DMU International Students having delicious dinner
EL-Ellah Catering
staff
serving
students.
EL-Ellah Catering
staff serving
students.
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Over 118 DMU international students
attended Jesus Day celebrations
hosted by the Emmanu’-EL Apostolic
Church (EAC) and the Emmanu’-EL
Apostolic Gospel Academy (EAGA)
at the De Montfort University Campus
Centre on December 25, 2010.br />
Members of EAC and EAGA gathered
together to celebrate Jesus Day,
that which the world propose to
be the birth of Jesus Christ and
therefore call it Christmas. Considering
that the Christian meaning of this
time is God’s gift to the world
of his only son Jesus Christ, the
organisations make it their responsibility
each year to cater for the needs
of international students within
the De Montfort University.
Jesus Day began with the first service,
which will be held annually, commencing
at 8 am in the morning and then
finishing at about 9am. At 2 pm
the doors were opened once again
for the international students,
who were not able to go home for
the holidays, to come and be a part
of a family; sharing and dining
with the members of the organisations.
These included students and guests
from Morocco, India, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Libya, Nigeria, Russia,
China, Kenya, Jamaica, Zimbabwe,
Sudan and even some from home, England.
On arrival students were greeted
by an usher who took their names
and contact details. She then led
them to where they could get a hot
drink and some snacks. After this
they were directed to the chaplaincy
where a cold buffet awaited them.
They then chose from a spread which
included rolls, wraps and sandwiches
for both the meat lovers and the
vegetarian.
As the guests sat down and ate,
they watched a documentary regarding
the truth about Christmas. The documentary
shed some light on certain components
of the Christmas celebration which
included the Christmas tree, Santa
Claus, Yule log and even the mistle
toe. It revealed that Christmas
was a Pagan ritual that the Catholic
Church adopted as they tried to
convert the pagans to Christianity.
The presenter for the evening, Pastor
Samuel Gapara then led an open forum
where members of the audience could
voice their opinions or ask questions
about what they did not understand
about Christmas. Sister Antonia
Whyte ministered the song ‘Now Behold
the Lamb’ and members of the audience
were impressed by her fantastic
voice control and ministration,
especially from a girl so young.
Live music was played by members
of the children’s choir.
Members of the audience introduced
themselves and Pastor Samuel invited
a member from each country to speak
about how they celebrated Christmas
in their country. A Chinese student
said that only students in the university
would celebrate Christmas and give
gifts to each other as Christmas
was not a part of Chinese celebrations.
The floor was then opened for anyone
to show a talent that they had a
dance a song etc. A song was given
by two Russian students and of the
many Chinese students who were seated,
one brave Chinese young lady got
up and song a song which had many
joining in with the clapping beat.
They were also entertained by the
sounds of Zimbabwe as almost every
Shona and Ndebele singer rose up
at the sound of Zimbabwe and joined
in the song Masifika and other songs.
As members of the Gospel Academy,
church, international students and
other guests mingled and familiarised
themselves with each other, 6 pm
came and the dinner was served.
Again, they ventured to the chaplaincy
where they were greeted with a much
bigger spread than before. A variety
of different meats and foods were
being heated in chaffing dishes.
Many students looked in awe as this
was beyond their expectations. Laid
out in buffet style on the table
were, rice and peas, jerked chicken,
fried chicken wings, salads of different
types, cow foot, turkey curried
goat and roasted lamb, They were
spoilt for choice as there was a
variety of juices that could be
had, however, many drank ‘The blood
of Jesus’.
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