Sarah Wonders is our DOZ Show Preferred Guest for this issue of DOZ Magazine. She is a UK based gospel singer/songwriter and praise and worship leader. She recently released “Champions Anthem” a song that encourages Christians and reminds them that they can do anything because they’re filled with the Holy Ghost. Sarah seeks to awaken Christians spiritually by singing about the truth of God’s word, the love of Jesus and who we are in Christ. She also aims to inspire with her music.
In this interview, Sarah opens up about discovering and embracing her purpose and the fulfilment it has brought her. Also, she shares how her song, “Champions Anthem,” has inspired many. This song has uplifting powers, and if you’re on the verge of quitting, it is a song that you want to listen to. It will inspire you to keep going until you win. In April Sarah was at the maiden edition of DOZ Live Inspirational Conference where she sang this song twice, and we could not get enough of it.
Read Sarah’s interview, look for her song on YouTube, and be inspired to face life’s challenges and win. You are a champion!
Sarah, would you please tell us a little about yourself?
Sure. I am a UK based gospel artiste. I’ve been singing all my life really which is what people always say but I guess from 2016 that’s when I really got my confirmation that this is what God wants me to do and so I started writing and just preparing myself for this year really where I’ve released my first debut single called Champions Anthem. I live in London. I’m happily married. I’m a worship leader; I enjoy going to church. I’m a very sporty person; I like doing things like sports. That’s it, yeah.
You said you’ve been singing all your life. Were you in a choir as a child? How did this journey begin?
Well, I remember when I like seven, eight years old, and you know back then you had the cassette tape players, and I always remember writing up my own songs and pressing the record button to play over it. And I am the first of four so by then I probably had like one sister that could like talk and the other one was very young, but I used to make them be like my backup choir. And obviously, I was singing in my church choir. Then when I got into secondary school, I used to enter singing competitions that we used to have every year, and I won a few of those which was great. And when I got to the sixth form which is like the sixteen, seventeen age I found some other people, and we were still singing. I’ve always had a dream from young of being this superstar. But when I got old enough to know enough about Jesus and eternal life etcetera and the type of lifestyle that we are meant to live, I knew that I had a big decision to make. I always wanted to sing, yes, but there were two options out there. There’s the option where you can do secular music, and then there’s the option where you can do Christian music. I have literally been singing all my life, and I’ve loved it and always been around people who also like singing.
As a young child singing and going for all those competitions, what support did you have? Did your parents support you, or were they like the regular African parents who would say there is no future in this face your studies?
Okay, so the singing competitions were part of my secondary school life. I actually went to a boarding school which was outside London, and I was living on campus, and so there wasn’t any issue of face your school because the competitions were held by the school. So as far as facing your school, it was the school putting it on, so that was all covered. I was nicely tucked away in a boarding school. But my mum was very proud; my dad is very musical anyway, so my dad likes to sing, he’s got a drum set he’s got a keyboard, I mean he’s very musical himself. So, I got some good support definitely and even when I was in primary school, and we used to have the Christmas carols, and I was given some parts to lead as a solo I mean she was proud, right? The support’s been great. And I’m still working because I need to work to fund my music, but potentially I would like to do ministry work full time where I go about leading people in worship, etcetera. So, we’re going to get there eventually. But they’ve been a great support. I’ve given them what they want, which is a degree. My mum used to say, as long as you give me a degree you can do what you want. So, I have given her, her degree. (She laughs).
What was it that initially attracted you to music?
Do you know that now, maybe in 2016, I discovered and understood it all? So, if you had asked me this question before 2016, I would have said to you I just knew that I loved to sing, I’ve been singing for a long time, it’s just something that I love. But I came across this Bible verse in Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says that God has placed a sense of eternity in everyone’s heart. And when I say everyone, it’s those that are believers now, right? Because when you’re a believer, there’s a change in your heart because the love of God is poured out into your heart and you’re born again into your new spirit man. So, it says there is a sense of eternity in everyone’s heart; that there is this longing, this sense of eternity, that nothing under the sun can satisfy except for Him. And so, what I understood when I finally got that was that this longing that it’s talking about is about desire. And this sense of eternity is about finally coming face to face with your purpose. You see, each and every one of us, we have a divine purpose. So, you might find whenever you ask people, when did you start this, they will never say oh I just woke up one day and started it. They will always tell you that for as long as I can remember and it’s not because, at the age of three or four or five, I was intelligent enough to say, this is what I want to do this is a good career choice. It’s that sense of longing; it’s that divine purpose that has always been in our heart somewhere. You know it says that before we were formed in our mother’s womb, He knew us, do you understand? He already wrote everything concerning our lives. He wrote everything, like how we would look, how many days we’d be on earth, what our strength would be what our weakness would be. So when you look at these little things, even for people that don’t even believe in God, the fact is that these things are always found to be true, whether you’re a believer or you’re an unbeliever. I’m sure when you’ve spoken to other people when you’re speaking to them about their purpose or when you’re speaking to them about something that they’re passionate about, they just have this fire in their belly and they can’t even really tell you where it came from. They would always say, it’s just always been like that. And this is the divine purpose that verse speaks so loudly of in my understanding.
Sarah, when you compose music, and when you sing, what is it that you’re hoping to achieve?
Okay, so in 2016 I made a decision to get to know God better. I think that there are too many people out there and sadly too many places that are not teaching the truth of His word. And so the first thing that I needed to do was chuck out all the things I’ve been hearing, chuck out all the traditional Christianity, for example the saying God helps those who help themselves. You know for a long time I actually thought that was a Bible verse? It’s not a Bible verse. So the first thing I wanted to do was chuck away all the traditional scripture that are not even scripture. All the things that I learnt because I see my parents doing, I wanted to chuck out. All the things that I saw in churches were unfortunately because the majority were African, which there’s nothing wrong with that, but we should not be bringing tradition into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God already has its own kingdom tradition which is the word of God. So, I wanted to strip all of those things off because there had to be more; there had to be more. Because the things that I was seeing happening around me in churches and the little that I knew, about the kingdom and about God and about His love, it didn’t add up, it did not add up. And so, I knew that there was a mismatch somewhere and I wanted to clear that up. So that’s why I had to start there because you get to understand the truth of His word. And then that kind of birth my passion to make sure that my music helps people to know about the truth and about the reality because too often we’re guilted, and with every prayer we’ll be like, I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner, blood of Jesus, I’m a sinner. And how many times would you want Jesus to die? He’s already died. Yes, we mess up, but He says that we can boldly approach the throne of grace. Do you understand? And then it also says if we’ve already died to sin, how can the one who is dead to sin continue sinning? How deep is your study? If you stop at I’m born again, I confess, I’m righteous now, but you’ve not come to understand that when you’re born again it means that you die to sin and that the life that you now live is not a life unto your own, but it’s a life of Christ, then you’re always going to be stuck at, I’m born again, blood of Jesus wash me make me righteous. Because you’ve not continued studying to find out who you’ve now become. So, my lyrics are just really about making sure that they’re to follow the truth of the scripture that will bring comfort and revelation to the people that will listen to my music.
What impact has your music had thus far on the lives of the people who listen to it?
I’ve been getting lots of feedback, which is fantastic, which is wonderful. Everyone says it’s inspiring; they say that they love the lyrics, and this is believers and unbelievers. They say it’s inspiring and motivating because the video, which is on YouTube, talks about four different lives, it tracks four different people’s lives and the challenges that they’re having in their different walks, and it’s motivating. It’s got a boxing person in it who is basically trying to train, but he’s not doing very well, and then he listens to inspirational music and realises that actually he doesn’t need to give up he’s able to do it. Then you’ve got someone who goes for a job interview, and we all know how nerve-wracking that can be. I mean it’s really inspirational, and they say that the words are inspiring; they say that it makes them feel that they can do anything. For those who have a deeper understanding, they just love it because it speaks about the reality of who they are in Christ.
How can people contact you?
You can contact me on Instagram; my Instagram is @Sarahwonderss. I am also on Twitter @Sarahwonders3. I am on Facebook, Sarah Wonders. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel Sarah Wonders, and my website is https://sarahwonders.uk/
