A SELL-OUT crowd is expected this Saturday at the Ezekiel Guti Conference Centre in the West Midlands for the much-awaited Free To Worship concert celebrating the late founder and leader of ZAOGA Forward In Faith International (FiF) ministry.
Archbishop Guti's widow Prophetess Eunor Guti is expected to attend the concert which will also feature gospel music's man-of-the-moment, Sir Benjamin Rupapa.
"It's a celebration of an incredible legacy," said concert organiser and Free To Worship chairman, Tawanda Sarireni.
"Those who were following the Archbishop will be able to experience some of his favourite songs while those who were not following him will be able to see the great work that he did because of the way we have put our act together.
"... and Free To Worship, being a group full of very young and energetic children, the stage is going to be lit with the dancing and singing; there is just so much energy on the stage and of course Benjamin is an icing on the cake; he's top notch at the moment."
"We have been working with them (Diaspora Insurance) since we started," he said.
"They have believed in us since we started, and it was also befitting for us to have them celebrate with us as our lead sponsors.
"We have never put on T-shirts of other organisations, but this year we wanted to say 'thank you' to them; they have been with us for so long and they have supported the vision of the man of God and so we are into this partnership with Diaspora Insurance."
Founded by Archibishop Guti in 2011, Free To Worship has turned out to be a huge success over the years, recording albums and touring across the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The group took a break three years ago which was forced, in part, by the global Covid-19 pandemic but planned to mark its come-back with a tribute concert for Prophet Guti for turning 100 years old in May.
"When our founder Dr Guti turned 100, we wanted to do a 'Thank You Concert' on the 26th of August," said Sarireni.
However, a month after celebrating his 100th birthday, Dr Guti died in South Africa on the 5th of July and was declared a national hero.
His passing marked the end of some 75 years of evangelical work which saw ZAOGA grow to become the third largest church in Zimbabwe while the global arm of the ministry had spread to some 168 countries with other three million members.
Sarireni said they decided to continue with the concert in honour of their founder.
"He (Archbishop Guti) was promoted to glory on the 5th of July and we thought we were not going to stop the concert," he explained.
"We are going to go ahead with the concert to celebrate his legacy and also the fact that he was made a National Hero of Zimbabwe.
"As such, instead of just mourning, we wanted to thank God that you gave him a hundred years and he achieved a lot."
Sarireni said Archbishop Guti's worldwide impact on evangelism and social development was remarkable.
"From the Christian point of view, he mentored many pastors, and then from the development side of things he built universities - Ezekiel Guti University; and he also built a hospital - Mbuya Dorcas Hospital - as well as close to 50 academic schools.
"That's a lot of achievements; and then here in the UK we built a very beautiful centre which is called the Ezekiel Guti Convention Centre where the concert is going to happen and it's a building worth millions of dollars.
"And he has opened such centres in the United States in Dallas, in Australia, in Canada ... we are in every country of this so-called First World and having a centre there. So, we just said let's just have a tribute of the legacy concert. That's what's happening on the 26th.
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Sarireni also explained Archbishop Guti's vision when he founded Free To Worship.
"When Dr Guti founded Free To Worship, he said ... when you have young people who are talented and they do not have a reason to be in the church or they don't have anything that they identify with themselves, they end up going in the streets and committing all sorts of crimes.
"He wanted young people to be occupied with music; using their talent and their showcase their skills in front of audiences."
He added; "We also do music workshop for our kids who grew up in the diaspora; some of them they don't know kuridza ngoma (playing African drums).
"So, we have drumming workshop, African dances and keep our kids busy, at the same time reminding them about our culture. So, that was his vision with young people."
