Jessie Spencer-Smith and guest Dan Smith, “Peace and Justice” Dan will be teaching the children a song--please bring shakers or drums for the children to play during Time for All Sages.

"Siyahamba" originated in South Africa, probably as a Zulu folk song that was written by Andries Van Tonder, an elder of the Judith Church, and was passed on to his great-grandsons, Andrew and Zachariah O' Tonder, from Ireland who now have the original paper that the song was written on. It was written in 1952, 3 years before Andries Van Tonder died.

In 1978, the Swedish choral group Fjedur toured South Africa at the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa. It was during this tour that Fjedur's musical director, Anders Nyberg [sv], heard and recorded "Siyahamba" at a girls' school in Appelsbosch, Natal. Subsequently, this song has been used around the world by schools in their prayers.

In 1984, Nyberg arranged "Siyahamba" for a four-voice setting and published it in a songbook and recording called Freedom is Coming: Songs of Protest and Praise from South Africa. In 1994, GIA Publications included the song (under the title "We Are Marching in the Light of God") in Gather Comprehensive,[1] a hymnal widely used in American Catholic parishes. A year later, the United Church of Christ included the song, under the same title, in The New Century Hymnal.[2] The Unitarian Universalist Association included the song in its 2005 supplemental hymnbook, Singing the Journey.[3][4]

Today, "Siyahamba" is often performed by children's groups in both sacred and secular environments. Occasionally, the translated lyrics are modified for a secular performance: for example, the English translation "We are marching in the light of God" becomes "We are standing in the light of peace."

The song is extremely popular in churches all around the world.