Last Saturday evening, April 8, the student center lounge was filled with excitement and anticipation, unlike most other Sabbath sundowns that remain pretty quiet. Amid more than 50 people waiting ahead of time, Watchmen Acappella was busy preparing for their free concert—Unstoppable: A Journey Through Self-Discovery.
As it reached the time for the concert, Philip Wekesa (senior, music performance) appeared on the stage. Together with the audience, the singer sang “Lean On Me” (Bill Withers), which he arranged himself. Soon after Philip finished the song, Opeyemi Adesina introduced the featuring group, One Connection, a kids quartet who continued the lively atmosphere with “I Am So Blessed.” A couple of members from One Connection exited the stage to trade the spot with two new members, creating a new quartet group. Because they did not have an official name for this quartet group, one individual made a name on the spot: Just the Four of Us. After introducing themselves, Just the Four of Us sang “If the World Was Ending” (JP Saxe and Julia Michaels) and concluded their debut stage.
After the successful concert opening delivered by One Connection and Just the Four of Us, all the other members of Watchmen Acappella appeared on the stage while introducing their background and heritage. Abel Siamubi is a graduate student from Zambia studying Organization Management at Andrews. Eugene Amponsah is from Ghana and is actively working as a nurse. Emmanuel Gyamera is also from Ghana, and is an Andrews graduate student studying Speech-Language Pathology program. Coming from Madagascar, Narda Herimala is studying in the MDiv program. The enthusiastic MC, Opeyemi Adesina, is from Nigeria and has recently graduated from Andrews University with his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. Lastly, Philip Wekesa, the only undergraduate student in the group, came up to the stage to complete the lineup while representing his country, Kenya.
After the sound check and a fun interaction with Opeyemi and his mother (“Do better!”), the group started singing “I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For” and “More Than Words” (Extreme), in which Eugene and Narda sang the lead. Right from the beginning, the next song was Abel’s favorite—“Brave” (Sara Bareilles)—and he used the song to encourage the listeners to stay brave while introducing and singing his solo. To make the concert more interactive, Abel numbered each member (except him and Ope) from one to four. Apparently, each number/member was assigned a certain song, and the audience was given a choice to decide which song the group should go for. After a fierce debate amongst the crowd in deciding between two and three, a final decision was made to go for two, which turned out to be “CCTV” (King Promise). After the lively clapping and singing, viewers had a chance to ask questions to the group and hear about their mission and purpose based on Ezekiel 3:17, which is to spread the word of God and empower people to reach their dream. Their mission tied well with the theme of their next song, “The Climb” (Miley Cyrus), which had the lead sung once again led by Eugene and Narda. Next, they sang “If” (Davido), “Unstoppable” (Sia), and lastly, “I Do” (boys2men original), and concluded the concert.
When asked about the concert experience, Patrice Robinson (social work, senior) responded, “I always enjoy watching the Watchmen perform. I love how they always get the crowd involved through questions and inviting us to sing along. They are truly a family up there and make you feel as though you are a part of it too.” Daniele Oduro Kyei Boahen (senior, music) added to this and said, “What stood out to me was the diversity within the audience. Not to mention the ethnicities, but many community members above college age were present. It just showed that the music from the Watchmen is able to reach a variety of people.”
And what Daniele has described is precisely the purpose of Watchmen: using their music to spread the word of God and “empower their audience to make a positive change.” In fact, according to the group, they have recently “established the Watchmen Legacy Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, to empower students through sustainable scholarships and career advancement opportunities” by mitigating “social inequalities that impede students’ access to quality education and career advancement.” To support and learn more about the Watchmen’s ministry, we encourage you to visit their website or Instagram page: https://linktr.ee/Watchmen7, @watchmenacappella.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.