It is 6am and I am awakened by the booming of bass drum sounds on a stereo coupled with the sound of stringed instruments and vocals that could split my eardrums. I had slept late, probably from a house party I deejayed, probably busy doing my blogs and graphics or maybe I was with friends at my place taking booze.
I turn my heavy head to the wall. I sandwich my cranium between pillows to no avail. Like a Mexican peddler who just run into losses, I breathe fire and fury and head to the last house on the floor I used to live in and angrily tell the guy that someone is trying to catch some sleep here. I angrily get back to bed trying to catch the sweet fantasy in my head.
I start fantasizing or rather dreaming about heaven, I see the angels surrounding my desk reading my blog. And then suddenly this music starts from nowhere and they start dancing. I don’t like the music myself. In fact I find it irritating. I twist to the wall and again the guy’s music is playing again. It is 6.30am. On a Saturday morning.
I wake my sleepy neighbor asking her if she gets irritated by the guy’s music and she sadly says yes but there is nothing she can do. The guy is at the sinks washing clothes. His music is full blast. He is playing some rock song in which later the neighbor told me that it is by some people who call themselves hillsong. “I thought that ka-boy was saved?” I ask her. She smiles and tells me that that is Christian rock.
To prove my masterly to the chic, and to show how I don’t take crap from people, I head over to the guy at the sink. Funny, the guy seems unshaken and continues singing the song word for word. I hated rock, with a passion that could make all roxk artists loose hope on their career. I ask the guy,
“We unataka tuishi aje huku?” (How do you want us to live)
“Sasa hatutalala juu yako?” (You’ve decided we won’t sleep)
I really expected that this guy would one day retaliate by talking ill in which I would find a place to unleash my potential energy. Funny enough, the guy was humble. He would just rinse his hands and rush to his house either to shut down his music completely or lower the volume.
I wouldn’t sleep again because I already have lost sleep. I would go stickto my computer and start doing something constructive. I loathed the guy. I hated him with a passion. I in turn hated those guys called hillsong because of how much this staunch loved their music. I used to say that if it were not for hillsong I could be enjoying my sleep every weekend morning.
This guy would do this on most weekends. I remember telling him to his face that I would kill him. We used to argue around that this guy should be playing riddim instead. I found him weird and thanked God that I was nothing like him. That was the year 2012.
Mutual friends… Need not say more. We had a mutual friend who happened to be my classmate too. This guy had told me that the guy is in something we call Kkrew. I knew Kkrew Deejays and me being a deejay I loved the idea. He told me that these guys had a bible study that was happening around Nairobi Cinema on every Tuesday as from 5.30pm and we should attend. I was about to ask him if he was nuts. First, I saw that these young Christian guys are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who want to be associated with something or someone so that they can have an identity. I saw that these youthful ‘christians’ are lost and are just in church to get solace.
I thought that life begins at 40 and that includes salvation. I was like, “Boy, there’s much of Vybz Kartel and Tommy Lee to play, rather than those crazy weird songs from people who lacked names and decided to call themselves hillsong.” I always wanted to kick the hell out of this guy but he was very cautious with his words. Even though I never got the chance to, I realized that he feared me and that was a huge gain.
Everyone was invited to this Kkrew thing. I remember the mutual friend telling me that they were with the TV guy called Njugush and even showed me a picture. I was like, I would be much more amazed if that was Vybz Kartel. Friends from the flat started praising this Kkrew thing and one day I gave it a try. Guys, it was the most uplifting service I have ever had since birth. I don’t know how but it was AWESOME. I got a small group called ‘Enlighters’ where I was received like a messenger bearing good news and was given a royal welcome. I also noticed that there were very beautiful chics and I set this place as my untamed forest full of beauties.
On one typical Tuesday, my eyes are cast on this guy walking up and down on the podium. I realize that this is the crazy hillsong guy and I quit Bible Study for like 8 months. Guys, this guy in the Bible who was swallowed by fish couldn’t evade his destiny. How could I? Guys from my small group never quit on me. They use to check up on me for months and weeks. The pressure was so much that I came back for like a month saw the hillsong guy and went again for like four months.
It was late in the year 2013 and still these guys from my small group Enlighters kept insisting that I should come. I become a consistent member in the year 2014 and go to exile again. My small group members were so funny and hyped and they became best friends. I now used to go to Bible Study to have fun and social life but would feel not at peace whenever I saw the hillsong guy.
It is 2014 and I have bonded enough with members of my small group that they would come pick me at work and head to Bible Study. I then think that I should do something in return. I create ‘us’ a blog and a logo. I become actively involved in creation of content and active participation of members towards building the blog’s portifolio.
My hillsong guy is still up there leading worship and I am seated SMH. He shifted and ceased being my neighbor and I was, “God, it has taken long but am glad my prayers were answered.” God works in mysterious ways, the guy’s hillsong music had become so common to my ears that I would wake up at 6am during weekends. I would then work on this blog like an ant too busy to wipe its own sweat. There was much peace but ironically, the sleepy head me never slept. I worked on my talents.
I started writing Kkrew sermons on this blog and a close friend and I start shooting the preachings, edit and burn them to cds and then sell them at very low prices to those who missed that sermon. It was funny that I was not born again at the moment. I was born again by mouth not by action. Life started changing on my side. I started seeing my hillsong guy as just a normal guy and we would say hi on our every encounter. I was a pianist at a band until it broke apart and I decide to join the Kkrew Praise and worship team. To my surprise, the hillsong guy is the praise and worship leader. I was out of breath.
I still join regardless and unconsciously, at the moment am so rooted in Christ that the hate I had is no more. I hang on for 5 weeks and then something incredible just happened. I met a guy in town who told me that he is the media team and they were looking for me for three months now. Simply because I put Kkrew Articles on my blog and they loved it. I get introduced to the KkrewBs Media Team and start off. I couldn’t juggle the two and plus many other commitments, I couldn’t make it to Praise and Worship.
I start thinking to myself, the media team was formed and I was just a regular visitor who came to listen to the word but they have been looking for me? For 3 months? How? It was then I resolved that I was called to serve and I should do everything as if am doing for God.
The hillsong guy, His name is Wallace. Recently a pastor kept telling him that he is great. That she needed to touch his feet and pray for him in which she did. I was seated there and thoughts of how I hated him started streaming in. Thoughts of how I said to his face that I will kill him bombarded in my brain. Simply because he worshipped. Simply because he listened to Christian music while washing his clothes. I was so much concerned about my sleep. I was so much concerned about nursing my hangover without having to be disturbed by anyone. Yet still, this guy said nothing ill on my face nor ever argued with me.
This guy is indeed great because God used him. If it were not for him waking me up at 6am, I would not have worked on this blog. I would not have posted the KkrewBs articles and would not be in the media team. You could not be reading this post. If it were not for this guy, I wouldn’t have known what KkrewBs is. God uses people for others. It was through this guy that I hated with all my heart that God transformed my explicit riddim music to soothing Gospel worship. It is through this guy that my blog got meaning. God used this guy so that I may be saved. You never know all that until you are rooted in Christ and He gives you a discerning spirit that opens your eyes wide.
Guys, most of us have that ‘Wallace’ in your life. That guy you find weird and confused, that guy you feel like kicking but you never know, tables will turn like how they just did in my life! P.S. I no longer hate ‘Wallace’. When you get rooted in Christ, when you get deep in spirit, things like hate cease to exist in your soul.
Moral: Hate on no one. Have negative thoughts on no one for you are hating God’s own creature while what God created was perfect.