American gospel artiste Travis Greene lights up Mombasa with worship concert
American gospel artiste and pastor Travis Greene performs at the Mombasa Pentecostal Church on December 2, 2018.
In life, we sometimes encounter setbacks. But for American pastor and gospel artiste Travis Greene, the technical difficulties during his show, power cuts, and even cancellation of other concerts could not dull the mood as he led a worship concert in Mombasa on Monday.
Despite technical difficulties caused by a power cut, Greene’s energetic performance, which blended elements of rock, jazz, blues, and pop music, had the crowd dancing and singing along, creating an impromptu acapella performance.
“Mombasa, I am happy to be here. Happy to worship with you,” Greene told the crowd during the performance.
Prior to the concert, Greene had cancelled several performances in other African countries. This led the International Christian Center, the church that invited Greene to perform, to foot the bill for the pastor and his band, Forward City, to stay in Mombasa for several extra days.
And when Greene needed short breaks in between, band member Ms Chaquanna Rhett stepped in to keep the crowd electrified.
One of the highlights of the performance was Greene’s chart-topping song “Intentional”. The crowd sang most of his songs word for word as he performed but it was his closing performance of his song “Be Still” that seemed to resonate most with his fans.
The crowd sang along as Greene shared the story of how he and his wife Jackie had almost given up hope during the birth of their first child. Jackie’s water broke and doctors had told them that she wouldn’t make it. The experience inspired Greene to write the song “Be Still”, which was performed by their 8-year-old son. The emotional performance left the crowd in awe.
And as he finished his performance, Greene promised to return to Kenya next year with some of his celebrated gospel artiste friends from the United States, including Kirk Franklin and Tasha Cobs.
“Mombasa, you want to see me back here? You want me to come back with Kirk Franklin, Tasha Cobs?” he asked the crowd, which responded with resounding shouts and claps of approval.
***
Do you have feedback on this article? Please e-mail: [email protected]
