Maranatha Christian Center not only has a new look with the recent opening of the new Family Ministry Center, but some new faces as well, as they welcome worship tech arts pastors Rose and Emmanuel “Manny” Awuku to their staff.
Rose was born and raised in the tiny town of Denham, Indiana, where she says she always wanted to be a worship leader. “My parents took me to church as a kid, and when we walked in, I looked at the worship leader and told them, ‘I want to do that,’” she remembered. “My desire for ministry started there - God began to develop that in my heart.” Rose began taking music lessons, first acoustic guitar, then keyboard and vocal lessons. By the age of 16, she was working as a full-time worship leader, and it was around this time that she met her future husband, Manny. Originally from England, Manny moved to Indiana on a soccer scholarship and soon after meeting Rose, they began working as a team, with Manny working the tech end, before eventually learning guitar himself. Now he also writes music.
After the couple married, they accepted positions at a church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Rose left her home for the first time to pursue her dream and her calling. “I had worked as a worship leader for several years, but when we moved to New Mexico, we were on our own, and that was a scary move,” she said. “But it was an amazing experience of growth.”
