Former Joyous Celebration singer Puleng March shares with Move! the beauty of marching to God’s beat and her ultimate hope for marriages and abomakoti (wives) in households.
CONFLICTING VIEWS
It is a cultural practice for a wife to listen to elders and those who have walked the path before. In 2008, just before she got married to the love of her life, Joshua, Puleng did just that. But the Ke Laolwa Ke Moya hitmaker says there was a tug-of-war with some of the advice she got, especially at her bridal shower.
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“As a Christian wife, my manual is the Bible but I found there were conflicting views about how to deal with issues in a marriage,” she says. The Northern Cape-born singer tried to dodge a nagging feeling in her heart that she should start a movement where wives could seek refuge, but eventually the calling became too loud to ignore.
“I kept doubting it because I was asking, ‘God, what will I say to wives about marriage when I too am still new in marriage?’ But he makes all things happen.” Her movement helps married women deal with issues like infertility, praying for family, broken marriages, relationships with in-laws, parenting, finances and matters of the bedroom.
DIVINE PROVIDENCE
In 2013, Puleng hosted her first Umakoti Enkosini, and God showed up. “He provided for me. I was clueless when it came to hosting an event, but He put people around me who understood the vision and were willing to walk with me,” Puleng says.
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From that day on, the event has toured in different provinces around the country. “I get calls from women and churches in different provinces and in Botswana asking when Umakoti Enkosini will be in their hometowns,” she says.
Puleng admits she would have stopped a long time ago if it wasn’t for the testimonies she gets from the women she encounters. “A testimony from a woman who says, ‘My marriage is restored because of the prayers of abomakoti and because I started applying the things that were talked about during our gatherings’ – now that is the reason I have been called to do what I do,” she says.
REWARD FROM GOD
It hasn’t always be easy, especially trying to cover costs of the event. Three months ago the mother of two, Unathi (7) and Xabiso (10), was involved in a series of accidents while travelling from an event in Welkom, Free State. But nothing beats being an instrument of God’s power, she says.
“I almost lost my family when we got involved in three accidents in one day while travelling back home. It was then I realised there are powers of darkness against the work of God we were doing. It was really strange how everything happened, but we survived.
“I will not stop helping to restore marriages and women because my reward is with God, not with man,” she insists. God has showed her favour in other areas of her life too. Puleng says her debut album from last year is doing really well. She has been able to successfully grow the movement and also her solo career at the same time.
