Somlandela (Love is Calling)

SONG INFO

Originally recorded for InterVarsity Live! on May 1, 2020

Eric Lige - worship leader  (Instagram: @ericligemusic)Julia Carbajal - vocalist   (IG: @julianicolecarbajal)Andy Delos Santos - vocalist  (IG: @andydelossantos)Colin Althaus - Guitarist   (IG: @colinalthaus)Josh Jang - djembe drummer (IG: @officialjoshjang)

Backstage Crew:

Colin Althaus - mixing & mastering engineer Andy Delos Santos - vocal producer  Eric Lige - worship coordinatorJosh Jang - video editor

Lyrics

SOMLANDELA / LOVE IS CALLING Words & Lyrics by Greg Jorden and NJ Kunene (Greg Jorden Music, NJ Kunene Music) / Zulu Traditional Public Domain

ENGLISH CHORUS

Love is calling out to everyone here in this placeLove is calling outWill You go for meWill You go for me

ZULU VERSESomlandela, Somlandel’u JesuSomlandela, Yonke indawoSomlandela, Somlandel’u JesuLapho eyakhona, Somlandela

ENGLISH VERSEWe will follow / We will follow JesusWe will follow / We will follow HimWe will follow / We will follow JesusWherever He leads us we will follow

Song Story

By Eric Lige, Urbana 18 Worship Director

A few years ago, I was at a church in South Africa leading a music workshop. As I was finishing up, two young men approached me, wanting to share a song that they had written together. That sidewalk became holy ground as Greg and NJ began to sing “Love Is Calling.” I was moved to tears, sensing a powerful story behind the lyrics. 

After singing, NJ, a Black South African, and Greg, a White South African, began to share their raw, honest experiences. They described the current racial tensions in their nation, as well as the history of apartheid. NJ said that just a few years ago, he hated White South Africans. But God had been at work in him and others, leading NJ to Gracepoint Church in Johannesburg, an intentional, multiethnic, multicultural, global community of faith. The people of Gracepoint warmly welcomed NJ, and he soon fell in love with their community, becoming a leader in their worship ministry. 

NJ and Greg co-wrote the contemporary chorus “Love Is Calling” and paired it with a traditional Zulu hymn “Somlandela.” They have embodied the work of the Holy Spirit in reconciling their communities and have graciously gifted this song to us.  

We have much to learn from our sisters and brothers in South Africa. They have modeled how to engage with issues in our world with honesty and love. Through this song, God, who is love, is asking all of us, “Will you go? Will you go and be my hands and feet in the broken places in our campuses, communities, and world?”

And may our answer be, “Somlandela! Somlandel’u Jesu! We will follow! We will follow Jesus!”