Mohalenyane Phakela
A NIGHT of intense praise and supplication awaits Maseru gospel music lovers as South African group, We Will Worship, is set to make its debut performance on 29 May.
The concert, which is being organised by Pure Passion Events, will be held at the Victory amphitheatre at Pioneer Mall.
Speaking to the Weekender this week from Johannesburg, We Will Worship manager, Langa Mbonambi, said they were looking forward to ministering in Lesotho.
“It is always great to visit different places and glorify Jesus while performing to totally new faces, so we are looking forward to the Lesotho show,” said Mbonambi.
The Johannesburg-based 13-member group, which has become synonymous with such songs as Malibongwe, Yahweh and Bayethe, was formed in 2004.
Soon after, however, group members went their separate ways following an initial indifferent reception from audiences. In 2010, a reinvented We Will Worship was relaunched with their comeback concert in 2011 well-received by their growing legion of fans.
The group’s debut album, The Movement Beginning, clinched the Best Urban Gospel gong at the Metro awards and Best Group at the Crown Gospel Awards in 2012. Their second offering, Yahweh, which was released the following year, established them as a permanent feature on the gospel music landscape.
Apart from South Africa, the group has also performed in Namibia and is also set to visit Botswana soon after the Maseru show.
According to Mbonambi, their performances are unique from other artistes because their ultimate objective is to worship God.
“We do not just mount the stage to entertain people, but the intention of our performances is to engage in genuine worship,” he said.
“We often undertake fasting sessions before our shows to invite Jesus into our midst.
“We are actually 12 in the group, but we consider Jesus our 13th member as we cannot do anything without his presence, just like a band which cannot perform without its drummer or guitarist.”
The group is set to share the stage with the local contingent of The Disciples and Patrick from TP-Squared.
On their part, Pure Passion Events, said their aim in organising the show was to further the preaching of the Gospel and form synergies that would benefit local artistes.
“Pure Passion consists of artistes needing exposure and by inviting We Will Worship we hope to attract more artistes of their calibre as they are one of the most sought after South African Gospel groups yet to visit Lesotho,” said Phoka Matete, who is a member of the entertainment outfit.
“We invite foreign artistes to form networks so that they can also invite us to their shows in South Africa which will give us the necessary exposure to perform in other countries.”
He added that their choosing the SA group was informed by the preferences of their fans.
“We had asked our fans on Facebook to tell us which acts they wanted to see this time around and most of them voted for We Will Worship,” Matete said.
