Ganzi Muhanguzi
4 October 2008
Kampala — SHE was meant to start the worship session at 7:00pm. By 5:00pm, the queue of fans waiting to be admitted to the KPC main auditorium was overflowing onto Bombo Road and by 6:00pm, there was hardly any hope of getting seating space.
Such was the anticipation Ugandans had for Australian gospel icon, Darlene Zschech. And she didn't disappoint.
At exactly 7:00pm, Darlene stormed the stage with her backup vocalists from Hillsong Australia and the joint Kampala Pentecostal Choir. Unlike most gospel artists who prefer testifying and giving semi-sermons before they actually do what they were expected to do, Darlene went straight to business, sending the crowd wild with Take It All, a song off her most recent album, Change Your World.
Clad in brown boots, blue jeans and a black top, Darlene then led delegates through a nonstop praise jam, with such songs as None But Jesus, Potter's Hands, Our God Reigns and Micheal W. Smith's Agnus Dei.
The only time she paused the singing was when she read a psalm of David and encouraged people to reconsider their priorities. "Let us not just go through the motions or have a good time," she said, "let us worship the Lord in truth."
With clear skies and a giant screen in the church's parking lot, thousands of Christians who were not able to get into the main auditorium were able to enjoy the extravagant worship session that also highlighted the achievements of the Watoto Child Ministry over the years.
Testimonies from Esther Namuli, the first child to be taken up by the programme and Ismail, another youngster under the ministry, brought tears of gratitude and joy to the eyes of most. Esther, currently in her senior five, shared with us the Watoto story, right from their very first US tours when Pastor Gary Skinner was their backup vocalist and his wife Marilyn their driver (don't ask me why it wasn't the other way round).
"Because of this ministry, I can now dream big," Namuli said, before adding, "I want to study law at university so that I can stand for justice."
On his part, Ismail, a teenager who at the age of 10 ran away
from his alcoholic parents, says that if it weren't for Watoto, he would still be on the streets, begging for his daily bread.
"I am so glad that Jesus gave me a second chance at life," concluded Ismail, as the Watoto Children's Choir took to the stage with an energetic creative dance.
The evening was also spiced up with a sermon by Rev. Simon Emiau, the caretaker of the Pentecostal churches in Africa. During his sermon, Emiau encouraged delegates to have dreams that enlarge them and to pursue these dreams through servant- leadership.
"In order to be part of the solution, you have to be a servant," he said, warning that if the Church did not respond to the needs and challenges of the day, no one else will."
As he said the concluding prayer, Darlene hit the stage once more, with Saviour King, her own composition.
Just as we thought it was all over and people were beginning to file out, she did the unthinkable. Four songs in a row, all sung with a rock beat accompanied by an electrifying bass guitar and drum beats that literary made everyone's hearts beat either faster with excitement or slower in shock.
As most foreign delegates left the auditorium, those who had patiently waited from outside to get a glimpse of the singer rushed in, dancing, kicking, laughing and screaming. Darlene too joined in the outburst, setting the roof ablaze with her all-time classic, Shout To The Lord. She attempted to end with these, but the audience wasn't having any of it.
"We want more, we want more," chanted the ecstatic crowds, making the church seem, for a minute or so, the video hall it once was. Finally, unable to turn them down, Darlene did Break Free, a song written by Bobby and Brian Houston's son, Joe Houston.
With that, the curtains were drawn and the show was over. Of course everyone remembered that it was a Watoto Conference and that the main celebrants were the 1,500 children whose lives have been forever brightened by the ministry's light of hope. But for most, listening to and joining Darlene in praise and worship was a dream come true; and to that extent, the highlight of the conference.
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