Music is one theme that resonates consistently throughout my multicultural coming-of-age novel, RAINS OF MERCY. This is understandable because the male protagonist is a young teenager who sings in the choir and one who turns out to be a famous afrogospel artist much later in the story.
As a lover of afrogospel music myself (although my voice is far from pitch-perfect), I was careful deciding what songs would be best suited for RAINS OF MERCY’s playlist. I wanted songs that would convey the heart of the book, as well as remind the readers of the peculiarities of the culture through which the story is told.
So, I knew, in the middle of an autumn night, whilst contending against sleep as I remained determined to hit my set word count, the first song on my list would have to be I Am Your Beloved by Jonathan and Melissa Helser.
I Am Your Beloved is one song that has blessed me personally in too many ways to count, and it perfectly encapsulates the heart of RAINS OF MERCY. I Am Your Beloved carries a soft tenderness that reminds us of God’s love for us, and it reminds us that God is eager to accept us when we turn away from our sins and accept His Son, Jesus. In RAINS OF MERCY, the female protagonist struggles a lot with identity crisis - she feels she isn’t smart, not beautiful, not loved. She even thinks no good guy can ever love her. Aren’t we all sometimes like this? We often think we are not deserving of God’s superfluous love when God is ready to, and has already poured the entirety of His worth in us by sending His Son to die on the cross.
I want the readers to be reassured of the certainty of God’s unending love as they pick up RAINS OF MERCY, and perhaps also listen to the songs on the playlist.
The Church Will Sing - Make Room by Elyssa Smith & Community Music, the next song on the playlist is one of surrender. As we progress in the story, we see how the main character keeps making grave mistakes like running away from home with a guy who is only using her, and then becoming a single, teenage mum. But, she eventually realizes that when she gets to the end of herself, she reaches the beginning of God’s love for her. It’s an enigma - that a love so deep and selfless like Jesus’ isn’t performative. All God wants from us is complete surrender. And so when the main character decides to quit running, and fall freely into the Lord’s arms, she sees that He has been in the details of her life - the good and not so good alike.
The rest of the songs on the playlist are mostly afrogospel by some of my favorites like Limoblaze, Marizu, Prinx Emmanuel. I added these songs to show the richness of the African culture as well as the simplicity of the Gospel message they all carry. Abba by Marizu was used for the cover reveal on my socials and people absolutely loved it.
To celebrate the release of RAINS OF MERCY, my friends and I had a worship party, and we had the privilege of being led in worship by Chris Agape and Ayobami Aina (both also afrogospel artists too).
I enjoyed creating a playlist for my current book and will do the same for subsequent ones.
Asides setting the tone for my writing, having a playlist helps pass the message in a book, of which in Rains of Mercy, my hope and prayer was to show how intentional God is about you.
A Millennial's Story of Self-discovery and Faith
Tehillah loses everything in a bomb explosion.
She gets adopted by strangers.
She relocates a thousand seas away from the country of her birth and heart.
And... then ends up with a malicious adoptive sister.
She struggles with culture shocks, low self-esteem, ends up in a dodgy relationship and becomes a single mum.
Will Tehillah find a way to rebuild her life, rediscover her worth, and experience the mercies of a God who loves her more than she can imagine?
Will she ever accept Mrs Ezegwu as her mother? And will she stop seeing Jordan as the shorter, younger boy she could never like?
Christian | Young Adult Coming of Age [ Independently Published, On Sale: December 27, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9789786915074 / eISBN: 9789786919317 ]
Rume Emma-Okerhe writes compelling historical fiction that will melt your heart and bring you back to surrender. In 2016, she was the first-runner up in the Africa Writers’ Fifteen-Word challenge and in 2025, her short story, Oceans Beyond, was a finalist in the 2025 African Christian Fiction Readers and Writers’ award. She writes regularly on the Australasian Christian Writers’ blog and is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. RAINS OF MERCY is her debut full-length novel.
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