Friday 29 May 2015

Homemade Flan Recipe




You will need

For the flan:
3 eggs
1 can of condensed milk
1 can of milk (same measure as the condensed milk)


For the sauce:
9 spoons of sugar
1/2 glass of water


How to prepare:

Blend the condensed milk, the mild and the eggs.


The sauce:

Melt the 9 spoons of sugar in a pot.
When it begins melting, add 1/2 glass of water.
It will begin to stick a little bit, but don't worry, just continue stirring it over low heat. 
Once it is completely molten, let it simmer on a low heat until it thickens. 
Then turn down the heat and let it cool down, until it begins to look like honey.



Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Then slowly pour the sauce into a pudding/cake baking tin. 
Pour it evenly over the tray.
Pour the flan mixture over the sauce. 
Get a bigger cake tin and fill it with water.
Put the tin containing your flan and sauce and inside the tin with water. 
Put in the oven for and let it back for 3 hours. 
Bake at 150°C. 

To test whether it is cooked, pierce it with a knife in the middle. If the knife comes out clean, then your flan is ready. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool down at room temperature.

Once it is cool to the touch, remove from the tin and decorate according to taste.

Enjoy! 



Wednesday 27 May 2015

A dream coming true in Cyprus



Helping Cyprus make a new beginning…

From Brazil to Mauritius, Japan to Australia, Spain to USA, since 1977 the UCKG HelpCentre has been helping many people turn their lives around for the better, and now it is Cyprus’ turn!

“The opening of the church in my parents' homeland is a dream realised for me. Now, a people bound to a religion that offers them no solution will experience and know the True and Living God!” says Chrissy B, host of the Chrissy B Show.


Pastor James and Ana Beatriz Alves.
Pastor James Alves and his wife Ana Beatriz Alves have gladly accepted the mission of opening the newest UCKG HelpCentre in Europe. 

The two expressed immense joy and awe when they found out of this remarkable opportunity.

They recently celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary in March and have previously worked in Brazil, Portugal and Greece. We caught up with Ana Beatriz in an interview, to find out the views of this vibrant 27 year old about her new challenge in Cyprus.

AAY – What crossed your mind when you were given this opportunity to open a UCKG HelpCentre in Cyprus?

ABA – It was a great surprise! Being in the Work of God, I consider myself to be like the wind. I go wherever the need arises.  But, even so, I never imagined I’d be here.

AAY Tell us a little bit about yourself. What made you decide to get married so young, at the age of 19?

ABA – I wanted to do the Work of God. It was a choice I made, not because of my parents’ influence, who are also doing this same work, but because I consider this to be my calling in life. This is what gives me reason to live and drives me to fight for people who are suffering and in need of help.

AAY – What has been your impression of Cyprus so far?

Ana Beatriz wants to bring joy to the heart of those who are depressed and sick.
ABA – It is a beautiful place, with spectacular beaches and warm temperatures. It’s a place with a lot of potential, but we find that many people here are depressed and sick. Many are empty and in need of God. So, I find it so amazing to be here, knowing that God is counting on me to save many people. Even though I’m young, I’m ready to give them my all.

AAY – How have the locals been reacting to your arrival in Cyprus?

ABA – Many tend to stare at us. We’re always so happy wherever we go and this has been calling many people’s attention. They are drawn to this happiness we have inside of us. This is the reason we are here, to bring this happiness to them and to bring them this light we have inside of us, which doesn’t come from the sun or from stars. It comes directly from God and we want to share it all with them! We want to take care of them, feed them and lead them to experience how great, how wonderful and magnificent our God is!

A dream coming true

AAY – Tell us a bit about the work that the UCKG HelpCentre has been doing in Cyprus so far.

ABA – When we arrived here, we met up with Rebecca Panaye, who lives in the city of Larnaka. Rebecca met the church in London, UK and for 10 years she has been praying for the UCKG HelpCentre to come to Cyprus. She was so happy with our arrival that she has opened her house to us. 

Bishop Randal Brito praying for Rebecca Panaye. Her dream is finally coming true!
We now hold services twice a week in her house. In our first meeting there, we had 8 people.  For many who are used to full churches, this number may seem insignificant, but we are very grateful to have this opportunity to bring a message of salvation to as many as 8 people. We are very excited about what’s to come. We believe this is the beginning of a great work.


Rebecca is a great example of faith, because she kept her hope alive for 10 years and this is a dream come true for her. I’m so happy to be a part of her dream coming true.  

The UCKG HelpCentre now also holds services in Nicosia. For more information about service times and addresses, please contact Pastor James on email: prjames_cyprus@uckg.org.


The UCKG HelpCentre is now helping Cyprus make a new beginning!


Tuesday 26 May 2015

Watch out Cyprus - there are spies in your land!


Helena Marques (left) and Claudia Brito (right) visiting Cyprus.

Claudia and Helena recently visited Cyprus, but it wasn’t to escape the cold London breeze and enjoy the scorching hot temperatures of this popular holiday destination. They were on a very important mission, one of spies! 


More about Cyprus..

Look at that high temperature reflected on the car dashboard...
Many holidaymakers may know Cyprus for its beautiful beaches, unusual pull and push door signs or temperatures that rise up to 48 ÂºC, but there is more to the island than meets the eye. 

It is situated in the eastern Mediterranean and was divided into a Greek southern side and a Turkish northern side in 1974.

Cyprus is a rather informal place. People easily enter into physical contact and in general, personal space is not observed. Visitors from larger Western countries often comment that Cyprus seems to be a place where "everyone knows each other."


A country in ruins

Claudia's impression of Cyprus was one of shock. She was stunned by the many 'to let' signs on empty businesses. Locals were rare on the streets and the few she managed to chat with were heavily depressed. They had no hope of a bright future.

The shocking truth... Cyprus' abandoned businesses and dilapidated buildings. 



A
Although many tourists still flock to this well known holiday spot, the reality is a bit different for those living in the country. The country has been in recession since 2012 and its effects can be seen throughout. One in four citizens in Cyprus is now experiencing poverty. 

Many are unemployed, with little chance of getting a job in order to earn a decent living. Shopkeepers and small businesses are fast disappearing. In modern day Europe, should families be depending on food kitchens for survival?

Is there a solution?

Christoulla Boodram
(Host of the Chrissy B Show)
Christoulla Boodram, commonly known as Chrissy B, also shares Claudia's opinion. Her mother is a native of Cyprus and Chrissy has visited the island many times.

"I remember how prosperous and happy people used to be there. It's so different now with the terrible economy. There is misery, depression, families divided and many people getting sick. They are very open there and will tell you all their problems, but they are bound to a religion that offers them no solution."

Is this the beginning of the end for the lovely of island of Cyprus? 

Well, Claudia's spying mission in Cyprus wasn't so she could experience what life is like as a female version of James Bond.  

She went in search of hope and a solution for Cyprus and we're happy to report that she has accomplished her mission in flying colours! Good girl, Claudia! Five stars for completing your assignment for flying colours! 

Friends, hope has now finally arrived in impoverished Cyprus! 

More to come tomorrow, when we'll be telling you how we are going to help Cyprus make a new beginning. 


Click here for more pictures on Facebook...


Wednesday 13 May 2015

Let's talk about sex!

It’s shocking to know that those one-night stands you no longer remember, or someone you rushed to have sex with and would rather forget, could have left their mark in you for life!

We’ve always heard that when you sleep with someone, they become a part of you for life. Well, research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has proven this statement to be scientifically true!

They discovered that some women had the Y-chromosome gene sequences in their blood. Y-chromosomes are chromosomes that belong to men, so what were they doing inside women?

An obvious answer would be that they came from pregnancy with a male son. Every woman who has ever been pregnant, even when they’ve had an abortion or miscarriage, still carries cells from her foetus within her bloodstream. But 22% of the women in the research had never been pregnant, so what would explain the presence of the male chromosome in these women?

The study concluded that the gene was transmitted through sexual intercourse. 

This means that women can receive the DNA of their sexual partners within their organs and blood stream and carry it for their entire life! And, it can later be passed on to their children!

Whose DNA is coursing through your veins?


Moreover, would you be happy for this DNA to be passed on to your children? What sort of sexual baggage are you carrying? It’s time to think twice about whom you get in bed with!

In His counsel to the first couple to ever exist, God shows us what He intended sex to be. “Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

Before they can become one flesh, that is sexually involved, the man and woman first have to leave their father and mother. This means, they have to first be fully committed to one another. Their commitment has to be absolute – they have to be married.

Why is it worth the wait?


  • You’ll be giving yourself to somebody who has valued you enough to commit to you and will be avoiding the emotional baggage of having to recover from a breakup with someone you’ve given yourself to.


  • You’ll be giving your relationship a chance to develop into something strong. Sex too early in a relationship can block it from growing, as it leads to feeling like you’ve conquered it all.


  • Let’s not forget to mention the risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Ladies, be careful who you sleep with! Choose a partner for life. It's worth the wait!


Tuesday 12 May 2015

10 May 2015 - Do you tolerate being lied to?



When asked, many women in our meeting said, "I can never tolerate a lie from someone," but we soon found out that we often, unknowingly, accept certain lies in our lives as truth.

How often have you told yourself, “I can’t do this!” and in hindsight realised that,had you given it a try, you could have done it? How often have you held your own in an argument, convinced that you were right, when in fact, you were in the wrong?
Very often, these lies we tell ourselves can be very harmful and weakening. When you give up on love, because of previous failed relationships, and tell yourself that it's too late to start again, you are in fact believing a lie!

Truth is, everyday at midnight, our clocks reset, to mark the beginning of a new day. This phenomenon tells us that everything can start anew. It is never too late to start again! No matter what you have been through, every day is a new opportunity to re-write your story.

When you look in the mirror and tell yourself you are ugly, because you are comparing yourself to an airbrushed picture in a magazine, are you not lying to yourself and harming yourself in the process? 

Beauty is what you define for yourself.

How often do you fight with your spouse, because you tell yourself that you can’t control your emotions, yet you are perfectly capable of controlling your emotions and biting your tongue when a superior at work tells you off?

But, why is it so easy to believe these lies as truths? Unfortunately, the amount of information that is thrown at us everyday by the media has compromised our ability to make our own decisions objectively. 

We tend to believe the information we are constantly bombarded with, rather than make our decisions about what is acceptable or not. In doing so, we subject ourselves to untruths. 


We place limitations on ourselves, such as family and peer pressure, social barriers, mental blocks, cultural norms, etc. 

With so much information being thrown in our way, how is it possible to weigh what is right and what is not, what is truth and what is not? Through divine wisdom! 

When we rely on God for direction, He becomes our GPS in life and helps us arrive at our desired destination – happiness! When we are guided by God, we are clothed with strength and can laugh at the days to come. 

Here’s what Christina Kgosi, from Wood Green, had to say about this week’s meeting. 

“Beautiful, I loved the way the message was delivered. I have grown-up kids and I thought I could never study, but today's message showed me that it's never too late and I can do anything that I want to do.”