Abundant Life – Profile

This month’s profile features a special music ministry. Pastor Denzil Thorne and his new wife, Candice, began a new church work a few years ago in Athlone, a blue collar area. I had been invited to teach Cape Bible Seminary classes in the original church they attended and almost all of the students were from the youth group. They were curious, enthusiastic and eager to learn the Word.

Every Wednesday evening at a few minutes before 7:30, I’d walk into the church hall. On every occasion, I found the entire group in prayer, some walking around praying, others sitting in their seats and a few on their knees. At first, I assumed that this was a prayer meeting, which afterwards, would become a class. But it didn’t turn out to be this at all.

Denzil said that they were praying for me! Everybody would arrive at 7pm, then pray and praise God until I arrived – they wanted safety for my journey as well as good solid teaching. This really blew me away. No other group I had ever taught had done this as a regular habit. It really mean a lot to me and from then onwards, I looked forward to these Wednesday nights and ensured that all my course material was prepared and ready.

I taught in this church for two years. As time went on, I could see there were tensions within the congregation, especially when I ministered on a Sunday morning. A few of the elders were a bit stand-offish and some of the members avoided me. Matters came to a head when the church split and the Wednesday evening classes ceased at the request of the eldership.

Denzil and the youth requested that the classes continue and they found a venue in a school classroom a few miles away. They were just as enthusiastic and eager to learn. It was during this time that Denzil and a few of the others formed a musical group as a ministry. I was quite surprised at their dedication and abilities! They cut a few CDs to raise funds for new equipment and to finance their trips into the countryside to sing and evangelize.

Eventually, these eager young Christians formed a small church and continued the musical ministry. They have performed in a few theaters in the city, funding it themselves through CDs, etc. My schedule has taken me away from teaching them as before but then, they really don’t need me anymore.

One of the objectives of the Cape Bible Seminary is to teach, train and equip ordinary Christians for practical ministries within their communities. Pastor Denzil and his group understood this from the beginning and applied it to their situation. Every time they perform or have a concert, Denzil always calls to invite me. On these occasions, a special seat is always reserved for me and he points me out to the audience during the evening. I have asked him not to do this but Denzil never listens. I suppose it could be worse – he could ask me to sing on stage and I’d clear the audience within a few seconds!

It was my honor to perform Denzil and Candice’s wedding two years ago. They asked me if I could minister to them and I prepared way ahead of time. During the ceremony, they informed their friends and family that Christ be praised for their blessings. There were many non-Christians in the crowd who heard the brief message of the gospel that day.

Denzil’s group is called Zion 8 – Zion is for Jerusalem (from the hymn) and 8 because there are eight of them in the musical group. They play guitars, horns, drums. Three of the girls sing and Denzil is a master on the keyboard.

Anyone who wants to know about this ministry can check out their website – Zion8.com