“Rántí omo eni tí ìwo ńse,
Rántí ibi tí o tí n bò – Remember whose son you are, remember where you belong”.
These were the words of Muyiwa’s father to his son, Muyiwa, during their last face to face conversation before Muyiwa was sent to the UK for a better life. His father also gave him a Scripture, Psalm 27. Muyiwa quoted verse 1 and 10 in an interview recounting his story.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up”.
When Muyiwa got to his uncle’s house in the UK, his uncle told him that he had arrived and he was going to suffer. Muyiwa says it felt like a prophetic declaration and he recalls being transferred from one family to another and one time, an uncle had thrown him out with his belongings all in a plastic bag. While he kept walking wondering where he was going to go, the plastic bag burst from beneath and he broke down and began crying.
Muyiwa’s father was born into a Muslim family and only got born again when he met his wife. He was cut off and threatened by his relations that if he continued being Christian, they would kill him and wipe away his name. He never deterred but got more active in church. Eventually, Muyiwa’s father was killed because of his faith and it only took God to heal Muyiwa and give him peace.
Muyiwa said that during those times, he wondered why God allowed him to go through all of that- this goes a long way to back the saying that God is not just interested in our results, he is interested in our process. Our process may be difficult but it is that fire that God uses to turn us into Gold, a refined people- that is what Muyiwa is today.
Muyiwa has emerged to be one of UK’s biggest Gospel artistes, TV and radio presenters. He won the BBC’s Young Musician Award, as well as multiple GMA and AGMA awards. He is marked by his unique style of wearing scarfs, mostly African prints, over his neck and on any kind of dressing. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Studies from East London University and a Music degree from Westminster University.
Muyiwa was recently acknowleged on the Queen of England’s birthday honour list for his works spread across popularizing the gospel genre. He is presenter of the Turning Point programme to an estimated global audience of 70 million and Sounds of Africa plus Jewels of Africa. In 2009 he became the first-ever international act to perform on America’s popular entertainment channel, BET, for the prestigious annual Celebration Of Gospel show.
Muyiwa has endeavoured to reckon with Africa and events going on in his home country, Nigeria. He has interviewed some of our finest artistes like Ty Bello and Adekunle Gold on their journey so far.
His wilderness moment ushered him into music ministry and he says:
“I’d like to be seen as the guy who, through music, shared the idea that there’s always hope, whoever and wherever you are. It’s not about agreeing with my religion. If you just lost your job, there’s hope. If you’ve got HIV, there’s hope. If your child has lost his way, there’s hope. That’s what I sell.”
Some of his songs are; Imela, A Long Way, God of Miracle, Alade Wura, Heya Ya, Safe in His Hands and many more. Muyiwa is an inspiration to the Kingdom and a hope of peace in the wilderness.
#WinningWednesday
#ChurchGist
Sources:
CSW UK
muyiwa.co.uk
