The Vision

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I have been a fan of M.I.A. for more than a decade. She became famous for Paper Planes and Bad Girls (Bad Girls has been stuck in my head since it was featured on The Mindy Project). I gravitated to her for her honesty and bad-assery. The Sri Lankan/British rapper is one of those what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of people. I remember when she went on a show Colbert was hosting (I can’t remember which one, at the moment– it has been years). She was very unpretentious and sincere, and I think she sort of bruised his ego with her sincerity. I won’t forget that weird conversation and his salty intro.

Her music is on my ‘pump up’ playlist. The one I play before a trial, a job interview, a visit to the GYN office– you get the deal. The events that require you to be ready to go and brimming with confidence.

I recently read about her vision, and it sort of made the hairs on my arm stand up.

“But I had a vision, and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ.”

M.I.A.

The piece I read detailed a conversation she had with Apple Music. The title of the article was: Rapper M.I.A. Converts To Christianity After Having A Vision Of Jesus Christ, Unafraid Of Losing Progressive Fans.

I mean, look at this quote from the article:

“M.I.A. described her experience of having a vision of Jesus Christ as a “very creatively a crazy thing” that turned her world “upside down.” She remarked, “Everything I thought and believed was no longer the case,” which she believed was a “sign that something major was going to happen in the world” and that people had to know Jesus Christ.”

Christianity Daily

Her new music is called The One. Her Instagram and Twitter show her on a stage with a cross behind her. M.I.A. was always unafraid to speak out. Nothing has changed. I smiled when I read her interview. Jesus loves his badass daughters who live courageously. It’s just like Him to show up to this woman and reveal Himself so plainly and undeniably. He pursues us all with His great love. He pursued a British Tamil Hindu rapper boldly, and now, boldly, she is telling the world. He is the One.

“If I’m coming back now saying ‘Jesus is real,’ there’s a point,”

M.I.A.