UNM student leads virtual praise and worship session

While churches and other places of worship have been shut off to the public physically, a group of young people have decided to sing their praises to the almighty online.

Kareshma Martin, who receives an Arts scholarship at the University of Nottingham Malaysia together with Mary Voon, Sharon Cornelius and Russell Curtis were part of a virtual praise and worship session that was released on Friday, 22 May at 9pm via YouTube and Facebook live.

Dubbed Jamming 4 Jesus, the session was hosted by Kacang Kevin and Nicole Ng on the Catholics at Home channel. The first guests to be featured were Voon and Cornelius from the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Penang, who sang See A Victory, More Of You and Goodness of God.

Kareshma, from the Church of Divine Mercy in Shah Alam, was the next guest on the show. Before her performance, Martin told the hosts a little bit about her background as a student of from the School of English in the university. She then went on to talk about her stint in the popular reality singing contest Akademi Fantasia in 2016 adding that her journey during the contest brought her closer to God.

For her praise and worship session, Martin performed some of her personal favourite gospel numbers that she said helped her and her family get through hard times such as 10,000 Reasons, Betapa Hatiku and Salve Regina.

The last guest of the session was Curtis from Jesus Caritas Church in Kepong who performed The Lord’s Prayer, I Surrender All and Keep on Keeping On.

Professor Graham Kendall, CEO and Provost of the University of Nottingham Malaysia said, “We are glad that Kareshma has channelled her talent to a positive avenue during this difficult time. We hope that she continues doing so and in the process, inspires others to do the same as well.” 

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For media enquiries please contact: Josephine Dionisappu, PR and Communications Manager University of Nottingham Malaysia at josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my  

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named both Sports and International University of the Year in the 2019 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.