mwafrika.com - The Dawn Conference

The Dawn Conference

When you hear of a conference, what comes to mind is endless hours of talk, boring sessions and discussions, and the God-sent ‘tea-breaks' in between. So much for stereo-typing – the Daystar Christian Fellowship (DCF) put together an excellent display of entertainment, engaging sessions and powerful messages at their annual conference this past weekend.

:: The Day
We caught up with The Dawn conference on Saturday morning, after what we are told was an incredible launch party the previous night. A look at the beautifully adorned stage and meticulous lay-out attested to the amount of work that had gone into making this event.

The day's programme began with a session of praise and worship, featuring the DCF worship team. With an excellent band backing them up, they led the congregation in much appreciated and uplifting moments of veneration. The conference's theme song, He Who Began was especially notable as the auditorium lifted up voices in a declaration of faith that He who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it.

This message resounded loudly as the morning's sermon was delivered by the fiery Pastor Jesse Njau. He reminded the congregants that before there is a dawn, there must be darkness, and success comes out of learning to make it through that season. Astonishingly open, Pastor Njau left the hall in rapturous applause at the end of his message.

The Worship Team Starts Off

Time To Pray

Pastor Njau

We Hear You!

We have said before that Daystar University is a hotbed of musical talent, and this was evident this day as yet another new group was presented to the world. Called Sauza Uwake, the acapella-singing outfit simply wowed with their blend of voices. As they did deserve, they were cheered in great fashion. In a country sorely lacking in this style of music, Sauza Uwake is indeed a refreshing thought.

Entertainment continued to flow, this time in the form of the incurably funny Eric Omondi. Dressed sharply in black and white, he somberly proceeded to the podium, before beginning his address: We are gathered here today to mourn the death of Somebody Else …He soon had the hall in laughter, even as he finished with asking everyone to take up responsibilities, now that Somebody Else was dead and could not be expected to do things for them!

The morning session ended with Juliani engaging the audience in a ‘sing your favorite song' moment. It turns out his favorite song is Kamau Karongo's Ngoro Yakwa, which he sang with such passion, Kamau would have been proud! The afternoon was dedicated to several games, before a break was declared at 4pm, to prepare for the evening session.

Sauza Uwake Dropping Acapella

Eric Omondi Delivers His 'Announcement'

Singing Favorite Songs

Time For Some Games

:: The Evening
Arnold Ngari, the man leading the worship team was back at it again. To kick-start this segment, the team laid out a high energy serving of praise jams, including Yesu Ni Wangu, Third Day's God Of Wonders and even Israel Houghton's I'm Not Forgotten. The band gave a good account of themselves as everyone danced their hearts out. The slower tempo tracks were just as well chosen and included My Heart, Your Home, As The Deer Pantenth and Wastahili.

A short spate of local music by K-Krew 's DJ Soxxy followed, with popular Kikuyu and Luo tunes rocking the hall. The day's MCs Eve and Wesonga then got on stage to set the ball rolling. The announcement of the night's first performer was greeted by what can only be referred to as pandemonium! The screams lasted a couple of minutes as double Kisima award winner Jemimah Thiong'o walked to the stage. After giving a few ‘words of advice' to her audience, she sang Pendo La Ajabu, before dropping a relatively new jam off her Imani album, Mwambie Yesu, and finished off with Mwenye Baraka.

Her set was followed by a talk-show featuring DCF's officials in an up-close and candid interview. With questions ranging from relationships to testimonies and future plans, Sophia Wanuna did an impressive job of hosting the enjoyable segment. That done with, performances continued, this time with Esther Kalunde and Eunice Njeri displaying incredible talent and vivacity.

MCs Eve & Wesonga

Jemimah Thiong'o On The Mic

The Talk Show

Esther Kalunde & Eunice Njeri Duet

It was then time for the highly anticipated sermon on Taking Charge Of Your Destiny, delivered by Pastor Julian. The sermon vamped into a jubilant session of praise with the song, Moyo Wangu. After this, it was more of performances from various artists. First up was the Igniters dance group. They thrilled the audience with their synchrony and well presented dance moves, except for a few rather suggestive routines that the performance could have done without.

Juliani then took to the mic, screams and cheers greeting him. He invited Mr.V and M.O.G 's Kenti on stage, and together, led the audience in dance. He then invited up-and-comers Krusaderz, K Tatu and Faith Brothers who did a couple of tracks each, as well as Kevo Yout, with two ragga jams. While there's obviously much to learn, these youngsters kept the crowd thoroughly entertained with an abundance of energy, and Krusaderz were especially impressive on Tumesamehewa.

Kisima winner Astar got the mic next, before partnering with Juliani on the latter's Mtaa Mentality. Mr. V and M.O.G followed this with the dance-inducing Zing Zing, bringing the party full swing. But the curtains couldn't come down on this event without one more song - Zaidi Ya Mziki's Fundi Wa Mbao. It was way after midnight when at last the MCs declared the revelry officially over.

The DCF definitely pulled out all the stops to ensure that Daystar, and all who were fortunate enough to attend, had an experience worth writing home about. They did a commendable job!