Gospel ticket to USA

Yvonne Ncube, Showbiz Correspondent

SINCE the age of four, gospel musician Lindani Masuku knew that her life calling was to preach the Word of God through music.

 Using the church realm as a stepping stone from a tender age, today the 48-year-old is ordained to live a life of music. The dedicated preacher recently graduated with a Diploma from a Bible school in South Africa. 

Minister Lindani started as a lead singer for Lozikeyi Trio, a group that she formed with her siblings at Lozikeyi Primary School back in the 1980s. She became convinced that music was her talent when she won the best singer award at a Zimbabwe Academy of Music competition held at Eveline High School in Bulawayo. 

Chronicling her life story, Minister Lindani says she finally gave in to her calling in 2017 when she decided to take music as a career. That decision has landed her in the United States of America where she is now ministering in churches. 

“I grew up singing at church at the age of four. All along I have been ministering in churches, at  weddings and schools. In 2015 I joined ZimPraise and I was given an opportunity to do the song Nyasha for the group.

“In 2017 that’s when I decided to record my own music because I had so much pressure from family, friends, and colleagues. Everyone was asking for my music and I didn’t have anything to give them. I did my own album titled The Lord’s Prayer. I was happy with how the album was received. One of the tracks Ngiyabonga scooped the Skyz Metro award for Best gospel song in 2018,” said Minister Lindani.

She said this was big for her as she never expected such progress at the infancy of her career.

“I was so happy because I never expected it. When I was recording, I didn’t think as a newcomer, the music was going to have such an impact and since then the journey has been quite exciting. In 2019 I did a video for the album. In 2020, I released another song titled Touya Ishe. It was also accepted very well. I remember I launched it on WhatsApp and the highest bid for that song was US$1 250. However, someone else thought the song was worth more and bought it for US$2 000 and this helped me do a video for the song. 

“The song was a prayer to God to cure our land of Covid-19 because everyone was just confused at that time and we all didn’t know what was going on. From then on I have been ministering in churches and other places while training at a Bible school. I graduated with a Diploma on October 15 and it was just a touching moment for me,” she said.

Minister Lindani said her journey has not been an easy one.

“It hasn’t been easy for the past two years because I have been trying to live out of being a musician. I am a full-time Minister; my job is to preach the Gospel of Jesus through my music. Two months ago, I got invited to the United States of America for a conference and that’s where I have been for the past one-and-a-half months. I have been ministering there at several churches.

“I also got to minister with highly considered artistes and it was quite an experience for me. I am working on releasing another album; it’s coming soon; it’s coming with this big umph. It has been a long time since I did anything and now that I have graduated, I no longer have pressure so I am ready to do something,” Minister Lindani said.

She said she has received a lot of support from family and friends. 

“My family has been so supportive financially, spiritually and emotionally. They have stood with me since the beginning. I am just so grateful to those who support and sponsor the ministry like I said I do not work. I have dedicated my life to ministering and there are some people who have given themselves to this ministry and they keep supporting me financially. If I have to do something they always come through, for example, in my travelling to the USA, God raised a few individuals who have gone on this journey with me until the final stage.

“Besides being a gospel music artiste, I am also a professional MC for events from weddings to birthday parties. I also do marriage counselling and I am an evangelist. I grew up at Soshangane Flats in Mzilikazi and I went to Lozikeyi Primary School. Back at school my sister, brother, and I used to sing and we were known as the Lozikeyi trio,” she said.–@SeehYvonne