Village Worship began with a simple conviction: God is raising worship leaders in every corner of the world, and the local church needs them.
Our story began in 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, when Kanjii Mbugua gathered a small group of worship leaders for the first pilot of Rooted in Worship. What started as a discipleship journey became something much bigger. As these leaders grew deeper in their understanding of worship, Scripture, leadership, and their calling to serve the local church, a community began to take shape. From that first experience came Pambio Worship, a collective of worship leaders and songwriters whose music has become a powerful expression of Kenya’s worship story.
Soon, Rooted in Worship began travelling. Churches across Kenya and the United States opened their doors to the experience, creating spaces where worship leaders could be formed spiritually, equipped practically, and encouraged to see their gifts as part of God’s mission in and through the local church.
But something was becoming increasingly clear: the global Church does not need one sound. It needs the sound of every people, every language, every culture and every story God has redeemed.
So in 2025, Rooted in Worship gathered worship leaders in Cairo, Egypt, from ten nations across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. What happened there became a defining moment in our story.
We worshipped together. We learned from one another. We shared our cultures, our struggles, our songs and our stories. We discovered that discipleship becomes richer when we learn to listen across cultures—and that the local church becomes stronger when its worship leaders are deeply rooted in both Scripture and the communities they serve.
Out of that experience came deep relationships, transformed leaders, and songs born from the cultures represented in the room. Songs that could travel beyond borders while still carrying the voices and stories of the people who created them. In time, what began as Rooted in Worship became known as the Village Worship Initiative.
Today, Village Worship is a growing global network committed to raising worship leaders for the local church globally—through discipleship, songwriting, and partnership with local churches. We believe worship leaders are more than musicians. They are shepherds, disciples, culture-bearers, songwriters, and servants who help their communities encounter God and find their voice in worship.
We are building a global family where leaders can be formed, songs can be written, churches can be strengthened, and cultures can be celebrated.
And this is only the beginning.
There are worship leaders yet to be discipled, songs yet to be written, churches yet to be strengthened, and communities yet to discover the unique sound God has placed within them.
We believe the future of global worship will not be built by making every church sound the same, but by helping every church find its own faithful voice.
This is our story.
And we invite you to be part of what God is writing next.