Worship Sunday 28-04-2013

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

At 11.15 AM the Pastor took the stand. He invoked the Lord to exercise control over the gathering and glorify Himself through songs of praise.

The worshippers submitted before God, leaving behind worries, burdens and tension. With the accompaniment of harmonious music they attributed all glories and all powers to the Lord.

The congregation opened up to the Lord exalting the greatness of the Creator of the stars and the rolling thunder whose power displays throughout the universe.

The pastor pours out to the Lord in Prayer thanking the Lord for giving such a great moment and even for the blessings yet to come the Church’s way; the Church is looking forward to becoming an instrument of spreading the gospel in specific fields like Assam and Punjab and has year plans drawn up with the power of Faith.

Amid the wholehearted praise one particular hymn stands out: Hon Huai nawn in (Hem me once over again). Loosely translated the chorus of the hymn goes like this-

Thy children, to turn towards You

Lord safeguard us from evil

Disoriented and Lost are we

God Leave us not alone

Turn to us with Mercy

And hem us with Your Holy Spirit

The Pastor pleaded upon the Lord to do away with those putting up resistance to the Gospel.

The current Worship Team (WT) of the Church is characterized by elements like enthusiasm, devotion and heritage. They are enthusiastic, devoted- amid personal and family matters- and hail from families which have connections with the Church. But most of all they shared a common gift of music.  And they praised, an appropriate gesture to the Giver. The song titled, ‘Toupa Phat Ning’ was apparently the high point of the Sunday Worship session. It drew the crowd, brought back memories of the 1980s when the Dorcas Team set the NorthEast India and adjoining areas in Upper Burma ablaze with their gospel music album. The presentation directed in a capella form with rhythmic stomping was responded with enthusiastic clapping from the crowd. And they sang along. The praise was so captivating that the offering bowl brought in the mean time was almost a distraction.

The offering was dedicated to the Lord by Upa Damsawmthang.

The Pastor conducted dedication of new born child name Faith Manhoih d/o Mrs and Mr Robert Ginsuanlian. That was followed by induction of 5 newly arrived.

Praise from the Youth Wing of the Church, BYF with the song titled, ‘Toupa’ Zonsuah Nam’ written by V. Nunlian pronounces the authors optimistic view about the state of the Zomis.

The hymn ‘Kong Phat uhi’ with a bridge somewhere along stirred the soul in a unique way. Thereafter the worshippers rose to the hit gospel ‘A Hampha Pasian Mite’ with similar approaches with ‘Toupa’ Zonsuah Nam’ with a slightly different execution and style.

The list of hymns through which congregation worshipped is as follows:-

1.       Phat Din Na ki Lawm Hi

2.       Tua Chiang Ka Khan

3.       Vualzawl na Ka Tan Vang in

4.       Hon Huai Nawn in

5.       Kong Phat Uhi

6.       A Hampha Pasian Mite

7.       Jesu Tui Hing Lui

8.       Jesu Nakiang a Om Ka Ut

9.       Ka Gam Uh Hon Dam Sak In

10.   Khua Siangthou Jerusalem

The Worship Service was blessed with benediction by Upa Khamkhanpau
http://ebccdelhi.org/activities/latest-news/368-congregation-worship-april-28-2013.html

Ralte Is he Black?

A Mizo has created sensations in an utterly neglected realm of Indian sports- football.  Hindustan Times reported that that Kingfisher East Bengal rode on Lalrindika Ralte’s extra time goal to outlast Churchill Brothers in the first semifinal of the 34th Federation Cup at the Kanchanjungha Stadium. The report further states that East Bengal would then now take on the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between Dempo SC and Salgaocar SC, in the final on Sunday. That was the last quarter of September, 2012.

In an atmosphere dominated by sports events taking place in the west, I didn’t have any inclination to follow the Federation Cup matches. But some things made me think twice. And before I turn to look at other sports news I examined the picture accompanying the HT report. The Hindustan Times report carried a picture of a black guy vying for the ball with a chinky guy in red jersey.

I thought the fair skinned guy in red jersey must have been the Ralte character that made headlines. I was wrong!!! The red Jersey during that match belongs to Churchill brothers. East Bengal player shown in the picture happened to be a certain Edeh Chidih. I should have googled for ralte’s pic had official work not taken precedence. I wanted to see Messi in action. I wanted to see Kagawa score another EPL goal for the reds. I forgot everything about the Indian scene.

When the lump of newspaper hit my the balcony of my residence this morning, I knew that HT wouldn’t tell the outcome of the second leg UEFA Champions League between Real Madrid and Galatasaray, all I look for in the HT sports page was what the pundits had to say about Messi’s fitness. With that in mind I turned to the last page of HT. There I happened to spot the Mizo’s name in the headlines once again. As in the previous instance the HT report carry the picture of a black guy controlling the ball with a fair skinned guy whose face partially appear above the black’s head, tackling. This time it’s about an AFC in Kolkata. East Bengal won the match with the winning goal scored by Ralte.

This time 'Ralte' takes precedence over official work. On googling the name I realize that neither in the Federation Cup nor in AFC where his efforts have turned the tables, has HT the courage to show the picture of the boy wonder. Had Ralte hailed from the British Royal family, his relatives might have been pleased. Not here. For a professional sportsman it makes commercial sense to hog the limelight, else you end up ruminating your earning from the club you play for. You need a lot of positive exposure, get the attention of bigger clubs and wealthy corporates.

Im sure the boy has no grudge against any official, media person or team mates. He looks happy. At 21 any one with the same talent and same level of patronage would have been happy. But with a little bit more favor shown to him, he could have been better off. Hopefully the case with HT is an exception!