The start of another year

I made it here,

No, He brought me here,

To live mind set beyond here.

The start of another year,

Not everyone made it here,

The promise to live near,

To hold Him dear.

The start of another year,

Nothing else to fear,

His cross to bear,

His voice to hear.

The start of another year,

Not something mere,

A gift to cherish dear,

You being here.

The start of another year,

Still journeying there,

Preparation here,

For eternity there.

The start of another year,

Failings in the distant rear,

Eternal promises to cherish dear,

Following Him faithfully here.

0029GMT

01-01-16

By Sidney Nii Sai Schandorf

Nii Sai went to be with the Lord; his legacy lives on.

Not everyone looks forward to Christmas with joy and excitement....for some, this is their first Christmas without a loved one/family member or a friend that they always spent the season with....Some are in countries where they are not surrounded by many family and friends, and miss home + the traditions they are used to terribly....Some live among people who do not want to hear 'Christ' mentioned at all....No matter where you live or how you feel in this season, remember this: Jesus is the reason....His Name is "Immanuel"; GOD WITH US! Halleluyah! What a Saviour!

For those that grieve God will bring comfort Laughter will rapture there This is my Christmas prayer...

See I pray that love will rule and reign And I pray that time will rid the pain of this world As we learn to trust and care This is my Christmas prayer...

I pray for you That you triumph and conquer Possess the strength you need to bear This is my Christmas prayer...

For those in need There would be plenty And each other's burdens share Oh, this is my Christmas prayer...

"Jesus!"

Something special, Supernatural about Your Name

Jesus!

Something happens when i mention Your Name

Demons have to flee when I say Jesus (Jesus)

Sickness has to heal when I say Jesus (Jesus)

Every knee shall bow before and every tongue proclaim

With worthy praise that matchless name of Jesus!" #KurtCarr

"...and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. 1:21b

FB 17th Dec. 2013

 ...after Day 1 of the 2019 Heritage Caravan

@The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Head Office

3rd March 2019

Dear Ama,

This year, the Lord miraculously made a way for me to be a part of the Heritage Caravan. It’s a road trip that Citi FM started organizing in 2016 to celebrate ‘Heritage Month’ so this is the fourth edition. However, this is a unique one because this is the first time we’re touring 14 out of Ghana’s 16 regions. :) Not too long ago, Ghana ‘changed’ in the sense that we no longer have 10 regions but 16 and our batch of ‘Caravanites’ is special because we’re touring a newly demarcated nation. Today is Sunday 3rd March and I’m typing this letter from the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho, where we spent our first night. I refer to my participation in this trip as a miracle because as of last Sunday (February 24th), I didn’t know I’d be part of this trip. So I had expressed interest in the Heritage Caravan, made inquiries and all but I missed the deadline for registration and when I called the organizers on Friday February 22nd, I was told registration had been closed a week earlier. Sad...but I told them that if anything changed, they should let me know. I didn’t know if anything would change, plus I didn’t know how we would even pay for the trip...so I silently started to let it go. But a part of me still kept hope alive. You should read the full details of this miracle in my journal in the section of ‘He hears us when we call’.  A lot can truly happen in a week! I was called on the evening of Sunday 24th February that there was an available slot for me and on Monday February 25th, God provided the cash for the trip too; a confirmation to me that He has willed my participation.

We are about 150 people on this year’s Heritage Caravan and this number includes Police Officers, Nurses, Entertainers, Drivers, Tour Guides and Coordinators. The organizers said that ‘the Heritage Caravan gives a platform for patrons to experience Ghana through sites, food, drinks, music, dance and the culture of the various regions.’ We have been strongly advised to keep an open mind throughout the entire journey because there are many different Ghanaians all living their own realities, and though they may appear different from us, we are all one people.

Ghana is a beautiful country and I want you to grow up being confident in who God has made us. God put us here for a reason and a purpose and until we accept who He has made us, we will find no rest. He's got the whole world in His hands...and He's got times and seasons in His hands too. Wherever He leads you, follow The King and obey Him.

Love,

Your Ghanaian Mama. :)

My bus was 'Bus 2' :)

Day 1, Heritage Caravan (trip) 2019

  It's C.S. Lewis month for me! Hurray!

...I'll be reflecting on his conversion and writings and sharing them with you... Cheers!

"When he died on Nov. 22, 1963 hardly a soul blinked in Northern Ireland where he was born or in England where he spent most of his working life as one of the world’s greatest Christian apologists.

Clive Staples Lewis was a week short of 65 when he suffered a heart attack at his home in Oxford. The obituary writers barely noticed his demise, in part because he died on the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas..."

FB 2013 4th Nov

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” - C.S.Lewis.

"He could, if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without missionaries. Instead, He allows soil and weather and animals, and the muscles, minds and wills of men to co- operate in the execution of His will." #C. S. Lewis #The Efficacy of Prayer

"You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England" - C. S. Lewis, Surprised By Joy.

*Today when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts...give in, admit, pray...for everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. 🙂

 Has anyone ever assumed you couldn’t do something because you were young, or female, or male, or because you’d done something a little silly in the past? It can be horrible, especially when it feels like you were made to do something that others say you can’t. Well, God doesn’t underestimate us like that, and He calls us to build people up rather than tear them down. The Bible is full of characters that people expected absolutely nothing from: David was a shepherd boy, Moses was considered an orphan, Elizabeth was an old barren woman, Joseph was the youngest of 12 brothers (bit of a dreamer, too), and yet each of these played a vital role in God’s huge tapestry of a plan. In today’s terms even Jesus was a refugee, born to a teenage mother and a poor carpenter. God builds even hopeless-looking lives into glorious examples of His goodness. And we’re called to reflect that hope back to others. Even in small ways. Every conversation, shared lunch, genuine compliment, counts. And maybe next time someone tells you to be ‘realistic’, remind yourself (and maybe even them) of the adventures God led His people on, freeing them from oppression, and from feeling like they were worth nothing. Then give your dreams to God and let Him make you into all that He sees for you. He believes in you, so let Him take you to where you’re supposed to be. - Word 4u 2day

Thought: Write about Mawuli...

Me: What shall I write? I only knew her for a short period. Let those who knew her better do this task.

Thought: Write what you knew about her.

Me: That would be a short post. I had only gotten to know her a bit more when God called her home.

Thought: You still remember her birthday and her favourite hymn.

Me: Well, yes...but I remember many birthdays and anniversaries...that's 'regular'

Thought: Well, yes...but you never know what the said 'short story' of yours would be used for by God...do you?

Me: No, I don't. I just posted this on my WhatsApp status this morning too oo - "Tis mine to obey, 'Tis His to provide"

Thought: So why don't you just obey?

Me: Well........

Mawuli Afua Buami (1985 - 2007)

I was reminded via an online session by Tosin Iyawo Ogaga yesterday that it's good to write down our thoughts. This has been confirmed today - I looked up the tribute I had to put together (unwillingly 😔 at the time) on behalf of KNUST's Students' Chaplaincy Council (shared below) and realized that there are some details in there I am beginning to forget. It's been 15 years already....since Eli went to be with the Lord....and I trust that God's grace is keeping the Buami and allied families. 

Me...about Eli...in a few words... 

"A sweet young lady who wasn't ashamed of the Ewe girl she was, had an interesting sense of humour, showed maturity, loved to look good and was appropriately dressed for various occasions. Her favourite hymn, which reps of the University Choir sung at her funeral service: O Thou Who camest from above."

October 4th of every year, I remember Eli in a happy way. :) All praise and thanks to God in all things. Amen.

Selah. 4th October 2022

Eli - 'tallest' lady in this 'girls girls' shot taken at 'Gaza', KNUST, on 3rd April 2006

TRIBUTE TO OUR LATE SISTER AND FRIEND, MAWULI AFUA BUAMI, BY THE STUDENTS" CHAPLAINCY COUNCIL, KNUST

"Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, then how is it that some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain".

1 Corinthians 15:12-14

It was with deep shock that most members of the Christian Community on campus, KNUST, received news of the death of our sister and friend, Mawuli Afua Buami. But through it all, we have learnt to trust in Jesus and to give thanks to the Most High God.

As a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church back at home, Mawuli fellowshipped with the Evangelical Presbyterian Students" Union (EPSU-KNUST)  on campus. She was a member of the "Ushering Wing" of the Church. Eli, EPSU-KNUST members would miss your smiles and "hellos" as you cheerfully welcomed people to Church at the door, and dutifully went round with the Offertory baskets when it was time to give our substance to the Lord. At our last Picnic as a Church, we vividly remember your participation in the "musical chairs" . You also partook in the  "It Takes Two" with our present President. None of us ever thought you would be absent from our next picnic, let alone absent from the world.

Because Eli loved worshiping our Creator the "Presbyterian" way and especially through Hymns and Spiritual songs, she was also a member of the University Choir, KNUST. Before the Choir's last performance at the Great Hall dubbed "Whispers" ( to celebrate Ghana's Golden Jubilee), she never hesitated to help other choir members, especially Alto part members with the songs the choir performed. Some of the songs Eli would be remembered for are "Ghanaviwo, mina miwo deka" and "Ghananyigba", as she helped some of her friends with the lyrics, which are in Ewe. Though her hostel was quite some distance from campus she made it to "rehearsals" most of the time.

Mawuli, the Christian Community would miss you but we are rest assured that you would continue singing "Halleluyah" , this time, not to the congregation but directly to the King of Kings.

Mawuli Afua Buami, Rest in Perfect Peace.

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive".

Amen.

Billy Graham’s 9/11 Message From Washington National Cathedral

God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be. The Bible says that He is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.”

We confess our need of God. We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially. We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.

The Bible says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”

But how do we understand something like this? Why does God allow evil like this to take place? Perhaps that is what you are asking. You may even be angry at God. I want to assure you that God understands these feelings that you may have.

What are some of the lessons we can learn?

First, we are reminded of the mystery and reality of evil. I have been asked hundreds of times why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I do not know the answer. I have to accept, by faith, that God is sovereign, and that He is a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering.

The Bible says God is not the Author of evil. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7 the Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity. The Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”

The lesson of this event is not only about the mystery of iniquity and evil, but, second, it’s a lesson about our need for each other.

What an example New York and Washington have been to the world these past few days! None of us will forget the pictures of our courageous firefighters and police, or the hundreds of people standing patiently in line to donate blood.

Finally, difficult as it may be for us to see right now, this event can give a message of hope—hope for the present and hope for the future.

As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life, but for heaven and the life to come. And many of those people who died this past week are in heaven now. And they wouldn’t want to come back. It’s so glorious and so wonderful. That is the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart.

We never know when we too will be called into eternity. I doubt if those people who got on those planes or who walked into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon on Tuesday thought that it would be the last day of their lives. And that’s why we each must face our own spiritual need and commit ourselves to God and His will.

"We've seen so much that brings tears to our eyes and makes us all feel a sense of anger. But God can be trusted, even when life seems at its darkest." — Billy Graham (Sept. 14, 2001).

Bob Swierupski, 9/11 Survivor - “I was walking in the street right next to the firemen going directly into the area from which everyone else was evacuating. I could see the fearless intensity in their faces. They were going to put out the fire and save lives.”

Michael Hingson, 9/11 survivor - "I may never know the answers to the questions that plagued me after 9/11. But I know if we lean on God and each other, we will be guided to a better, brighter future."

We remember - and we give thanks! " Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

Selah.

Words of wisdom from our big brother, Mr. Richard Edzeame - shared on Facebook on 18th September, 2012.

12 years on - still very true! Pass it on! Cheers, to newly-weds all around the world! 

Wedding rings

"The frequent expressions of affection and approval couples give each other during courtship and in the honeymoon stage can dwindle in the first years of marriage. You may still love each other just as much, but you start to talk about it less. 

Contrary to the fairy tales we were weaned on, romance always fades. But you can keep your romantic love alive long after the honeymoon has ended. The secret is simple: Do everything you can now to establish lasting habits of loving behaviour. 

The habits you develop now can lead either to actions that will nurture lifelong love or to behaviours that will sabotage your love. The little things you do now - without thinking - will shape your relationship for years to come. So pay attention to those little things. 

We tend to think about romance on a grand scale - such as the perfect, once-a-year getaway - and neglect the little opportunities that present themselves every day. Consider how you greet one another after work, or how well you incorporate common courtesies like saying "please" and "thank you". Be sure to maintain a dating habit, too, to keep your marriage from falling into the doldrums of working all week and coming home to collapse on the weekends. 

Keep love alive - starting now - by establishing daily habits of romance, passion and intimacy. Your honeymoon will become more than just a memory. It will become a way of life. God bless. "

Selah.

Wednesday nights. 7pm. Choir rehearsals. Memories. KNUST. 

Tonight, I celebrate my University Choir family and especially, a man i met in my first year - Julius Richardson; God used him to change my perception about joining a Choir.

At the time I met him, I thought it was 'ok' to be a 'little late' for Choir rehearsals and sing 'just well enough' when singing (because you'd be among others and the song will turn out 'just fine' to listeners). You should have seen the shock on my face when at one of my early rehearsal sessions, one of the 'highly esteemed' alto soloists was about 10 minutes late and was 'punished' to stand for a few minutes. The reason for my shock? - In some choirs, the 'lead singers' are almost 'untouchable'; no one talks about their issues for fear of the choir being 'abandoned'. Not so with the University Choir, KNUST. No one was above the law. We were all equal...bringing Glory to God....singers, soloists, Choir masters, pianists, etc. We were made to understand that we were not doing God or anyone a favour by being in the Choir.

A lesson / value I picked up from 'Choirmaster Julius' in particular was this----God deserves our best. You could hear him say (with his strong voice) while conducting; 'Sopranos, what screeching sound is that?', 'Organist, don't slow me down...this song is supposed to be played faster than what you're playing now', 'Choir, I don't think this song we're singing is pleasing to God...the song is supposed to be sung with joy. We're either singing it or we're not'. His passion for excellence was contagious. God bless you Sir! 🙂

We often associate this scripture with work; 'whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to man'....but it should apply to many more areas of our lives. If we're singing or playing an instrument, God deserves our best. In everything, we shouldn't give Him less than our best! SING! HALLELUYAH!

July 2019 - with 'Choirmaster Julius'

June 2021- with Augustus & Julius

13th September never passes without a smile on my face...thanking God for you. You wrote this about Komla Dumor and today, I repeat the same words about you: 

"He is gone but his legacy lives on. You can be gone and your legacy will live on. We each leave a legacy. What kind are you leaving?"

...Now when Nii Sai had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep...You're celebrated, soldier!🥳🙏 #2020post

1st Sept.2012 by Nii Sai (Facebook)  "Sometimes we obsess with getting the answer "yes" from God. Truth be told sometimes His best answers are "no," "wait" or "my Grace is sufficient." If you're saved and your life is entrusted to Him, know that His responses are always the best and instead of going round from camp to camp, why not trust your life to Him, whatever the answer. He is sovereign and He works it all out for His grander purpose. It is enough for me that He is God and that He is in charge. Selah" - Sidney Laud Yaw Schandorf , 12th Feb., 2014

Photos taken by Nii Sai on 11th June 2011

u know he's anti photographs but he represented

 Dear God….Thank You for Vacation Bible School, 2024 🎊 I’m thankful for all the seeds of truth that You’ve made available. 🎉🙏🏾 Theme: God's Rock-Solid Truth in a world of shifting sands.

“Bless the Legon Interdenominational Church & all other congregations worldwide who keep contributing to make this happen every year.”

Meet the needs of, & refresh all volunteers, helpers, parents, grandparents, teachers, etc….in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ we pray, with lots of thanksgiving.🙏🏾”

“As for the dear children all around the world🌎….placed in Thy tender care, this week & always, we trust You to lead & guide them with Your truth - all their days!” 

“And bind Your Church together in love & unity…so we can shine our lights together- for Your glory!” 🙏🏾🌎

Amen.