Jesus is the winner man!! - Steven Emmanuel

Jesus is the winner man!!

So many doubts, so much tension and so little time!! This was the scenario for Quest 2010, the annual youth fest by the RYF family of fellowship members. Things always roll into place only during the eve of the big day every year but this year, it was taking it haphazardly close! The Redeemer youth fellowship can boast of strength of about 35 believers but things were not just getting done!! Ego clashes, misunderstandings, standoffs, & shying away from responsibilities all reared their ugly head during the planning & practice sessions. We were going to paths unknown and we knew it. The fellowship had a new secretary at the helm who had good motives but lacked the courage & proactiveness to get things done. Equally indifferent were the senior members of the RYF who were looking at the larger picture i.e., the future of the fellowship & had decided in unison that no matter what, it’s the youngsters who are going to shape the outcome of this youth fest so that it will be a great learning curve for them , be it a success or failure. We stuck to our decision.

Let me be honest. Little did we think of the link in the chain, our savior Jesus. He has always been the winner man for us, our guiding light!! Each year, the planning for the youth fest starts around the month of September when we first decide to block a date for the event suitably on a weekend. This year, it was not to be as we were too late to block a date. But little did we know about God’s amazing plan then! As time rolled on, week after week, we would argue over & be disapproving of plans, ideas that emerged for the youth fest. People were missing at crucial stages, citing silly reasons for not being able to come to the fellowship, but things went on because of his amazing grace!

December came, the month of joy, when we sing carols & get into the spirit of Christmas season & the day was nearing so fast with little progress! We had a fasting prayer on the first Sunday of November & December to pray for the success of the youth fest to be held on the 28^th of December, and we prayed earnestly to the Lord that there should be no obstacles. The Lord granted our prayers with the first hurdle easily crossed that was the finances; the church was gracious enough to sanction the full amount of funding that we had asked for with no questions asked! Things were slowly beginning to gain momentum and the stage , invitations , light ,sound arrangements were getting done by the grace of Jesus. He gave us a wonderful man of God, Professor Kingsley who agreed to share the word of God that evening.

Finally, it was just 2 days to go, Everything was in a shambles, we were never this under prepared before! People were just scrambling around & the program events were still not on paper. There were frenetic practice sessions for the programs planned & props were made at the last minute, but I dare say that at the back of all our minds, we were fairly confident that everything will be all right because Jesus never fails & everything usually falls into place on the eve of the youth fest. But this time, things were a whole lot different.

On December 28, I woke up & saw that the skies were gray threatening of rain. Now, it has never rained on a youth fest before, not in 12 years! God has always been amazing with the weather! So I had little doubt on my mind then hoping that the skies would clear. We had our last minute practice sessions, the stage, backdrop, & sound systems were finally ready to go, but the music team of the RYF was still feeling very jittery, testing their equipment & doing sound checks, last minute details. Evening came & we were eagerly looking forward to the crowd to start coming in. And, then the rain came…. Out of the grey sky, came little drops of splatter slowly at first but steadily, threatening to turn into a downpour. We were so confident that it would not rain that we had not made any alternate arrangements in case the weather spoils the evening. IT HAS INDEED NEVER RAINED ON A YOUTH FEST BEFORE! We were struck with panic! So much would be lost if the event is rained out! We could not even fathom the youth fest being rained out! We knew we could only do one thing.. WE all knelt down & prayed earnestly to the lord to make the rain disappear! I will never forget Godson’s plea to Jesus to stop the rain & pour his blessing! We started the program while it was still drizzling & slowly grew in confidence as the rain showed signs of letting up. The crowd also was amazing not minding the rain one bit with their eyes glued to the stage. In the end, it turned out to be one of the best youth fests ever, with the short film being the stand out!

This was a real test of faith for me personally, as I feared the rain would certainly spoil everything, God showed us yet again who’s in control & that we are just clay in his hands & we need to allow ourselves to be molded in the shape that he wants. I will never fear again, I thank God for renewing his faith in me through this wonderful experience, he is truly amazing! Im sure that the Redeemer Youth fellowship will only go from strength to strength as the years go by & will be a light that never goes out!! Praise God!! Amen ..

-Steven Emmanuel

God the Indescribable - Charles Isaac Samuel. S

The situation which I faced was unexpected. On May 14^th 2007 twelfth matriculation results were announced. But on 14^th of May 2007, I and my dad were in Calcutta for I was attending National Skating Championship. My result was announced and I failed in Mathematics. The situation which I went through was like whether to continue my race in Calcutta or return to Chennai. I never prayed that time because I was totally depressed about what I am going to do. After completing my race in Calcutta I returned to Chennai. I could not face my parents, my friends and my relatives.

We as a family always pray together as a family at night before going to bed. In my family prayer I prayed to God, that my result which was announced should be wrong and I should get a correct result. So the next day me and my dad went to DPI office and applied for revaluation in mathematics. They said that the result will be announced within a month, but that one month I underwent a very bad situation. That one month I lived a truth less life, telling everyone that I got through in twelfth with 70%. I got hurt and I asked God to help me in this situation. I cried and cried for the way I lived that one month. The thing I did was just prayed everyday three times like Daniel.

God was so compassionate to me and after one month my revaluation results were announced and to my astonishment, God gave my result as pass in mathematics and my percentage was 69.8%

PRAISE BE TO GOD..!!

My Unseen Hero (Who changes the world for me) - Reeveezee

I had a national conference in Pune on the July 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th. It was mandatory for me to attend the conference as I had to present a seminar on behalf of Tamil Nadu colleges. A really big conference for me. But we as a band had a meeting at Thirupathoor on the 4^th July in a school. We had committed for the meeting long back. I was completely confused to which one I should prioritize.

I asked my uncle and aunty to pray for me to take the right decision which God wants me to take. I was in prayer and it was on June 28^th that I decided to go to Thirupathoor rather than Pune. I told my mom about the decision. She was happy for me but she was worried about what I would answer in my college.

Within hall an hour, after taking the decision in prayer I got a call from Pune saying, the meeting has been postponed to July 11^th, 12^th & 13^th. I seriously couldn’t believe it. That’s when I realized that when we take one step for God he would take 99 steps to reach us and would change the entire world for us!!

Praise be to him – Jesus I love you - Esther Anandhi

After finishing my 12^th STD I wanted to join in a college (any course) but I wanted to study, but my family was in a worst stage, they could not spend even 1000 rs. Because my father was not with us, he had left us and went somewhere, the only working person in my family was my mom (she was working as a house – maid). None of my relatives helped us. I was totally upset and confused. What am I going to do? Study? Or go to job and help my mom? On this situation I just prayed to God, “I want to study! If it is your will let me study else whatever is your will let it be done in my life” but I was very much afraid. Our God is a mighty and marvelous God. Nothing is difficult for thee. So beautifully he has changed my life and he has done great things for me. I’m doing my engineering now. From my very first year at college he took care of everything. All my needs (fees, books, etc) were met. Without any surety I got loan at bank. He helped me to study in all my situations, and also he took me out of the miry clay. I thought that everything was over but he led me so beautifully. He is my lovable father.

I LOVE JESUS…

He is a prayer answering God - J.Kelvini Edith Patricia

Nowadays wherever we turn we find people losing their jobs, there is so much of confusion due to their slow down. But still he didn’t forget me and leave me alone.

I’m basically a very average student. I did not excel in my studies. But my ‘FATHER’ knew my weakness and was gracious to me. I got 84% and 87% in 10^th and 12^th exams.

Since I didn’t have a maths background, I took plant biotechnology where he helped me to get 79% after which through God’s grace I did my post graduation in human resources and got 70%. Praise and glory to His name alone. My subjects in Post graduation were very new but still he helped me to be the topper in my first semester.

I always had faith in my God that he will take care of everything in my life. So I never prayed for a job earnestly for the FIRST TIME. It was a miracle for me that day because that night my dad came home and said that “I spoke about you to an uncle and tomorrow we need to go and meet him with your resume.”

I went and met him the next day, he said that he will forward my resume after which there was completely no response for more than a month. I again prayed ‘Lord it was thine will give me a job if not lead me in thy will, I don’t wanna go astray’

Two days later, there was a call from CUMI, in parrys to come for an interview. I could still remember how God helped me to face the interview boldly and clear it. I normally become much tensed in such situation but on that day, he was with me helped me to talk out boldly and now I’m working in CUMI.

Prayer Answering God - Christilyn Priya. E

In the year 2008, we actually had to pay our exam fees (Rs.925) I collected all my friend’s money, and told them that I will pay it the next day. I had more than 15000 rupees cash in my bag. In the evening, we went to a musical shop to buy a CD; there we had to give our bags in a counter before we entered the shop. I gave my bag to the man in the counter, I completely forgot that I kept the fees money inside; we purchased the CD and returned home. Later in the night I realized that I left the bag in the shop with the money. I never told anybody about this, I started praying with tears. I called the shop owner (number was in the bill) and asked him whether the bag was there he said “No”; I was really afraid, because if the money wasn’t there, we will not be allowed to write the exams and I had to replace the money. Later in the night when I was reading the Bible, I read the parable of the Lost coin. Then I prayed to God with tears, the whole night (I wasn’t able to sleep) then in the morning, I told one of my friends, and we both went together to that shop, early in the morning and waited out side the shop till the owner opened the shop. After the shop was open, we went inside the owner; I told him that I was the one who called him last night. He went inside the bag counter and searched for a few minutes, he came outside with my bag, he gave me the bag, I immediately opened it and checked whether the money was there, not even single paise was missing! We paid the fees on that day! Praise Jesus!! He answers even my prayers. Imagine if I had not got the bag back?? What would have happened?? God works miracles!! He is an awesome God!!

A testimony by - Edwin Samuel. V

In my 11^th std I took First group. First I felt happy but later it was too hard for me, I failed in my 11^th. In my school they asked me to go out of the school. Me and my parents, we just prayed for my 12^th admission in my school. I was just amazing, after a week my principal called me and gave me an admission which I was not fit to get. All credits to my Lord God. Glory be to God!