Category Archives: General

Do not go home without Jesus

And so it is… after an exciting week full of music and spirit the last day of the Music Camp has come. This very day that we’ve been working for all week and will put the theme fusion in a new light.

The fusion of emotions already started early in the morning waking up with all kinds of feelings. From being excited to being nervous and from being happy about the concert to being sad about the goodbye. We didn’t have communal devotions but the delegates and facilitators used this moment of silence to pray, focus and to take a last deep breath before the big moment. By 9 am everyone was neat in their uniforms, game faces on and ready to make a joyful noise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Before the concert start, all songsters and bandsmen had taken their places.

The five bands and the two songster groups proudly presented their pieces and at the end there was a mass choir and a mass band. Glorius is how it can be described. The music was electrical and heartfelt. The Videos of all the songs and pieces will be uploaded on this blog soon.

thomas concluded by summarizing the spiritual lessons that were learnt throughout the week and the ongoing challenges that we face in our spiritual walk. He encouraged everyone not to go home without Jesus but to come to Jesus and live,

Songsters

Bandsmen

Special thanks goes to the delegates for coming for the camp and being open and eager to learn and to the facilitators for teaching so diligently and also learning from the delegates. The camp was a success and well organized, much appreciation to the organizing committee. We are so glad to have shared this journey

Fusion speaks of the celebration that will be when we get to heaven and we can safely say we have an idea what the fusion in heaven will be like, from everything we experienced this week and from the final concert.

 

Every ending is really just a new beginning

We are drawing towards the end of the camp and have bitter sweet feelings about it. Saying goodbye to all the friends that we have made will not be easy but we know that every ending is really just a new beginning. We are at the point where get to put all the pieces that we have worked so hard on all week together and share a sneak preview of what the Fusion in heaven will be like with a public audience.

Our morning started with breakfast, devotions and then rehearsals for three hours before breaking for lunch. The afternoon comprised of the main rehearsal for the main concert tomorrow. With the stage set-up, the bands and choirs took their places and had a run down of the pieces that will be played tomorrow. What was running through many minds was, if this is just the rehearsal, what will the concert tomorrow be like!!! It will not be a concert to be missed especially if you are in Zimbabwe. For those abroad, thankfully there will be recordings of made available.

Flash Interviews 

You have heard from us how great the camp was, now you get to hear it from some of the participants themselves. We asked delegates from the different territories what the highlight for them was this week and here is what they said:

Conducting Workshop

They had their youngest lady Chamakar Jameson (13) conducting the band with confidence, she is going places

Brass Technics

John said for him, the most important thing in brass music is the sound produced. With two men, they illustrated how

Songster leadership. 

They shared what they learnt through singing at the hospital, tonight they shared it with the rest of the delegates at camp

Taking care of our instruments

Monika offered a brief lesson on how to take care of brass instruments including greasing and cleaning the valves. She explained why it is important to have a clean instrument and she explained how to clean them and what oils to use. Very useful information indeed!

Conducting Workshop

They had their youngest lady Chamakar Jameson (13) conducting the band with confidence, she is going places and Philip was happy with her progress.

Vocal Technics

Abzel taught on taking good care of our voices as well as the importance of taking care of outer appearance. He also shared the steps to producing a good, well-rounded voice including opening the mouth wide enough.

Timbrels workshop

They presented what they learnt through the week. The group also comprised of first-time players. By the end of the song, some had lost some of the ribbons from their timbrels. Talk about leaving it all on the floor for Jesus.

Photo Presentation

Thanks to Tobias Kramer for capturing so many moments and emotions throughout the week. Here is a compilation of some of the pictures:

For the last camp evening devotions,  the word shared was “Excellence”, which is what we have been pursuing all week. Thomas explained that excellence, for musicians means consistency and that we should take what we learnt this week into our lives because excellence is not an act, its a habit. That is a word that many of us will carry with us.

Music is life, that’s why our hearts have beats

The Malawi Chaplain kicked off the day by deducing on the power of music. He illustrated it with the bible story of when the evil spirit came onto Saul and David played music and the evil spirit left. Deliverance came not because David was a talented musician but because the Spirit of the Lord was with him when he played. What a message to start the day with.

Featured: Himes Band

They played the C scale legato to warm up and get ready to practice their pieces. Gerry asked them what they know about the song “Austria” and one of the bandsmen responds and tells the group that it used to be the German national anthem. It really is a good thing that the musicians know the background of the pieces that they are playing.The band also rehearsed a piece that switches between brass instruments to singing, onto whistling and clapping. There is an incredible amount of coordination required and this band has it all. Thoriso Damane who plays the Baritone who is in the band said that his favorite element of being in this group is socializing with band mates, it is evident that they blend well.

The band also rehearsed a piece that switches between brass instruments to singing, onto whistling and clapping. There is an incredible amount of coordination required and this band has it all. Thoriso Damane who plays the Baritone who is in the band said that his favorite element of being in this group is socializing with band mates, it is evident that they blend well.

Monika the miracle worker

She has gained this name due to the number of instruments she has been able to fix. We cannot imagine what camp would have been like without her expertise. During the breaks, she brings out her tool box and sets up a working space for repairing broken instruments. Her work is really appreciated by all and they have repaired over 40 instruments together with her companion Walter, who will take over the repairs when Monika goes back to Switzerland.A few months before the camp, when the instruments were shipped, Monika put in a box with many tools for repairing and this has come in handy. Monika works professionally in instrument repair and we are thankful that she could volunteer her expertise for the camp.

A few months before the camp, when the instruments were shipped, Monika put in a box with many tools for repairing and this has come in handy. Monika works professionally in instrument repair and we are thankful that she could volunteer her expertise for the camp.

Jayne and Phillips Workshops

This workshops led to an afternoon excursion to play at a local hospital. The conducting workshop was aimed at teaching anyone interested in learning about conducting a band. At the hospital concert, they each got a chance to conduct to show what they had learnt. The songster leadership workshop was focused on teaching interested songsters how to lead a choir. A very practical and useful set of skills that was also put to test as they took turns to direct the choir singing at the concert.

Talent Night

Final talent night for the camp and it was clear evidence of a fusion of talent and dedication. All act details are in the description section of the video on Youtube. Enjoy snippets of our second and final talent show:

The song “This is my prayer” written by Thompson Gweshe which Is a prayer to be with God and dwell with Him forever prepared us for the evening devotions. The word of the day was character which was summarized to say that who I am on the inside should be bigger than who I am on the outside and speaks of authenticity. We are so blessed to be able to end our day with ever so uplifting words, thank you, Thomas, for sharing God’s word so passionately with us.

If you know only one tune you cannot dance all night

The South African chaplain shared a message of how the children of Israel reached an in-between point where they were out of Egypt and before them stood the red sea. Fear stuck them and they were uncertain of the future but God had a plan to deliver them and that he did. He parted the sea and when they reached the other side they sang praises and danced. They had to know more than one song to lift their voices in praise to God as they thanked his for keeping his promise to deliver them. With a word in our hearts and a spring in our step, the day was off to a sunny start.
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Music is the universal language of mankind

The clock strikes 0700 and the camp comes to life with people starting to line up for their egg, sausages and bread breakfast. By 0800 everyone is on their way to the main meeting center for the morning devotions. Today the lesson at devotions was realizing the importance of the word of God, as the bible says that God has placed His word even above his Name. This means that if we love God we have to follow and honor His word. Through music, we sing Gods word and it becomes alive in our lives. Continue reading →

Hakuna Fermata – keep playing for the rest of your days

As the camp theme song says, God indeed gave us a brand new start today. An early start was recommended, people were encouraged to jog between 6am-7am and this was incredibly successful with three people out of 240 making it for the jog. Luckily everyone made it for the filling breakfast before devotions.

As the day began we were reminded that Fusion (our camp theme) seeks to capture the sense of celebration when a believer gets to heaven. A celebration one can imagine will be full of playing instruments and happy songs, highly significant to the atmosphere in the music camp this week. The morning devotion also highlighted the importance of not allowing ourselves to be distracted by how good we are and to always remember that it is all for the glory of God. Continue reading →

Camp has started and what a fusion of awesomeness it is!

The long awaited camp has finally begun. Music and laughter fill the atmosphere, it will be a great week.


Camp facilitators from the Southern African Regions as well as those from Switzerland, Northern Ireland and USA arrived a few days in advance to prepare for the camp and were excited when the delegates finally arrived to kick off the camp! The first camp day started with the arrival of the different groups from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Malawi arrived last and the team became complete. After breakfast delegates started getting to know each other while the facilitators prepared for the auditions that would begin later in the day. The camp organisers were busy making sure that the venue for the opening service was setup and ready for the service. Continue reading →

Lets twist again, like we did last Music Camp

The buses arrived and second by second it became pretty clear the week at Mazowe would be simply amazing. The theme of the camp was “Endless Praise”.

During the camp itself, the groups were split into four brass bands and one songsters group here is a link to some videos of these groups in action. The bands catered for all levels of competence and this was what made the experience so rich. By the time the camp ended, the harmonies that came out of the different groups made it easy to understand why God loves it when we worship, the music was beautiful and to be a part of something so great was just nothing short of amazing. Just the thought is enough to make the excitement for the next camp sky rocket. Continue reading →