No life is lived in vain

When one asks you about someone you have known at some point in life, there is always that scene that pops out in your mind from some place in the shelves of your mental archives.

If someone asked me about Jimmy Pounds (JJ), what pops up is a well-fed, plump world at his feet; light skinned lad complete with a rim of specifically fitting eyeglasses. JJ as we called him sometime in the mid 2000’s was not easy to miss in a crowd. He was the person you found at Praise rallies and similar praise sessions on a Sunday service with a huge Bass guitar. He pinched at the stringed monster with such raw precision that for the most part you doubted he actually did any justice to it. One would be tempted to think the sounds were prerecorded so much so that JJ seemed to cast in the stage-managed scene.

There were those parts of the progression where Graham Keys, Irad Khitta Prince or Junior would mute the Key board and it would be JJ left to pulsate the environs with those husky guitar licks to much aplomb especially from the ladies. Trust JJ to leave to the moment. He oft times crowned up his solo with a summer sault or a Congolese 360 gyre much accessorized by his given endowment for that particular dance routine.

JJ went on to be an interpreter, radio DJ and gospel musician.

Jackie Mbabazi was that lady who was more vicariously known through her son Elvis; a young light skinned Rwandese looking boy and arguably the youngest member of our VIM choir at the time. Jackie was at church for the most part, did her biddings as an usher, helps minister, and a little would be said about her being a primary schoolteacher as well.

We shared those missions where we struggled to put pieces of legal tender together, went through prayer and fasting sessions together, struggled to find Justin’s choir uniform together.

Sometime last year, it was told that Elvis passed on in some mysterious juvenile delinquent mishap. At the beginning of the week, social media was awash with later to be confirmed rumours of JJ’s demise. Right before that particular dust settled, someone else posted that Jackie had followed on West.

These people served God with such passion and dedication at some point in their lives and I can say as much that I was there to glean from the unique shades they weaved into the fabric of God’s green earth. I eavesdropped on their loud out dreams at times…I heard them testify at times for the glimmer of rays pointing to the exhilaration in their hearts.

Gone to soon, I agree, and I am left with the task of finding out what it is that their lives have left for us to work with. So much is left unknown but one thing is for sure. No life is lived in vain.

R.I.P fellow labourers in the Great Commission, your legacy lives on.

#R.I.P
$TOH

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