Ryan Ofei

Passion for Christ Feature

“Hi my name is Ryan Ofei, I am a 22 year old Carleton student who loves God”

One of my earliest childhood memories involves me at age 6 in Ghana, West Africa. I grew up watching preachers and worship concerts….a little different right? At that age I could remember a burning desire leading me to sing. It was as if it was coming out of me and I was being suppressed. I was telling my mother, “mommy I want to sing”. Her reply was an irritated no, but after much persistence she gave in and she was so astonished that I was good, that she invited all her friends in the neighbourhood to come hear me.

From that time on I kept singing at churches but my passion and encounter with the things of God were at an all time low. At 18 I moved from The GTA to Ottawa and began school at Carleton University. On my 19th birthday I escaped an accident that almost took my life. After this event I couldn’t help but praise God and realize how close He was to me, even when I running away. I began to get more involved and find out who this God, really was to me. At age 20, my best friend and Pastor, Kofi Dartey accepted God’s call to start a ministry on our campus called Campus Rush. I remember him sitting down with me in my meadowlands summer home that I was subletting at the time. He said, “I want you to lead the worship team”. I almost laughed, but then I saw he was serious. He went on to say it won’t be easy and we may loose friends along the way. I told him that I was in 100% as my spirit locked with the vision immediately.

I released an acoustic EP named Kairos Moment on my 20th birthday. The Campus Rush Music collective consists of worship leaders who are passionate about witnessing this generation on fire for God. I have had the privilege of leading the worship team alongside pastor Sewa Ayoola. Our group is now over 20 members and has been together for 2 years and have sparked a revolution on campuses at Carleton University and UOttawa. Campus Rush Music has now held two “discharge” events, which are essentially worship nights held in the enemy’s territory. Whether a club or a school theatre, we are unashamed to declare the name of Jesus. Our unconventional approach and faith has led to many souls being won to the kingdom. Under CRM, I have been privileged with releasing two group albums named Young on Fire (2015) and Secret Place (2016). I thank God everyday for allowing me to find purpose and achieve destiny.

In this short time span, I can truthfully say God has transformed my life. The passion I carry for singing is now greater than ever before. The revelation of who God is to me is as deep as recognizing Him as the source of my next breath. I have come to an understanding that we are called to live out our worship. We are called to bring Glory to the King in all that we do. I am now understanding the key to a deeper walk is not in getting more of God, but in giving more of ourselves. It is for this reason that I jump as high as I can and sing as loud as I can. My worship is my sacrifice to the Lord. I know sometimes I may look crazy… But hey it got me featured on this blog… Ahaha

2016 has been a great year for me personally. Elohim has really worked many miracles for me, proving himself as Yahweh Yireh. Within the past couple months, I have received provision and favour that I never imagined. I want to return all the Glory to God. He has truly shown me that the tests we face are for our good.

Upcoming!

Things to look forward to for the remainder of 2016 are the “Jesus in the City” concert on June 25th. The team has been called to minister for a set in the heart of downtown Toronto at what is one of Canada’s largest Christian events. As well we are releasing the revival single on the 25th of June. I will be leading worship June 30th to July 3rd at the Young on Fire conference at Campus Rush which will be a powerful time in Gods presence. The last major plan is in the works. I am working on a project entitled songs of deliverance. the expected release date is November 30th. The songs will be in two fold, deliverance from oppressing and dark forces as well as songs of joy and freedom in the exodus.

Ubani Hilary Chiamaka (Larry)

Passion Feature

My name is Ubani Hilary Chiamaka, I have been rapping/writing songs since I was 8 years old, rappers like Tupac, Lupe Fiasco, Kirk Franklin, Nas, Eminem and Kanye west inspired me to become a rapper. I rap because I want to get messages across, I know there are a lot of people that have been in my circumstance, that are in my circumstance and that will be in my circumstance, so I try to send words of encouragement in some of my lyrics. Also I rap in order to bring positivity into a world in which the negatives outweighs the positive.

https://www.facebook.com/uchiamakahilary

Dangers of a Lazy Day

I’m back to kick off the IYA series this week. From here on out the upcoming posts will be more frequent. This week, I let myself get sidetracked and I got into a bit of a mental rut that included netflix binging. I usually hate when these lazy weeks happen to me, and I’m not happy that it did but I got a chance to dig deeper into why I let it continue to be a cycle.

Lazy Days

One lazy hour can turn into lazy days, weeks, months and in retrospect sometimes a year. Many January 1st’s I have looked back into the months prior and realized that it was a really lazy year for me. As easy as it is to press play for that next Netflix episode it is so much harder to think of what’s next when it comes to the future of our lives.

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It’s not your poems holding you back.

I think everyone comes to a point where they start to fall into the clichés. We all think we’re above them, that they’ll never affect us and that we don’t need anybody or any help. ( the “I can do bad all by myself” attitude). That’s a pretty unauthentic way to live but, there isn’t anybody that can stop you from feeling or thinking that way but you. You may have the high whiny nagging voice in your head saying I don’t have a talent, nobody will like me, I have no purpose, somebody out there is better than me at doing yada yada. But sure, why not think all of those things. Especially if you haven’t tried and especially because we have 9 lives to live and we have all the time in the world to wallow in our self-pity. Wrong “ain’t nobody got time for that”. I’m just tired of us individuals thinking we’re all original strugglers, like nobody before us was ever confused about life, or wondered of their purpose and talents, who failed, who cut themselves off from the world, became “cold-hearted”, who weren’t considered normal, who coloured outside of the box, who were ostracized, who were broke and tired. None one of those things matter in terms of you reaching success unless you make them matter. You can stay sad and broke all you like but until you find out that the real riches on this earth cannot be accessed through your bank account, you’re going to have a rough time finding the gold in your dirt.