Christina Shusho: Entertainer, teacher, preacher

When on stage performing gospel music, Christina Shusho’s goal is to preach the Word to her audience through gospel music.

Having done it for over two decades, she feels she’s on the right trajectory. Her music has powerful messages, and this quality has endeared her to Christians globally, influencing millions of people and convincing them to turn to God.

But Christina says she is not only an entertainer but also a teacher and preacher.

“Music is a powerful tool, which delivers the word in our gospel ministry in a technical manner. This is how we have preached and promoted it for decades. We will still do it for many years to come and we are there to stay,” Christina told the Sunday Magazine.

“We cannot be preaching through music and fail to influence people. Our mission has seen thousands of citizens in East Africa, Africa and the world at large turning to God, a development that has changed their attitude towards life for the better. They have been touched by the Word of God.” 

The Tanzanian artiste says her best moments are “when my music touches the hearts of millions of people who eventually turn to God for forgiveness. That’s my best moment”.

The soft-spoken artiste’s music has propelled her to great heights in the global gospel music industry. Nations, religious or non-religious organisations have sought her out just because of her music.

She has been invited to entertain guests and dignitaries at various public and private functions.

Christina was among the gospel singers invited to participate in the burial ceremony of the fifth President of Tanzania John Pombe Magufuli in March 2021. Christina was also involved in various campaigns during the pandemic period in Tanzania.

She has composed and produced many songs, and her best-sellers remain Unikumbuke and Wa Kuabudiwa, produced in 2008.

Her General Manager Dr Humphery handles all work protocols for the artiste while in Tanzania or abroad.

“I have been with Christina for long; I enjoy my work,” he says.

Christina has visited all seven continents - Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.

“My participation in evangelical activities has landed me in many parts of the world. And that is not the end. Neno Litaendelea (The Word will go on),” says Christina.

She was in Kenya last December for a concert in collaboration with comedian Daniel Ndambuki of The Churchill Show.

She won the Best Gospel Artiste award at the Tanzania Music Awards in 2016 and 2017.

Christina also received the Best Female Gospel Artiste award at the NAMA Awards in 2018.

Besides being a singer, she is a preacher, a motivational speaker and a businesswoman whose powerful testimonies have been an inspiration in the lives of many across the globe.

She owns a church - The Dreamer Centre - located in Monzepe in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city and financial hub of Tanzania.

“Besides being a composer and a singer, I am also a church minister and a business personality but the Word of God reigns supreme in my life over anything,” she says.

Asked how she juggles between the three jobs, she said; “It is all about time management. Even presidents have lots of work in their presidential palaces but they are always conscious of time management,” she says.

By managing her time wisely, Christina can attend to family matters. She has three children with John Shusho, a pastor.

“Despite my work and the tight schedule that goes with them, I always have time for my family,” she says.

Apart from singing and preaching, Christina likes farming and fashion shows.

She grows fruits and other cash crops in her rural farmland of Kigoma and has a boutique in Dar es Salaam.

“I am a fashion designer with a great passion for farming,” she says.

Born on November 17, 1978, Christina grew up in a Christian family. She developed a deep love for God at an early age and was involved in various church activities.

By the age of 15, she committed her life to Christ and would attend a Pentecostal church in her hometown of Kigoma.

There, she learned the values of humility and dedication even as she attended primary and secondary school, where she discovered her passion and talent in singing.

Christina honed her singing talent when she joined the church choir.

On nurturing upcoming talents, the artiste said she has scouted young talent in different parts of Tanzania and in East Africa, which has led to several collaborations in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the US and Canada.

In Kenya, she has collaborated with singer Janet Otieno in the song Napokea Kwako.

Eight years ago, she produced Omba and Tenda Wema with Rayton.

“Collaborations get borne to quality music among different artistes. They enhance regional integration, which we are out to promote,” she says.

Christina wishes to mentor youth and will be setting up a gospel music academy that should nurture and develop talents in the region.

“That should be part of my legacy. We are out to develop talents in the region that leave a rich legacy once we vanish from the scene,”  she says.