I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. I grew up in a Christian home where I attended church from a very young age. My love for worship was planted in those early days. I’ve been happily married for 16 years and have two beautiful daughters. My love for worship drew me to record Christian albums. My hope is that my music will be meaningful, life-changing and will inspire a closer relationship with Jesus. I recorded the worship album in Nashville with Daniel Ornellas in 2018 debut dual-lingual Christian Contemporary albums "Into Your Heart" and “Teu Coraçao”. It was a wonderful experience to work on this album with Daniel, who has become a good friend. Daniel is South African and has been living in Nashville for the past 19 years. He is an accomplished bass player, performing artist and producer, and an absolute pleasure to work with.

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I wrote my single “Into Your Heart” with Daniel Ornellas and Josh Varnadore. The song was inspired by a dream that I had. In that dream, I saw God’s heart as it fed and gave life to a tree which signified His people. The people that accepted Him flourished and grew, and in the dream the branches extended as this happened. We as the body of Christ, are all connected to each other as branches in the tree. It doesn’t matter what state our life is in we can always be restored by God, just as a tree blossoms after a long winter.

 

We had a blessed time writing “I’ll Never Leave You” with Garner Macgregor as well as my dad, Amadeu Lourenco. We connected immediately with Garner as he shared that his parents are South African missionaries that moved to the US. We shared our love for simple worship. We really felt in our hearts to write a song coming from God’s heart, speaking to us as His children. The message is that no matter the trials and pains we experience, Jesus never leaves us. The message of hope and faith is that no matter what we’ve done or how we feel He is always carrying us. “He will walk the waters to where we are”

I covered Kari Jobe’s “Forever”, Bethel’s “Ever be” and Lauren Daigle’s “How can it be” and translated these songs to Portuguese. I also covered a Brazilian song from Nivea Soares tilted “O Senhor e’ bom”, which was translated to English “The Lord is Good”. I chose to cover these songs as I identified with the message and meaning it will have for people.

 

 

I may have had 5-year hiatus from recording but my commitment to spreading hope and faith continued through ministering at churches as well as collaborations

with the award-winning Gospel Group, The Jesus Collective with their outreaches around South Africa. 

 

Worship is surrendering, day in and day out, to Him. Worship is our response to who God is. My new EP - “The Gospel Is Jesus” - is all about Jesus and what He has done for us. Sharing my faith and journey with Jesus through lyrics and song is a great privilege as we hope and have faith people will accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. He is the centre of this whole EP. I’m just a vessel to get the message out there to the world. During Covid I had spent a lot of time praying, studying the Bible and journaling. Many song inspirations came from that season in my life where we had to surrender all to Jesus and trust in Him fully. I find it so fulfilling and rewarding when someone shares a testimony on how one of my songs helped them through a tough time and inspired a closer relationship with Jesus.

 

“Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”

Philippians 2:16 

 

I collaborated with Loyiso Bala for “Keep My Eyes On You”. Loyiso brought a fun and relaxed R&B praise style to this encouraging song.

Neil Engel is the producer and co-writer for this EP. His love for worship & praise as well as his great knowledge as a musician & producer brought some new jazzy and orchestral sounds to this EP.

 

Neil Engel did a great job selecting all the best musicians here in Johannesburg. We had great musicians like:

Violin: Evert Van Niekerk

Drums: Kenny Williams

Bass: Earl Breezy

Lead guitar and acoustic guitar: Ray Green (With whom I had worked on my very first album)

Additional electric guitar: Howie Combrink

Piano and Keys: Neil Engel 

Backing Vocals: Masi Max Mqhakayi, Siphokazi Nompo Mayeki & Precious Sphe Luthuli

 

Neil also played a wonderful, fun and vibrant trumpet solo for “Keep My Eyes On You”. `All the musicians are very anointed and talented.

 

 

I’m so thankful to God for inspiring me and for allowing guiding me through this music ministry. I would also like to thank my family for their continued love and support, as well as all the wonderful people that were involved in the productions. I pray that people will be touched and inspired, that God’s word will shine through and that people may have a deeper connection with Him.

 

"Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong." Ephesians 3:17