QUEEN ESTHER GENERATION

Echoes of 2015: “Keep On Moving, Don’t Stop”

/ Yinka (Anthonia) Gansallo-Lawrence / 7 Comments

In one word, how would you describe your encounter with the year 2015?

Beyond any doubt, this is certainly my year of “Go, Get it done now”.  Even as am writing this, my head is thrown back in an exaggerated falling motion, hands and eye lashes flapping joyously with a deep amorous laughter (like an excited toddler) While at the back of my head, I envisioned my favorite Trinidadian musician (Mighty Sparrow) playing my favorite soca version of ‘Dancing Queen” as I grooved to the rhythm and yell out…Yes!!

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American Cancer Society – Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk  Team: Greater Than Cancer. OCTOBER 2015

Are you wondering “what planet is she on exactly, with all these gestures of excitement? Eh, common, ‘it’s not even close to what you’re thinking, honestly… (Lol) “so-get-your-crummy-mind-out-of-the refrigerator and listen to what I’ve got to say! (smiles).

Wow! My heart is completely paraded with these un-explainable kind of feeling you get when you just finished scooping up your last spoon of ice cream, its still melting on your tongue, but because you just don’t want to quickly loose that sugar rush sensation, you drag the dissolving process. You smile as you close your eyes, allowing the powerful luscious sensation to play hide and seek in your mouth. Hmmm.

You mutter to yourself, ‘Wholly Guacamole!! ‘This is s-w-e-e-t! You are licking the escaped creamy patch with your tongue and just hoping everyday would be an-ice-cream day, Yeah, it feels good right? Exactly! That’s the cloud I am on.

So, I bet everyone DID something spectacular and different this 2015? Something crazy but excitingly abstract? Something out of the norm, yet breathtakingly unique? Something unusual but rewarding? Believe me, every one of us DID something peculiar compared to 2014. Whether Commendable, Confusing or Complicated. Something did happened that has shifted our mindset! It’s called the Go, Get it done dictum!

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RCCG LSMC Total Woman Conference – April 2015

For me, I couldn’t have ended 2015 well without thanking God for all the beautiful spaces and platform of opportunities that were created for me! From the initiation and launching of the NGOs to the acceptance into doctoral school!

The powerful ministration at the Total Woman Conference, my wonderful superb sisters-united power team! The eye opener at the much awaited residency program in AZ! The long summer nights at the beach with family! The crab feast at the Inner harbor, the once in a lifetime impact and blessings received from Kenya during the QEG Summit!

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Queen Esther Generation Summit in Kenya. JUNE- JULY 2015

The joy of embracing new dreams and walking away from past distractions, standing tall to establish self in career! The “shut-the-front-door” kind of feelings you get when you decide to stand tall, no matter what! The mind-blowing and oh-so-humble experience of connecting with relevant links  in Nigeria, the magnitude of the support system.

OMG! My beautiful team members in Lagos still expanding, making headlines and treading on a just cause for humanity! PRICELESS.  Oh! What a night! @ Etim Inyang Crescent, V/Island with WAZOBIA Naija FM Spectacular midnight host of Love Clinic, Kbabalovedoctor. Awesome!

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WAZOBIA FM Lagos, Love Clinic Host, KBABALOVEDOCTOR. OCT 2015

 

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“My Life after Cancer” Interview with 60 Minutes TV, Lagos. Oct 2015.

Aha! The courageous families in whose

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Autism Awareness In Nigeria – Interview with TREK MAG. in Lagos. Sept 2015

presence, participation and position completed my GO GET IT DONE project in Nigeria. My first humanitarian award team, Thank you! For every support system unintentionally not mentioned. Thank you.Literally, this is for everyone who’s touched my heart in 2015, either paraded it, nursed it, comforted it, cared for it, scribbled on it or skipped it or even attempted to torture it! Thank you.

 

My Greater Than Cancer team in the US! Thank you for your support and your genuine love, for dragging yourselves out to walk with me that very cold Saturday morning in Oct! You guys rock and made a survivor feel so special to be alive. Love you all for real!

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Team: Greater Than Cancer, USA

I am grateful for new friendships defined, old ones restored and damaging ones put aside for remission. For all the projects left hanging but never forgotten, the best is yet to come.

Finally, let’s search our conscience in the remaining hours, ‘what walk awayhas 2015 done for you, lately? What is that beautiful memory you want to frame and adorn with praises? Or what’s that situation that looks like progress in the making but really behind closed doors, brings you to tears? What’s that addiction or craving you are still abhorring? What’s that one word you’ve been dreading to say? ‘Afraid of going into 2016? What’s that one brutal feeling of rejection, emptiness, hopelessness and depression you’d rather bury with 2015? Marital issues? Complicated relationships? Estranged Family members? Mr. Right still hiding? Health problems? Kids acting up? Conception not cooperating? Loved ones departure? ‘Got baggage? Got issues? ‘Got trust problem? ‘Got heart break? ‘Got love to give? Aha! ‘Got Christ? You do? ‘Then you already ‘Got this! 🙂

This is the best time to get up and get it done. Whatever it is that’s holding you back from your aspiration, ‘deal with it now. This is not even about making resolutions. This is more of a period of revelation.

I am hoping someone reading this will tap into that realm too. Set up inward realistic goals, and let your passion for success be your drive for the New Year. ‘Cos, that’s what am doing. Thank y’all for a rewarding 2015!  See you in a ‘Doing IT RIGHT 2016! by God’s grace.

Yours in HOPE as I share “Keep On Moving” by Soul II Soul.

Yinka.

For such a time as this in Kenya!

/ Yinka (Anthonia) Gansallo-Lawrence / 17 Comments
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The Maasai attendants at the QEG Summit.

My encounter with QUEEN ESTHER GENERATION 2015 Summit in Kenya.

When you hear the name Queen Esther, what comes to your mind immediately? Another fable in the bible? Or a story about a lady who spoke into existence her desire for her people? Or a tale about an orphaned Jewish girl raised by her older cousin, Mordecai? Or a myth about a serene girl who wowed the King over with her subtle character? Or a certain girl who suppressed Queen Vashti’s arrogance of ignoring King Xerxes (the powerful King who ruled over 127 provinces) by simply being responsive, reactive and receptive, when she was called upon to showcase her beauty – Who gallantly walked into a palace and made a King bow to her request? Or a common citizen of a then-generation un-known, who changed the agenda and royal protocol by standing out and living her destiny? Who do we know Esther to be?

Do we even understand the magnitude of the legacy she’s left behind for a new generation of women and their un-born children to come, even as we are reading this?

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Dr. Kinyanju Ng’ang’a, Apostle Despina and Pastor Esther Obasi-Ike giving MOTHER’s BLESSINGS AT KICC, KENYA

Well, I do now.

And so do the 6,000 women who attended the Queen Esther Generation summit with me in Kenya just recently.

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SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS AT KICC, KENYA.

So, what is Queen Esther Generation movement all about?

It is a non-denominational women’s program in Nairobi, Kenya. Founded by Pastor (Dr.) Mrs. Esther Obasi-Ike. The vision is to have a society of transformed, equipped, empowered and engaged Christian women in selfless service to God and humanity. Fondly referred to as ‘QEG” – the mission is aimed at becoming a premier organization committed to providing and promoting women leadership with a difference.

Allow me to indulge your audience as I bring to you, the wonderful life transforming experience at Queen Esther Generation summit, which I was so blessed to be a part of courtesy of my home church Pastor (Thank you!).

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PRAISE & WORSHIP NIGHT AT NYAYO STADIUM.

Permit me to reminiscence and conjure up the powerful solidarity of a team of devoted and dedicated women whose storylines and paths are interwoven with life’s issues! The power of prayer amongst a determined group of women in need of a breakthrough for their household! The impact of the ministration that was so strong that it pulled out a crowd of over 500 attendants to the pulpit during altar call to dedicate their lives! The testimonies of women who were once teenagers and had wandered away into the wilderness or suffered abusive relationship, desperate for a change and ready to cancel any generational curse evident in their lives!

 

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QEG Summit uniform. Praise Dance.

The radiance and glow on the faces of all the women who couldn’t have cared less about the person standing next to them! The govt. power house and the bread seller, the college professors and the janitors! The CEOs and the teenagers. All under one roof. For one mission. To seek God’s face.

Oh! The beauty and relief of just letting go and allowing the worship songs to take its place during praise night…and the dance moves! Aha!” it was like I couldn’t even remember the last time I danced so much in God’s presence! And didn’t even want to stop 2 hours after! It was indeed a summit of issuing an eviction notice to every illegal occupant in our lives! The amicable connection that developed with the new friends made! The personal stories that linked us together by fate!

Wow! Such a time as this!

The sudden rush of crowds filling up the stadium, the excitement on the faces of those already seated, beads of perspiration lined up on the foreheads of those stranded in traffic, the hustle and bustle of the open market, anxious drivers subconsciously driving in and out of the scattered potholes causing passengers to hold on tight to the edge of their seats, the pile up of cars and buses on the busy Mbagathi Way, the excitement at the Masaai market as women begin to pack up for the day – all in anticipation of attending the summit – I was just too blessed to witness all these around me!

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I KNOW WHO I AM – Praise Night at NYAYO stadium.

What blew my mind as I interviewed some attendants was the deep devotion and pure love they all have for this movement. “I was nothing but a lost a teenager when QEG transformed me, today am here with my children” “I always feel like a lost woman, but QEG turned my tears into joy” “Society has labeled me as a useless being, all the men in my life were just interested in what they could get from me” “I used to be on fire for God, campus life changed me, QEG delivered and supported me”  

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Food & Décor Shopping for the QEG Summit.

So, every woman carries the boldness of Queen Esther in them (sometimes it takes longer to discover it). Every woman is a star. And because every star was created to shine for others (not for ourselves) we become story tellers, and sometimes we all need a guide too to lead us into the kingdom, especially those of us who are not strong enough to win the battle of whatever we are struggling with. That is where the bond begins! That is how unity is built! And for every un-paved roads we’ve taken in life, the journey ahead becomes smoother and easy; only! When we are able to tap into the lessons of those before us. Literally, we become the GPS for the generation of women to come, after us. If only we lay a solid foundation for them now.

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QEG President & Founder, Pastor Esther Obasi-Ike acknowledging our presence. (Mrs Taiwo Ola & Yinka Lawrence). at KICC.

So, if you are reading this and you know a young adult/woman/man/teenager who is going through some turbulence in life? This is the time to be that movement. You don’t literally have to be in Kenya to be the change; you can start within your community. This is the time to stand up and adorn yourself with garment of compassion and kindness. This is not the time to judge or single out their misgivings. This is not the time to play church, but…to take the church to the needy! This is the time to reach out!

Never have I witnessed such a huge crowd of anointed gathering with everyone’s focus on making an impact or hungry for a change! I am hoping to pass down all QEG has taught me: Refining of character, Accessing the favor of God and being Alert to God’s lead. For having the best spirit-led hostess, Her Excellency at the Nigerian High Commission Residence, Thank you ma! For re-connecting with my so-long-ago-now happily married adopted baby sister in Kenya (Bola, Mr. J & Tiwa) Priceless! For having the most adorable protocol-in-service ladies from RCCG Solution Center, Kenya. Ss. Priscilla & Virginia, Thank you!. For the blessings that came from all the anointed speakers…’Powerful! ‘Because of you all…’It was indeed such a beautiful time of my life! ‘Much love.

Yours in HOPE as I share my favorite QEG praise night worship song “I know who I am” by SINACH.

Yinka.