Two months after releasing his album "All About Jesus" that features his church’s music group, Pastor Khaya Mthethwa has his dropped the second single from the album "Ongiholayo" (The One who leads me).
"Ongiholayo" — a song that speaks about being led by God — is a reflection of his own life, explains Khaya. Adding that it is one that resonates with him the most, after his other favourite song, "Awaken".
“It is based on a traditional song that people will be familiar with. We kinda reinvented and remixed it, so it has a great uptempo energy. It speaks about the "One" who leads me, based on the scripture Psalms 23," said Khaya.
Khaya — whose journey in the gospel scene started long before he won the coveted Idols crown in 2012 — has been called into full-time ministry as a senior pastor of Oasis church.
"This is a journey for me and for Oasis, we are trusting God that he is leading us to a place that is going to be full of excitement. Our expectations are really high,” he said.
Though Khaya has been Christian for many years, being raised as a PK (pastor’s kid), the biggest change in his life came when he reconnected with God, seeking guidance.
He also believes that we live in a time where people should seek God’s counsel, more now than ever before.
“There are so many people we meet every day who are going through the most. People are really struggling in various areas of their lives and I strongly believe that this is such an opportune time to put our trust in a higher being, who is God and that is where our strength will come from," he said.
“That is where hope will be raised because there is something not knowing what will happen tomorrow but knowing that tomorrow is going to be okay. You can’t replace that,” he added.
As a young pastor, he does admit that he sometimes faces resistance for his chosen journey, but that doesn’t phase him.
“We are in a time or era where we are somehow anti-church (so to speak) and the thing is that most people that speak anti-church have never really experienced church for themselves," he said.
"It is second-hand experiences that they are speaking from. Until you experience God for yourself, church like any other organisation has its problems (challenges), but we should never lose our focus on who we are going to church for,” he added.