A cover of Hosiah Chipanga’s CD album

Popular Zimbabwean musician Hosiah Chipanga is set to introduce sermons at his shows. Chipanga could not, however, divulge the time he will spend on the pulpit before strumming the guitar.

The veteran musician said the church will soon have branches across Zimbabwe.

Chipanga does not know the total number of his followers.

“People should be prepared to hear the word when they come to my shows, it’s no longer time to dance to the music only, the end is so [near]. I will take time to preach to people,” said Chipanga.

The musician has seen his popularity wane in recent years and is now holding shows in Manicaland Province only.

“I am staging my shows in Mutare and surrounding areas only, these days. But I will soon embark on a countrywide tour because I want everyone to be saved,” said Chipanga.

If the lyrics on his latest album Dzorai Vana Venyu are anything to go by, then “Mutumwa Wamwari” as Chipanga calls himself nowadays, has already started spreading the gospel through music.

The “Kwachu Kwachu” hitmaker, Chipanga has also changed the name of his band from Broadway Sounds to Vaparidzi Veshoko.

He claimed he received the calling from God in 1977. “I was in Sheba, Penhalonga [a village 18 km north of Mutare], on September 13, 1977, when I received this calling. I had to pay attention to what God was saying to me. I received so many revelations and I could not ignore them. I encountered a series of challenges, as I tried to establish my church. I felt my body burning and I almost died. A cup of water came to my rescue and that is when I was told to go and preach.”

In one of his interviews last year, Chipanga suggested that his church is going to be bigger than Prophet Makandiwa‘s United Family International Church.