The heavy downpour for two days did not discourage people from trooping into the Beehive Hall, Alausa, Lagos, on Sunday 1st of July, 2018. And they came with expectancy, with one goal in mind – to spend three hours of worship in God’s presence.
In her welcome address, the founder of the Heart of Worship, Mayowa Ogundele, said it was an opportunity for believers, especially the working class, bogged down by tight schedules to spend time, not necessarily to ask God for things but just love Him.
With a line-up of ministers like Robert Ghanasah, as well as Margaret Ayeni, and backed up by the Heart of Worship band, it was an atmosphere of thanksgiving in the hall.
And then came the icing on the cake, the ‘on fire’ and ‘brooding’ music minister, Victoria Orenze, who took the gathering to another level.
Rightfully gauging the mood of the crowd following the recent violence and killings especially targeted at Christians in the North Central and other parts of the country, she exhorted on the importance of focusing on Jesus in these trying times.
In what appeared as an unexpected turn, she led in a holy-ghost inspired prayer session, encouraging the people to simply worship and praise God. She said she would rather create an atmosphere where people can leave with the tangible assurance of God’s presence than sing songs that would merely excite them and leave no lasting impact.
Speaking to Kingdom Times later on the Heart of Worship vision, Miss Ogundele, explained that the idea came sometime around 2011/2012 during a church service, where a sermon on the book of Job was taught and she realized that the foundation of Job’s faith was worship which helped him weather the storms he faced.
For her, therefore, believers are meant to live lives of worship no matter the circumstances they find themselves in. She added that the first concert was planned as her birthday celebration in 2015, and since then the initiative, which she said is non-denominational, and open to anyone who wants to experience God, has taken a life of its own.
This resulted largely from what she described as the importance of support systems which she calls her ‘low-hanging branches’, with most of the sound mix and equipment and help provided by volunteers and from donations. Now, she said, the Heart of Worship team has grown from two to five people, whose passion is bringing people back to the heart of worship.