Joy Mugambi born as Margaret Makanda faced a challenging upbringing, almost losing hope of success in life due to the hardships. Fortunately, a Good Samaritan intervened, covering the costs of her education. Today, she is both a doctor and a gospel musician.
She shared her story with Turning Point:
Briefly introduce yourself.
I am born again, and a gospel minister and a teacher of the word. I was born in Uganda, my mother is a Ugandan and my dad is a Kenyan from Mount Elgon.
As a gospel musician where do you draw your inspiration from?
My ministry is all about bringing out what God has given me to the people by word of singing. I get revelations from the Bible and get it out to the people. Besides, my music is not one-sided, it depends on what God puts in me concerning the people. It can be an encouragement; it can be a pastoral word, it can be a teaching or giving hope to the hopeless. My music cuts across different themes.
What is your experience being raised as a step-child?
Like many other step-children and kids born out of wedlock, my upbringing was really a harsh one. I almost lost hope in life due to the conditions in which I was growing in; in fact I couldn’t even know whether I would proceed to campus after my form four. However, I thank God he connected me with a well-wisher who became my destiny helper and sponsored my training as a medical doctor. I will forever thank God for this encounter.
How did you begin singing?
I hear many people say they identified their singing talent while they were young or when they were in the Christian Union. Interestingly, for my case, I could not identify myself as a singer or artist for that matter when I was in school. Nonetheless, I had a passion for singing from childhood, whether in the church, or ministering where possible as I grew up in a church environment. I grew up in a family of singers; my mother, and sister were singers. This got amplified when I was in secondary school where I interacted with colleagues who motivated me and fuelled my singing talent. From the time I joined college, I was already a serious artist. In every church I have been I have always been in the music department
However, in 2006 I had a dream that appeared strange to me; in this dream, I was given two books by a person; one was the bible and the other one was a red big book with songs. The person basically wanted me to sing each and every page of the book. I was like; you want me to sing all the songs in this book? and he said Yes.
Immediately after the dream, I woke up with the first song; “Nisaidie Baba, Nisaidie Mungu Wangu” From there, it bubbled and music just comes on its own and I started writing so many songs though I didn’t start recording them immediately.
I always look at the book in the dream; it was so big; and I know I just get revelations of many songs which come on their own and I record.
What has been the impact of your music so far?
I thank God the message in my music has been so impactful to many of my audiences including my family members. My mother, grandparents and siblings have gotten saved because of this. I also minister to different churches and people get really touched and blessed with my music.
What are some of the popular songs you have recorded so far?
My first recording was in 2009 which was “Nisaidie Baba” an album with seven songs which was well received by my audience. After Nisaidie Baba, I recorded another album, “Jiwe Yesu”also an album of 9 songs which also did very well in the market. There is also “Asante Yesu” a song that is also garnering popularity among Kenyans.
Your parting shot?
Currently, I am very active in supporting those born out of wedlock because being a victim myself; I understand the struggles they could be going through. As a society, we need to understand that such children have not done anything wrong to deserve mistreatment or segregation. They just found themselves alive so we have a duty to treat them fairly.
