Ambassadors of Christ Choir is set to stage what it describes as the biggest concert in its history on August 30 at BK Arena, marking three decades of ministry. The choir, which held its first concert at Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali in 1996, will use the event to celebrate its journey, achievements and the role of God in its growth. “We are going to do a concert celebrating 30 years in ministry. It is the first big concert we are going to do in the history of our choir,” choir chairman Roben Muvunyi told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday. Muvunyi said the 30-year journey has been marked by both triumphs and difficult moments, making the anniversary an opportunity to reflect on the choir’s history. “This is a long journey. As a choir, we saw a lot of things through these years, good things and bad ones. This concert is aimed at showcasing the good things we reached in these 30 years, how God has been with us and worked with us in these 30 years,” he said. The choir says preparations are complete, with the concert set to combine music, testimonies and reflections on its history. “We have prepared enough and we are ready. A lot of things are prepared for the attendees, in songs and time for sharing the history of the choir, testimonies. We have prepared a lot of things,” Muvunyi said. BK Arena wasn’t first-choice venue According to vice chairman Nelson Manzi, the choir initially planned to hold the anniversary concert at a smaller venue before discussions with partners led to the decision to move to BK Arena. “We started an idea preparing a smaller venue. It was not BK Arena, but as time went on, we continued discussing. We saw partners, and we decided to work in this building,” he said. Unlike many major concerts, the event will exclusively feature Ambassadors of Christ Choir, with no guest artiste headlining the show. “We take this concert as our wedding,” Manzi said. He added that the choir has prepared a full programme covering the entire event. “We are enough. We have prepared from the beginning until the end. We have a lot of activities, to an extent that the time becomes short compared to what we want to show to the people,” he said. The choir also plans to make the anniversary concert an annual event. “We are planning to have a yearly concert after this, continuous concerts,” Muvunyi said. A journey through difficult moments Ambassadors of Christ Choir began its journey in 1995, at a difficult period when Rwanda was recovering from the Genocide against the Tutsi. Muvunyi said many people were dealing with trauma, while some had lost confidence in attending church or engaging in religious activities. “Approaching someone for preaching, you used to approach with less confidence, but we got the idea of making a choir. Then songs helped the people. We chose to sing as a way to reach people,” he said. The choir sometimes performed for audiences still struggling with the effects of the Genocide. “It was not easy. Sometimes we used to sing and people got traumatised because what had happened was still in their minds,” Muvunyi said. The group also endured two major road accidents. In 1999, several members were injured while returning from the Eastern Province. In 2011, another accident involving a truck in Tanzania claimed the lives of three choir members and left others injured. “The second is when we were coming from Tanzania in 2011. We made an accident with a truck in the forest. We lost three people in our choir, others got injured,” Muvunyi said. He described the period as one of the darkest in the choir’s history, particularly because the accident happened at night and rescue efforts only arrived the following morning. “So that period was too sad and dark for the whole choir. Those three periods can’t be forgotten to us. So during those tough moments, we saw God, we saw people,” he said. From a small group to a global audience The choir was formed at Mount Rwimbogo in Kanombe, where its founding members, who were neighbours and Seventh-day Adventists, gathered to pray and discuss ways of responding to the spiritual needs of people affected by the Genocide. After considering several ideas, they eventually agreed to form a choir initially known as Disciples. It later merged with another choir, Calvary Cross, before adopting the name Ambassadors of Christ in 1995. “We collaborated to strengthen us. So we put aside both names and we chose Ambassadors of Christ over all of those names. It was in 1995,” Muvunyi said. Over the years, the choir has expanded its ministry beyond Rwanda. Manzi recalled a mission in Tanzania where more than 8,000 people were baptised, with more than 100 pastors participating. The choir released its first DVD in 2006 and launched its YouTube channel in 2016, using digital platforms to reach audiences beyond Rwanda. “From 2016 until now, we reached an audience of 500 million worldwide,” Manzi said. According to organisers, tickets for the August 30 concert had reached 85 per cent in sales at the time of the press conference. The BK Arena concert will serve as the climax of the choir’s year-long 30th anniversary celebrations held under the theme “God Painted Our Story.”
