All The Glory to Our Father in heaven!
WOW! Is all that can be said to express how I feel about Xmas Bash 08. It was such a privilege to witness the hard work, effort, and sweat poured out by everyone in Jesus Embassy leading up to Christmas Bash 2008 El Amore MAs Grande!. As it turned out, the event was indeed a night to remember. God’s love was shared with a crowd of more than 300 people on the 27th of December.
It wasn't long before the hall was filled with people, everyone looked Amazing. Many of our guests weren’t first timers and they have been looking forward to this annual event since the invitations were out week’s ago. There were at least 15 nations represented, It was the most diverse we had thus far. Guests from Russia, Malaysia, China, India, Ghana, Kenya, Congo, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mauritius, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Vietnam and even Kazakhstan participated in this year’s Xmas bash. It is simply mind blowing to see so many nations of the world gathering together.
The night started with a introductory video clip of our previous Christmas Bashes followed by carols. This year’s carols though was rather unique as it started off with a rap of the song “Joy To The World” which ushered in the entire choir and before long the whole crowd started to sing. An exuberant atmosphere permeated the air throughout the night. There were live band performances from our own band AO1 (Audience Of One) and a Christian Russian rock 'AkEa'. The students were all hyped up as they jumped and sang along to the band was. We were then entertained by a traditional African dance and also a hilarious drama about how a South African family celebrates Christmas, which was wonderfully presented by the "The Impressions of God" drama team. We also had dance battle where we saw two team “battle it out” with amazing hip-hop and break dance moves that got everyone on edge . Our Poly tech students presented a musical mime based on Psalm 3 that God is a shield for us and in Him we stand strong. The girls did a dance to the song "Worthy is the Lamb" and people were just touched by the message of Jesus Christ that was shown. In the end our youth pastor came up and shared the message of How Jesus came on Christmas day to die for us and through Him we have salvation and eternal life.
The Mr and Ms Christmas award which we started last year seemed to have become a tradition. During the event itself, our organizers had secretly picked out a few nominees, these charming few were later required to dance, sing and even act out a marriage proposal to win the crowd over.
As it is for every Jesus Embassy event, food is always a highlight. This year we had an Asian fusion of Chinese and Indian cuisine. By God’s grace the food turned out well and was more than sufficient that People could even come back for second helpings and yet the food didn't run out. All the Glory to God!
One can only stand in wonder as we see how the events unfold especially when we started off with nothing. God provided the Funds, the man power and everything just fell in place even though there were some minor glitches. Indeed all praise and glory goes to You, Abba father, God of heaven and the earth
Ps. Kudos to all in Jesus Embassy, it is an honor working alongside with you guys and your dedication is indeed a great encouragement
By Kelvin Yii
Xmas bash 08 intro