COULD vocal powerhouse Tessanne Chin be next of the list of artits in pop culture to become baptized Christians?
Well, gospel songstress Chevelle Franklyn is confident that the 2013 season 5 winner of The Voice will soon offer her life to Christ, joining the likes of deejay Lady Saw, who now uses her given name Marion Hall; beauty queen and model Yendi Phillipps, who recently took the plunge; as well as Chin’s own brother-in-law, singjay Wayne Marshall, who has recently released two gospel tracks and declared that he is “on a journey”.
Marshall is married to Chin’s sister Tami.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Splash, Franklyn, who herself made the switch from secular to gospel music 20 years ago, said Chin’s voice is built to serve God.
“I am waiting for Tessanne Chin because God’s hand, the call of God, has been on her life for a long time, so she should have been one of those (to be baptised) in this season. I’m praying and I say this humbly — I pray that she won’t allow people to say when the time is right it will be right. One thing I know about the rapture is that it comes suddenly; there is no warning,” said Franklyn.
“The reason why I called Tessanne is because I have seen and heard God spoke to me concerning this mighty woman of God; and that voice is designed for his glory, nothing else, designed for his glory. So I’m trusting, honestly trusting and praying her through,” she continued.
Franklyn is excited about the new converts entering the fold and offered words of welcome and encouragement.
“I think its amazing. I am so excited because I believe that the time has come for this great move. I welcome them with open arms. When I got saved I would call Marion Hall once a year just to encourage her because I saw the hand of God on her and I knew for certain that this time would come. I am not surprised that Alaine and a few others are coming this way, and I know that God is ready to use them for his glory.”
However, she encourages those in the music industry to take things slow and easy, allowing God to work on them before taking to the stage as gospel acts.
“Allow God to process you before you take to the stage. It is very important to be processed, because doing the secular work and then transitioning to gospel is from a different place. It’s not from a place of feelings, but from a place of purpose and the call of God. There are situations that are going to come to discourage you because you are now in fellowship with the Holy Spirit… when you are a baby yuh nuh ready fi hard food, so allow God to process you … if yuh eat hard food you’re gonna choke. My thing is I am praying for them,” she stressed.
Recalling her own conversion, Franklyn said despite all the trappings of her secular career, she was always left with a void.
“It wasn’t as if my career was at a standstill. It was in 1998, Dancehall Queen was out, the movie was out. I was touring. I was in in Paris… all over Europe. We were doing a lot, so basically my career just got the buzz that it needed. I thought that when I got that buzz I would have felt at peace and things would feel much better. But the void was still there. I was meeting all these celebrities and I still felt lonely and just didn’t have the peace that I needed.”
Franklyn was among a group of secular acts who became Christians at the time. The list included Ryan Mark, Danny Browne, Chrissy D, and Judy Mowatt. She currently has a hectic touring schedule which includes African states such as Nigeria and countries in the east such as Thailand as well as England, St Croix and Antigua. Franklyn is also pushing her 2017 album Set Time.
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