As the disciples around the world prepare for the World Discipleship Summit in the summer of 2012 in San Antonio Texas, the worship team of Nairobi Christian Church had a priviledge to be part of the team involved in coming up with the theme song and a special video for the conference of disciples from our churches around the world singing the song “Praises Heard Around the World.”
“This was part of an International Video Project,” noted Evangelist John Kilaha.”The project took place in two phases, the first being the collection of disciples singing, and playing the instruments which are recorded while the group sings with the basic track of the record. Secondly, after the audio has been mixed together into one international recording, a video was to be made with any digital video camera of the team singing and playing along to the master track that has been created.”
The song played in all its native translations for the first time, was surprise treat to the disciples at the central YMCA (Nairobi) who are part of the Nairobi Christian Church. They had turned up for the midweek service on 9th May 2012, only to find out that it was a singing devotion service, and hear the theme song for the upcoming world conference at San Antonio. The 2012 World Discipleship Summit will be held from Thursday, July 5th to Saturday, July 8th at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. During the summit the Praises Heard Around the World will be performed. The song which has been translated into different versions of English, Swahili, Indian, Jamaican and Spanish was played at the YMCA. The Spanish version has been done by James Turish.
The sweet melodious Swahili version of “Praises Heard Around the World electrified the YMCA auditorium as the Spirit of the conference could be felt. The lead singers Francis Masinde and Josiah Sagini sang as the congregation chorused and it was great to see disciples singing and capturing the mood of the conference. Indeed, the composition was well done and with the backup of musical instruments it was a great refreshing moment as the Spirit and the tempo of the world conference became alive.Kevin Lung from Lexington Church of Christ, Kentucky stated that the song was absolutely amazing and to hear it in different languages well blended together was exciting. It shows that In God’s kingdom even though there are different languages we can still sing and fellowship together. Kevin is a volunteer with Hope Worldwide serving in the orphanages.
Wangu Gathitu, from the worship and part of the team that assembled the song says, “We fulfill the scriptures for where there is praising of God, there is fullness of joy.” She could not hide the inner gladness and jubilation she felt to have been part and parcel of this amazing project. “I feel priviledged to have been part of the team that sung and put together the Swahili version of the praise around the world (PHATW) song” She is among those attending the World Conference and will be attending the Praise and worship workshops as part of the global summit. She cannot wait to hear the song performed at the world summit in its entirety.
According to Edward Okundi, “we have 25 Kenyans and 10 Ugandans who will be attending the global summit.” 25,000 disciples are expected to attend and the online registration had hit 18,000 by the time it ended on 30th April. The soft spoken Okundi, who is among those attending, was upbeat. “The disciples are excited and anticipating that it will be a life changing event.”
He adds, “6 disciples did not manage to register online but so far 7 disciples have already received entry permits while 2 have been to the US and are most likely to be allowed entry permits.
The Visa application is being coordinated through the Nairobi Christian church office and disciples wishing to attend the conference within the Eastern Africa churches of Christ should contact the coordination office within the Church, otherwise they will encounter hitches and may end up being refused a visa to the US.
Many speakers have been lined up to speak at the conference including our very own John Maleya who will be speaking to the teens. So far from the registration, the church will be represented in most of the conferences. The eight conferences include International Leadership Conference (ILC), Campus Ministry Conference (ICMC), Singles Conference(ILC), Marrieds Conference, Teens Conference, Spanish Conference, Deaf Conference and Worship Conference (IWMC).
The 2012 World discipleship Summit will be the event of the decade as thousands will gather in San Antonia, Texas for the very first time in as many years.
The organizers are happy to host this thrilling event that will encourage and strengthen everyone’s faith. Plans are at an advanced stage.
The writer can be reached at ostinmoriz@gmail.com
