God's Princess
With no prior training, Faridah quickly mastered the unique art of dancing the Chakacha.
" Its a dance from Mombassa, the coast, where its performed during the weddings by ladies and not in front of men," Faridah explains. "When I started, immediately there were competitions, and I kept winning. There was a very big competition. The title was 'Queen of Chakacha.' They were looking for the best dancer, and everybody knew that I was the one who was going to win. When I became famous, when I was dancing, they were cheering; everybody was talking about me: the newspapers, the media, the TV. I was all over the newspapers and I felt great! But then after some time, deep inside me there was emptiness."
Though she was becoming more and more successful, Faridah never really felt satisfied.
"I used to feel I wanted something, and I used to pray a lot. I cant remember praying in an Islamic way, but I used to talk to God," she says. "I didnt know how to pray, but I could speak to God. I had a problem saying 'Jesus.' I could not say 'Jesus.'"
When her sister became seriously ill right before a major tour, Faridah went with her to see a recommended specialist: a doctor who was also a devout Christian.
"The doctor said, 'You fast for three days and you believe. Have faith that you are going to be healed,'" Faridah recalls. "We didnt tell anyone in the house that we were doing that because we were Muslims. I helped her fast for three days, dry fasting. We were like, 'Oh, yeah!' She got well. They prayed and Jesus healed her. I said, 'Oh, my! This is good!'"
Faridahs band was performing in Abu Dhabi when terrorists struck America September 2001.
"We were there," she says. "It was an Arabic country and I was very scared. I could not sleep for one week. I didnt sleep even a wink. I was just thinking of that. I had a chance. I had a space. God told me, 'You have a space here, but you are not clean.' I knew immediately that I had to repent of my sins, so I was pleading, 'I will do whatever it takes.'"
What it took was completely abandoning her career and accepting Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.
Faridahs very public baptism generated national headlines and a flood of media attention. Bishop Arthur Kitonga found himself fielding reporters questions from the baptismal font.
"They came in a big way, and they were asking questions about whether she was really transformed," Rev. Kitonga explains. "We said that definitely we could see the fruits of true transformation in her life."
Today Faridah humbly sings backup at church crusades. Her pastor encourages her to allow her new faith to grow.
"The same style she used in the world God can use her in a better way in the church," says Kitonga. "I told her to be aggressive in the things of God. I believe this is a turning point in her life and she will serve God throughout."
"Hes so good to me!" states Faridah about the Lord. "Its the grace of God that saved me because I dont deserve what God is doing to me. Ive been horrible. Done horrible things. But to know that Hes forgiven me all my sins and forgotten--nobody can do that in this world."
