What an eventful Easter
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Prophet Victor Kusi Boateng (right) leads the UFIC Choir in song and dance during an Easter conference at the City Sports Centre

Lovemore Chikova Christian Entertainment
Phew! What an Easter it was, full of joy, entertainment and happiness. Christians gathered in different parts of the country last weekend to mark this important period on their calendar. It was entertainment galore as congregants marked the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with music, dance and drama.

Easter is a time when Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and churches sing songs of adoration and remembrance as they reflect on the significance of the moment.

This could be rated as one of the best Easter holidays for Christians who gathered for conferences in their respect churches.

This is so because the Easter celebrations were a complete package.

There was plenty of preaching and teaching of the word of God and there was also a lot of music and dance.

Almost every church had a full entertainment programme for this Easter as people marked the important time of the year.

I could have wanted to attend most of the Easter celebrations, but for those few I managed to, this Easter turned out to be completely different from all others.

As a gospel music lover and a gospel entertainment party animal, I took it upon myself to sniff around for what was happening in terms of music in various churches this Easter.

My first port of call was the Aquatic Complex in Chitungwiza where the Family of God Church was holding its Easter conference.

Oh! What a way to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through music and dance.

And, do you still remember the Family Singers?

The group is the musical face of the Family of God Church and once held its own in gospel music in Zimbabwe.

It was at one time one of the top three acts in the country and pioneered areas like recording videos for gospel music songs and using full bands during church services.

While the group might appear to have gone quite, it is actually still alive and doing more than it used to do.

Fronted by Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe and his wife Shuvai, the group did well to keep church congregants on their feet throughout the Easter holiday.

There was much joy and celebrations each time the group performed either during praise and worship or just performing other compositions.

People were reminiscing on the good old days when the group used to churn out hits like “Tarira Nguva”, “Nditorei”, the popular single “Ndinokudai Jesu” and “Shelter”.

It was really a performance befitting veterans in gospel music in Zimbabwe.

Other gospel musicians were also busy this Easter.

Veteran musician Baba Mechanic Manyeruke was a guest artist at a church conference at the Harare Polytechnic.

In Masvingo, all attention was at Mbungo were the Zion Christian Church held its Easter convention.

The event was characterised with music and dance as different groups from within the church took time to perform.

But the real deal was at the City Sports Centre in Harare where Christians from various backgrounds and from different countries gathered for the United Family International Church’s Easter conference.

Although the emphasis was on the word of God, expounding on the benefits of the cross at the conference, entertainment also took centre stage.

Various groups performed at the UFIC conference, which started on Thursday and lasted until Sunday, leaving the audience asking for more.

Led by the award winning UFIC Choir, the musical segment during the Easter conference was always top notch.

What was good about the celebrations was that the entertainment segment was well laid out, with the performing groups allocated their lots.

Some of the musicians who took to the stage included dancehall gospel singer Tinashe Magacha, young brother to popular gospel musician Sebastian Magacha.

A host of other musicians from within the church such as Pastor Lawrence Gunda of the Gospel Power fame, Mrs Linia Utete and Mrs Fiona Chinembiri also entertained the gathering.

Four-member Dance group Sesifikile left the congregants asking for more because of its subtle performance which captured the imagination of many.

The best moment of the celebrations, which left an indelible mark in the minds of many, was when the internationally acclaimed Ghanaian Prophet Victor Kusi Boateng joined the UFIC Choir on stage.

Prophet Boateng is spiritual father to Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa, the founder and leader of UFIC.

Prophet Boateng exhibited his versatility in singing when he actually led the choir in some of the songs.

And when he stepped on the stage, the atmosphere turned electric as people were mesmerised by his good voice.

What is unique about Prophet Boateng, which he exhibited at this conference, was his ability to lead in many ways.

It is rare to find people who are good at both preaching and singing.

But Prophet Boateng demonstrated that he has this unique gift of delivering the undiluted word of God and then take you through the singing part of it.

He demonstrated that he understands fully well that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be celebrated through dance and music.

It was indeed time to celebrate the work done by Jesus!

What was good about the UFIC celebrations was that different types of music were being performed.

Ghanian gospel music was on the menu as well as local gospel music and Western gospel music.

The UFIC Choir managed to perfectly sing songs from Ghana after having spent a few days practicing them.

It was not a problem as the choir perfectly provided backing vocals to such songs, some of which became instant hits among the thousands of congregants.

It was African gospel music being performed to its perfection and for a good cause.

The UFIC Choir managed to take the congregation along as it sang appropriate songs depending on the segment of the event.

There were danceable songs during the praise segment and smooth, slow and soothing songs for worship.

When it came to the Holy Communion, the choir switched to songs that have something to do with the blood of Jesus.

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