen o! Big amen! Even if this shame was self-inflicted, God is more than able to reverse it and bring me into the place of glory He’s designed for me! Glory to God!

Welcome to church! This service I attended on the 20th of December 2015, and I’ve had to put my own title of the message because I don’t remember what it was. Don’t know how I didn’t write it down.

I hope it blesses you, and if you’re ever in Abuja and want to come through to fellowship with us, you’re more than welcome to do so! HolyHill church, meeting at Immaculate Suites, Lobito Crescent, Wuse 2.

Romans 14:1-19 (this scripture contains basic principles that will help us navigate this course called life In explaining new concepts or ideas, it is best to start with isolating what it is not first.

A lot of things we burden ourselves with or restrict ourselves by in the name of religion are not scripture-based.

Don’t discriminate against others in the faith who may not be as ‘strong’ as you are. Even people who are not in the fair deserve our love and prayers, not condemnation. It is this ‘our way or the highway’ stance that has bred radicalization and extremism in our world today. Even Jesus had friends who didn’t believe.

People have rights to their opinions, and we should respect them.

It is better, more rewarding and sustainable for people to come to your Jesus because they can see Him in you rather than you forcing Him down their throats.

Don’t allow your station in life to make you resentful of people who are better off than you are. Conversely, when you’re doing great, don’t mock people doing badly so you don’t become them and experience that life.

Kingdom prosperity is not measured by material things…pertinent to note this because sometimes we erroneously equate Christianity with wealth. So when people are not doing well we attribute it to their sins. Think Lazarus.

Godliness delivers prosperity, however, it is not a measure of Godliness.

Three pillars of Godliness (things our lives must be defined by)

1. Righteousness: The kingdom of God is primarily centred around our relationship and harmony with God. Romans 14:17

Righteousness is boldly standing before God without any shame or blemish; saved/cleansed from sin and empowered to do good by the Holy Spirit.

“As a Christian I must get to a point where my creed is equal to my deeds” – TL Osborn.

2. Peace: freedom, absolute liberty from strife or offence. The peace of God that passes all understanding should permeate your life enough to give you calm/rest even when storms are raging around you.

Peace is material prosperity in a form that cannot be seen or touched.

3. Joy: this is our spiritual lubricant, the only one recommended for our spirit-man. Joy is the connector, the thing that brings all that should accrue to me as a child of God into my space.

I pray that you take God’s joy with you! Have a fabulous week!

#31Days31Writers: Pearl says “Achuna Ife Uwa N’ike”

 

Brethren!

I’m super excited with the entry for today!

Now, Pearl and I have never met, and I was going to make her wedding but something came up and I wasn’t even in the country around that time, talk of the state.

The first thing you notice about Pearl is her smile. Alive and breathing, with her gorgeous white teeth! I feel like she can never be offended, she’s always smiling! She’s also one of those Christians who absolutely love the Lord, but don’t beat you over the head with it. I really really like her!

Her entry is beautiful, and I won’t keep you from it a moment longer.

 

Achuna ife uwa n’ike. Nwayo bu ije. Ebe onye oso ruru, onye ije g’eru kwa. Onye buru Chi ya uzo, ogba gbuo onwe ya n’oso. (Do not chase the things of the world with all your strength. Take life easy. He who runs and he who walks will get to wherever they are going, but if you go ahead of your God, you don do yourself be that.)

My name is Pearl Ijeoma Allison. I am completely Nigerian; omo Igbo, born in Hausa land and married to a Yoruba man. I presently work as a confidential secretary/administrative official and I live the in the ever-bubbly city of Lagos. I love Lagos, even with all her wahala. I share my thoughts on life through my eyes on this here page http://olorungemstone.com/

2015 was an incredibly interesting and amazing year. My Year of Indescribable Joy . . . but there can be no joy if one has not known sorrow. I have known sorrow, anxiety, fear and depression. Times when I wondered why I was still holding on and why I thought I needed to keep going. What was the point of it all?

Achuna ife uwa níke. . .

God wanted me to take my focus off those things and put it on Him. But as a headstrong omo nna who had to fend for herself, I kept trying to sort things out on my own or worry them away.

Why worry when you can pray?

He came through for me despite and in spite of Ijeoma standing in her own way. Everyday I’m learning to trust His promises, learning that they are not just words but TRUTH. Truth that I get to live out every minute.

I learned that God is faithful and some humans are very much like Him! My friends showed themselves strong on my behalf this year. God has surrounded me with faithful, diligent and trustworthy people. I am grateful most especially for my husband, amazing, amazing man! No bias, I swear.

I’m very grateful for the experiences I had this year. I don’t think I’ve had any year as eventful as this one. A wedding is definitely a big enough event, but there was also a relocation, a shaking, a moving & an uprooting.

One day I will write about these things…

I hurt my best friend and her family this year. Yeah, it was unintentional and all and I wish to God that it had never happened. I regret it deeply. We were able to make it through the hurt, pain and disaster by God’s grace and I think we made it through stronger than before. That’s how lasting, unbending relationships are forged; people who will stand with you through the good times and most especially through the bad.

If I could relive that, there’s definitely a number of things I’d love to change about the whole saga but we live and we learn. The other thing I’d love to relive is my wedding day, it was a deadly day! I really never esperredit. Lol. I’d love for my wedding reception to have just been dance, dance, dance! My brother in law’s band killed it that day men! You should have been there.

😉

I’m looking forward to 2016. I hope to live out everything I’ve learned and to take life easy. There’s so much more to this life and I want to live it to the fullest.

God bless you.

God bless you too sweetheart, and here’s hearty cheers to the new year!

About street beggars, and some groundnuts…

Have you seen this before? Or maybe I should start with, what’s your attitude to beggars, destitute, and people in difficult places?

It’s manifold for me, and I’ll try to explain. First off, there’s the anger that arises from the ‘yet we have a government and there’s a stark difference between the rich and poor, and inequality, etc.’ part of me.

There’s also the ‘why is this person with this ailment/this old/this young on the streets begging’ part, because I wonder where their families are, etc.

There’s the outrage when I see a young person with two hands, two legs, speaking (English or whatever language), doing nothing but begging. It really annoys me. Why? Blue, white, pink, or even orange collared, there must be something… I broke off on that sentence because sometimes I’m not really sure. Truth is there are no jobs readily available anywhere, but even more in Nigeria. And things like electricity, access to seed funding, etc. mean that entrepreneurs don’t really have it easy, except your daddy is a billionaire. I agree. I still however believe there must be something someone can do. I don’t know, what do you think?

While you’re thinking, here’s what happened to me a few days ago. I had one of the longest days, planning an event. Was running to and fro with my staff buying stuff, getting things ready. And then in the market we see a young man pushing an elderly man in a wheelchair, brandishing hospital papers that were barely legible. I did try to read it from the car but I couldn’t. I noticed a little child in their company though, carrying a walking stick taller than him. I gave them a little token, and we moved on.

After I dropped off my staff, I had to stop to get a new SIM, and to switch between two networks. When I came out of the store, a young man walked up to me, begging. To be honest I thought he wanted to rob me and I was already doing a quick recap of the boxing techniques I picked up recently. Then I figured he was begging and I just shook my head, got into my car, and drove off.

About two minutes from where I left, a very young boy came up to clean my windscreen, and I said no. Normally the next thing they do is beg for money, but this one just walked off really quickly to the next car. And immediately I asked myself a few questions, including what a child that young was doing on the streets past 8pm in the name of hustling.

And then I desperately wanted to give him the groundnuts I’d bought, and a bit of money. Problem, how to get his attention cos he wasn’t looking my way, didn’t turn when I honked, and there was gridlock traffic so I couldn’t move. I finally got to him, and gave him both. His smile (big, wide, pure, with his stained teeth), made me tear up. From my side mirror I watched him look in the wrap I gave him, then start shouting.

Paranoid me, I couldn’t make out what he was saying so I started panicking, especially since I saw a bigger boy running towards him. But that one got to him, and my little friend gave him some of the groundnuts and both of them started eating. And then I started crying.

And then I drove off.

I don’t know… I just don’t know…

This is the year… and my tribute to Komla Dumor

I’m horrible with writing about death, but then I guess everyone is, and at some point or the other in life, we will have to do things we’d much rather we didn’t. Even the death of an enemy leaves a sour taste, talk less of a friend, family member, or in this case, someone I really admired and would have been super privileged to meet.

I watched a TedTalk at the end of 2013 Mr. Dumor gave on reporting stories out of Africa, and he should know, he’s been the face of BBC’s Focus on Africa from the inception of the programme in 2012. Everyday. His talk was so funny! Beyond the laughs, I was totally smitten by his confidence, his eyes, alive with excitement and maybe mischief and I was upset when it ended.

I told myself that I would meet him in the New Year, and even though I didn’t immediately have a plan to do that, I purposed to try.

On the evening of the 17^th, I was chatting with a much older friend of mine, and Komla came on. I mentioned I was a massive fan and I wanted to meet him, and this friend said they’d been in the same class at Harvard and sure, he’d facilitate an introduction the next morning. I was super excited, and the only thing that stopped me from insisting on an introduction there and then was the fact that it was a little late, and I was literally on my way home.

And then about midday the next day, I saw on Twitter that Komla Dumor had passed. What??? “Cruel jokers”, I thought, racing to BBC’s website to prove they were wrong. BBC didn’t carry it immediately, but staff were already tweeting condolence messages.

Just like that, he was gone. Aged 41, Komla Dumor passed of a suspected heart attack. One day on TV, gone the next day. The uncertainty that this life is.

I grieved like I had lost a personal friend – because it was yet another reminder that life is short, and we must do whatever we need to do as soon as we can. Grieved all the way to Instagram.

And so today, exactly six months after, somehow I can now write and bid him farewell, hope he’s in a better place, and tell him he was a shining light for us young uns.

More importantly, I pray for God’s great comfort on his family.

Rest in peace Komla Dumor.

Related articles

• Let’s Celebrate the Life of Komla Dumor While We Mourn His Sudden Demise
• Online lecture: Telling the African Story by Komla Dumor
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• Perspective

“I have so much to be grateful for!” – Mac-Jordan #31Days31Writers

Want to know how I met Mac-Jordan Degadjor? I was going to go to Ghana last year, and I googled ‘bloggers in Ghana’ because I wanted to meet people on the trip. One name kept popping up, and so I googled him (very well), and the things he’s done, stuff he’s achieved? No words! Got in touch, we met up, and he’s joined the list of my buddies from Ghana! Plus, he opened me up to a fabulous opportunity that has been very rewarding in all ramifications, and I’m mighty grateful for that!

Day 22 of my #31days31writers project takes us to Ghana, and Mac-Jordan!

My name is Mac-Jordan Degadjor, and I am a social media entrepreneur. All too soon, it’s almost the end of 2013 and here I am reflecting on the past couple of months. I’ve always lived by simple philosophy – life is short, make the best out of it whilst you are healthy and well.

The fact that you are reading this piece means you must have something to be grateful for despite all you might have gone through this year. I’m grateful that I have so many things to be thankful for, I don’t even know where to begin!

Below are the top 5 things I’m most grateful for (in no particular order) and I’m looking forward to an awesome 2014 full of good health and opportunities to improve on my new media start-up: Africa New Media.

1. Life!

I’m very thankful for being alive till this very minute. I’ve traveled the length and breadth of the continent for business and pleasure and I couldn’t have done any of that if I didn’t have life. I’m most grateful for LIFE!

2.Good Health.

Since the beginning of 2013, I’ve been attacked by Malaria on 3 occasions but I’m grateful once again to be healthy and strong. I will make a conscious effort to stay healthy, eat well and exercise regularly in 2014.

3.Family and Friends

Having friends that you can turn to and having them there to enjoy your best moments in your life, but also help you through your tough ones, is something very special. I’m very grateful for the friends I’ve made in 2013 and sorry for those I lost too. I’ve always loved this quote from Oprah Winfrey:

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”-Oprah Winfrey

4.Social Connections + Change-Makers

I’m grateful for all of the people I have met online who have the same goal of creating a life based on passion and also changing this world for the better with their ideas and more.

5. I’m grateful for the heart-break I had to go through and for finally meeting someone who truly accepts me for me and not what I am. I’ve been accepted despite my flaws and I’m most grateful for that. To the special lady in my life, I’m grateful for your Fante love!

Finally, to you reading this piece now – I wish you an awesome 2014!

That’s him, speaking at the Internet Freedom Fellow at the US Mission earlier in the year…

“I would shut up and let her do her mothering” – Vickie Remoe #31days31writers

Was an absolute delight to meet and have dinner with Vickie last year on my first ever trip to Ghana, that’s one more way Mac-Jordan is a blessing!

So she doesn’t give out where she’s from but I can, so maybe I will. Or will I? The hyperlink above gives a bit more about her so go on, go there too! For day 7 of our #31days31writers project, here’s Miss Vickie Remoe!

My name is Vickie Remoe and I am CEO of a marketing firm in Accra. I am an ECOWAS citizen.

This year I learned that the key to getting anything accomplished is meticulous planning. Even without all the money anyone can do anything if you just plan well.

I am most grateful for being able to have a business partner, who is GoWoman enough to give 110% always. Without her I wouldn’t have been able to publish GoWoman Magazine.

The only regrets I have this year, are all around the same issue. Sometimes I don’t let my mother mother me, and this hurts her feelings.

So if I could do anything differently this year, I would shut up and let her do her mothering.

I wish I had the courage to take ALL my hair off, she’s absolutely gorgeous!

 

Catfish, Blakes, and a wonderful evening of entertainment

Wow!! So it’s been a month already since I got back? Thank you God for life, love, and all that good stuff, I’m definitely grateful!

Ok, let’s pretend I’m not back yet, or better still, that it’s the last week before I get back.

On Wednesday I spent a lovely evening with @attaswitch, @glamblackbarbie, and @tilishoz at Yogurrberry, one of the many spots in a place called Food City. I had beautifully grilled cod from Fish Place; well marinated and softly grilled so it was literally dripping with juices. The black sauce (native to Ghana) was a nice touch, was hot but I really enjoyed it! And the tomatoes, oh the crunchy yet succulent tomatoes! And they were kind enough to give me more slices when I ‘Oliver twisted’, plenty brownie points there!

Did I mention I met @maihoto (photographer/entrepreneur extraordinaire) for the first time there? Really cool to chat and share our food/business experiences!

Thursday I hung out at Vanity for a friend’s birthday party, and then it was off to Play for my first BYOB in almost 18 months.

Friday was the real deal though, boom! I went (on invitation) to Blakes with Deji and Peter. Deji is a seasoned (as in well spiced) content producer, editor, story teller, project manager (I could go on and on), while Peter’s an environmentalist, a German who’s in Nigeria (for the first time) interning with Heinrich Boll.

We got in, three children of God with dreadlocks (yes I locked my hair again), so everyone just assumed (wrongly) that we would be speaking patois, and it was hilarious to hear various versions with the greetings we got.

Anyway! We had chicken suya (wasn’t very impressed), and then we had grilled catfish. Boom! Was lovely! I took pictures, yep, yep!

By this time the performances had started. I made quite a few videos but we were sat upstairs so they’re a little far away. I promise you’ll be able to see what we saw, and the audio is great too!

Started with this guy doing tricks, lovely!

Then there were two guys dancing; I would advise them not to give up their day jobs, honestly.

Then this impression of Fela that was so cool, it got us up on our feet!

Aha! There was this guy who swung from Elton John to Carlos Santana, wasn’t impressed, especially since his back up singer was wearing knee high boots!

The clincher was the guy who sang Diallo, and then went on sing quite a few of Bob Marley’s songs. We were already up on our feet anyway, so we rocked to it!

And then it was time to go! We were exhausted, but I’m sure we all had a lovely time, and Peter enjoyed the fish! Was a nice way to wrap on a fabulous month in Nigeria, and I look forward to when I can go back to Blakes again!

P: S – Written exactly one month ago (wee hours of the morning of the 30^th).

Prepping for Belfast….

So I’m off to Belfast in a few days for the weekend, and as is my custom, I started trawling the net for bloggers in Belfast to meet up with, share a drink, etc. First time I did this was in 2012 when I went to Ghana; I met  two bloggers who are now very good friends of mine.

My search for ‘Bloggers in Belfast’ led me to (amongst other places) Michael, the author of  the HIV Blogger: Living Positively blog. He found out he was HIV positive in March 2009, and has blogged his experiences, and life story since then. It’s a very honest, very real, very ‘in your face’ chronicle of his life and I was just super excited with it! Coming from a development communication background where one of the key strains of messaging was to get people to be open and not ‘self-stigmatise’, this blog made me very happy.

On the blog I found an amazing video called Living +, where a number of people talk about living with HIV. Loved it, loved it, loved it! Key thoughts from the video:

• HIV is real, is a life changing diagnosis, but it isn’t the end of the world – you play a great role in deciding if your experience after the diagnosis will be positive or negative. You were happy before the diagnosis, nothing stops you from remaining happy, or being successful, or having a full, rich life.
• HIV is a sifter; as you become open with your status, you find that real friends stay and give you all the support you need, and the others are…. well, filtered out! You need to be open though, and give people the opportunity to accept you. Some will reject you though; don’t sweat it.
• When a person is HIV positive they need to take their meds. Technology is improving by the day, we’re closer to a cure but till then, take your meds!

Want to see the video? I thought you would! It’s below.

I also found Robyn, or Tee’s blog! That’s a hilarious one! Tee is the mother to Adam and her blog revolves around her life with her son and her husband – very interesting, every day read, loved the few posts I read!

I’m still searching for bloggers, will let you know if I find any more!

P:S – the main reason I did this post was because of the Living + video so go back and watch it now if you haven’t already! Thanks!

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AKWAABA!!

Looked through my journal today, and I’m going to over the next two days, work hard to ensure that I don’t carry over any posts into 2013. Especially from the little trips I made this year because God willing, I have quuuuuiiiite a few places to go in the new year! Whoop! Now though, let’s try to recreate  the memories from this trip for you….

End of July I spent a weekend in Ghana, my first time there. Flew from Lagos and the only thing I remember on the flight from Abuja to Lagos was the terror I felt from the time we took off till we touched down. It was barely two months from the time of the Dana crash, and the trauma was still raw in my mind; I was literally hyperventilating all the way. God rest their souls.

Spent the night at Protea Hotel in Maryland, the one on ‘Jesu Oyingbo (name cracks me up every time), and I totally loved the stone finishing in the bathroom, loved it, loved it, loved it!

Was good to see my girl Wumi again, a wonderful friend and sister God has blessed me with. Dinner was fab, and we faffed around afterwards, took a few pictures.

We were on the 7.45am Aero Contractors flight to Accra; I don’t remember if it was late (but I can bet it was). I do remember using the wi-fi there though, and the official with the walkie-talkie who kept re-affirming his importance by prancing about and literally shouting into the thing, punctuating his gibberish with ‘over’. Lol.

One hour plus after, we touched down at Kotoka International Airport, Accra. First thing I noticed was this remarkable picture.  I really liked this, looks like a stern warning to behave while you’re here. The no nonsense stance? Very good.

Now, I mentioned this was to be my first trip to Ghana and I was determined to interact with the social media scene there, make new friends, that kind of thing. I asked Google for bloggers in Ghana, @MacJordaN was number one and so I got in touch and asked to meet up. I rang when I’d settled in and he came! We shared a drink, and it was interesting for me to graze the politics in Ghana, hear about some of the work MacJordaN Degadjor has done, and the amazing people he’s met! Not only is he brilliant, very involved with social media and politics (big brother in the industry kind of thing), there’s an underlying humility about him that is very impressive!! You’re a big part of my 2012, I’m happy I met you @MacJordaN! Why didn’t we take a picture? *sigh*

The next day I took a long drive around; told myself I would experience Matola market for myself, but traffic (and that whole standstill business grates) made me go back to the hotel quickly!

Went to Woodin though! Bought quite a few fabrics that I really really love! Went to Accra Mall too. It wasn’t all that I’d heard it would be abeg, except it’s just naturally dead quiet on Sundays.

Met up with @MacJordaN again in the evening, and we headed for Ovation Restaurant where @DeleMomodu had arranged for us to have dinner ‘on the house’; thank you Sir!  Was also my privilege to meet with the delectable @vickieremoe, a TV, radio and web producer, the editor of SwitSalone, where they broadcast stories about Sierra Leone to the world!. Vicky’s Sierra Leonian, a blogger as well, and runs. She believes, ‘my Africa is not your Africa’ and is working on a project that will give a vivid, almost palpable experience of (her) Africa, traversing the length and breadth of it by road! It was great to meet her too, shout out to you Vicky!

By the way, I had Banku and egusi soup with goat meat; yum!

Banku!!! I don’t even remember what it’s made of but I loved it!!

Monday came too soon (sob), and it was off to the airport for the flight to Abuja. Saw this guy at the airport though, not only did I take pictures, I made a video!

Thank you Ghana for a working/relaxing weekend, promise to be back soon!

P:S – more pictures…..Random…

Protea……My girl munching away!! What did we even have that night sef?

They gave us water to drink soon as we checked in…. Nice touch….

Words of wisdom….. please read before you start to cook your liver….

I’m sorry but I wasn’t very impressed abeg…..

Oh this guy was just brilliant! And it was the way he was working in sync with his music…

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