Family and Faith Magazine Issue 9, Summer Edition | Page 7

For as long as she can remember she has been singing in church;
giving her life to Jesus after a moving encounter at 13 years old. From
there she grew into a well known psalmist and worship leader at her
home church in Portmore, Jamaica and initiated children’s ministry
within the inner city communities that the church served. During this
time she recorded her first few tracks on a sampler project called “His
Mercy Endureth.”

After two life changing surgeries she
became more determined than ever to
devote her voice to the glory of God.

The opportunity to live in and travel to various Caribbean islands, has
taken her voice from Jamaica to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago, the
Cayman Islands, St. Lucia and Barbados and she has shared stage with
Yolanda Adams, CeceWinans, Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, Mary
Mary and many others. As a creative writer she has written, directed,
presented and produced various Caribbean Radio and TV productions.
Between her medical career and her time as a marketing director she
has often shared her gift through ministry in churches and at Gospel
and Jazz shows in the islands but she would always return to her
academic pursuits. But one day death came knocking and Samantha
could run no longer.

After two life changing surgeries she became more determined than
ever to devote her voice to the glory of God. As she turned her heart to
God in 2014 she received more songs for her debut album “Stronger.”
Her heart of worship is exposed in raw melodies that reveal the joy and
pain of the Christian journey. The message of the project is as simple
as her mission“ to connect hearts in worship to God empowering them
to live their best life”. In April, Samantha debuted an EP called “Lifted
By Love” as an introduction to the “Stronger” album set to be released
this Summer. Family and Faith Magazine is delighted to connect
with the woman of God behind the voice. Below is an excerpt of our
email interview.

Family and Faith Magazine: Describe the
circumstances that led to your walk with the
Lord?
Samantha: I was 13 years old and had just
moved to Jamaica with my family. I had no
desire to be baptized. In fact as a young girl
who had moved from the UK with her family,
I was quite intimidated by the powerful young
people who showed such passion for God. That
wasn’t the case where I came from and I was
afraid to become a young Jesus fanatic. Church
seemed filled with old “uncool” people and I
did not want to be a part of that. Yet I always
felt the pull of God on my life. You can imagine
the conundrum for my young mind. But I told
God that if I ever went to the altar and cried that
I would immediately get baptized. It sounded
like a good deal to me because I always went
to the altar at my church in the UK, I mean I
loved to be prayed for; I still do. But none of my
trips to the altar yielded tears. So imagine my
chagrin when my first trip to the altar at church
in Jamaica yielded tears! The elder came and
asked me if I would like to be baptized and
I felt a lump in my throat and then I felt the
tears coming. And that night in December,
I got baptized.
Family and Faith Magazine: How do you
know for sure that God is real?
Samantha: There are many personal instances
of times where God has shown me His
love and power. One that stands out in my
mind was while I was recovering from my
near-death experience in a hospital bed
in Trinidad. I spent weeks of insomnia on
morphine, with tubes all over my body as I
recovered. In that time I was given a message
for a friend; the kind of message that included
some intimate details of his life that I could not
be privy to since I was stuck in a hospital bed in

SPECIAL FEATURE / ARTISTE

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“

There are many
personal instances of times
where God has shown me
His love and power.

”

another part of the island. So when I was well
enough I gave him the message and he looked
at me in awe and then shock and told me I
was lying. He tried to convince me that I was
delusional. He left me crying, thinking I was
going insane. A few moments later he returned
and confessed that everything I told him was
true and that he would surrender his life to
the Lord…You know the more I think about
the answer to this question the more answers
come. I’ll stop here though.

“

I don’t feel like less of
a person because I am not
in a relationship because
I know that the guy who
controls the universe
controls my life.

”

”

Family and Faith Magazine: Many young
ladies in the church feel left behind because
they haven't been able to find a suitable
spouse, but you seem to be truly living a
full life. How do you feel about your own
singleness?
Samantha: Well I think the fir