Oh my God! And I do mean oh my GOD!
I've always wondered if I can change the world. A lofty ambition. But not impossible. Because one man and one God can and did change the world.
Elaine called me at 6pm and told me to meet her at 7.30pm at Lido for a movie premiere. She said it's an event organized by
Focus on the Family. So I changed and met her, Adeline and Alex from YWAM Kona at Wisma's Food Republic. Then we trooped down to Lido at 8pm for the reception.
Jud was working that night and I was told to keep Xavier company. Haha.
Okie, let's get back to the movie.
Amazing Grace, I was told, is a movie about a man's campaign against slavery. So.... Yours truly had the impression that it's about a black man's struggle to break out of slavery. And then I saw the poster and it featured this white guy in Victorian garb. I couldn't put two and two together.
By the way, it is an excellent excellent movie! Please do catch it. It opens today! I don't mind sitting through it a second time. :)
So anyway,
Amazing Grace is a story of
William Wilburforce and his ceaseless campaign against slave trade. He was a disciple of
John Newton and has heard of how John was plagued by 20,000 souls of African slaves he brought on his slaveship. Wilburforce was also plagued by images of slaves in chains and this ignited his passion to exterminate the slave trade in Britain. Such
passion (so attractive! *squeals*) exudes from an individual to liberate Africans from slavery and such drive to achieve his goal for a law to be passed to put an end to slave trade in Britain. Such
wit exhibited during his show-downs with the opposition in Parliament. Such
faith that compelled him to surge ahead, from educating bourgeois about the ghastly conditions the slaves were transported in the slaveships - the Madagascar set sail with 600 slaves from Africa and only 200 were left when it reached Britain, petitioning - he gathered a petition with 360 signatures and presented to the Parliament, collecting data and statistics, speaking in public, to visiting a slaveship and getting a first-hand account from a slave who survived - Equiano. He was relentless in his pursuit for a cause he believed in! That's how inspiring! And he found a woman who, too, believed in the mission that God has put in his heart.
Who says we can't change the world? It's hard work but with God all things are possible. All we have to do is be that person and step out in faith.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come,
'Twas grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me Home.
When we've been there Ten thousand Years
Bright Shining as the Sun
We've no less days to sing Gods praise
Than when we first begun.
This, my friends, is a contestant of Mr. Singapore 2007, representing Bukit Batok! :)
