United Methodist raises the bar

Ashraf Tikiwa

THE United Methodist Church recently joined the ever changing world of technology with its new E-Hymn book mobile application titled Ngoma.

Launched at a United Methodist gathering earlier this month, the Ngoma E-Hymn book is an application that runs on Android devices allowing congregates to praise God in song with their favourite hymns. The application contains an impressive 353 hymnals and is fast and can be easily upgraded.

Available for downloads at a cost of $2 on mobile devices, the electronic hymn book enables one to browse through the electronic version of the hymnal which features a filter option that allows one to search for any particular hymn by typing either the hymn number or the first line of the song.

In addition, users of the Ngoma application can also share their favourite hymns through bluetooth while saved hymns can be shared through the WhatsApp platform.

One of the members of United Methodist Church and a current user of the Ngoma application, Willard Muzanei commented on the new application.

“Because of technology almost everything is now accessible from mobile phones, we have joined the world of technology. The application is running parallel to the hymn books.”

The hymn application developer, Edwin Magara said, “It is a timely development. The project was initiated eight months ago and the application is available on android devices.”

Magara also highlighted future plans for the application which includes hymn of the day notifications, showing refrains between stanzas and to make the application available on Apple devices.

Reverend Jairos Mafondokoto, who also attended the launch, expressed joy at the E-Hymn book and highlighted that the application would put UMC in the limelight as technology is currently driving society.