Shelome Williams was born in Jamaica. She grew up in Clarendon in a district called Tread light. She is one of eleven children. “Life was ok growing up, she said, my mum was always there for us, although food sometimes we did not have, but we had love. Singing has always been my first love, I love going to church with my grandmother because there I could sing in Sunday school, even though my mother was not a Christian every Sunday she would send us to church but my grandmother died, and then I stopped going church, at the age of eighteen. I was a single mother of two, to feed my kids I start to selling bag juice in May Pen Market, sometimes when I approach people they would run me, I remember one day I went up to a man and ask him if he would like to buy a bag juice, and he said, “hey dutty gal move from yaso,” I started to bawl, I could take no more so I stopped selling bag juice.”

One day I was sitting outside on a stone crying because I did not have no food for my kids ,when my little boy gave me a kiss and said I love you mommy, I felt as if I was given a million dollars, then I suddenly had a reason to live, I started looking for work , after walking all day I was going home when I saw some men working on a building, I went over to them and asked for the person in charge, they pointed to an older man, I went over to him, and asked him for some work, he laughed and said, “you can’t do this kind of job,” but I begged him, and he said, “come back tomorrow.” I got the job, I started to learn to thigh steel, lay blocks and read blue prints. I got to know the boss and we started a relationship.

It was not long before I got proud and started to spend money unnecessarily. I became a big time gambler. I would start gambling from Friday non- stop until Saturday. I got involved in a lot of things, at one point I was almost charged for murder, looking back now all I can say is thank God for Jesus, I got the opportunity to go to England, the land that is painted with gold, but it was far from it because not long after I arrived, I was on my own. It was hard but I managed to get a job. I had a little girl, then a few years later I got married and had a next child, things were going well for a while, then I woke up one day and all hell broke loose.

I started to hear voices in my head. I could not sleep; I would end up in hospital three times a week- the doctors could not find nothing wrong with me. One day I was in the bed room when I heard a voice calling me I did not answer because I was always hearing voices, the voice called twice more then it was gone. I called my mother who introduced me to a Witch Doctor who said I was going to die and I should send her two hundred pounds which I did, but every thing got worst- headaches, sleepless nights, hearing voices, so I decided to go to church. When I walked in the building it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, the choir was singing it was the sweetest sound I had heard in a long time. Then this young lady on the choir started to sing “Jesus you are everything am not and everything I want to be” and I came to the reality that Jesus is the answer, because I had tried everything and everything failed.

I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, but the voice did not go away, I went to the bishop of the Church and told him what I was going through. He then said the voice that you hear calling you is JESUS, and you are going to die and be born again. I got baptised and began my new life. There was a Gospel concert at church one night and I performed, after the show the guy that was in charge came up to me and said, “How would you like to do an album?” At first I though he was being funny, despite that I gave him my number. He called me and we got started.

I thank God for Kenton and Kesia Reid because they have been so good to me, I thank God for sending them into my life. I thank God for Bishop and Pastor Morgan who is always praying for me. If God can take my mess and turn it into a message, He will do it for you. Never give up on your dreams, don’t care what people want to say, you are what God says you are, and when Jesus says yes, no one can say no.

• Have you seen: Bye Bye 2006, Here’s to 2007

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