Ugandan music artist Joseph Lagen is a soul thinker. I once had a mild taxi conversation with this wordsmith somewhere around Munyonyo, we were talking about a slippery yet important subject. (There goes my attempt to associate myself with a lad whose recent performance wowed, as it provoked thought) 

Joseph Lagen (Photo by George Mukiibi)

We talked about how Ugandan churches often treat musicians in their care and eventually compel them to go hunting for sometimes not-so-green pastures, back in Egypt, well, kind of. 

At the time, I had no clue that this soulful son of Agago District was brewing a music project that would bypass our heads for our hearts, without making light of sound doctrine, namely Child’s praise. The album! 

So when I got a rare opportunity to be invited by the main man himself to his show, I felt humbled, that the invite cited my own daughter’s name, offered a free extra ticket and coffees, (yes coffees!) was an example of a man who’s not just lulled by celebrity culture but is spurred by gospel humility in how he relates to ordinary people. 

I mean, how many artists do you know to send pedestrians personalized invitations to concerts? This struck me as a sign of a man conscious of God, more than only goals. 

30 hours after that text invite, I was on my way to Endiro, with my daughter in tow, on a Sunday evening, loaded with a mission to clear my head of all its week-long text-heavy burdens, hopeful that the strumming of a Lucille-like guitar would not just soothe, but provoke my thinking about creativity, even as a Christian. 

I wasn’t disappointed. It did! 

The stage cast of the evening featured many fairly known artistes (or forgive my ignorance) Anna Makula, Pride Lagum, Mal and His People, Tamba, uh, kozi who else? 

(L-R Stephanie, Pride, and Anna Makula) Photo by George Mukiibi

And so was his backend team service provider list—another sign of a man enamored by real lives, and not by mere lights camera, action! And oh boy, nothing I know in my concert circles matched the simplicity and elegance exhibited on Sunday. 

Most prominent for me in this was that the lanky dark-lit faithful brother from the North was willing to associate with those not often in the limelight, including my daughter, as part of his gospel conviction. 

He struck me too as a Christian conscious of his society, local language, and origins as a gift from God, (most of us, well, myself) would rather simplistically label explicitly non-Christian creativity and art “secular” and continue our Sunday drum beat (locking out the world we are supposed to reach) 

Not Lagen, he seemed aware that God puts people in boundaries for a reason, whether those boundaries allow hilarious bus rides back home, where you fall in love with your local language, and hear your Dad say, “But Son, you speak Acholi like an Italian priest! ” (IYKYK)

How he reflected on his struggles as an artiste-cum-lawyer on Kampala’s often unkind streets also struck me as a guy who’s confident in God’s providence and sovereignty, even when it takes you down the dark underground tunnels of University hustle, or post-university empty wallets. 

Lagen also resisted the common temptation among creatives to overestimate our importance by standing on the shoulders of ancient hymn writers even as he penned his lyrics, yay! 

He seemed eager to go underneath Christian buzzwords and talk about inspired scripture, albeit with poetic effect and uncompromising imagination. The three, he reminded us, are never at war with each other. 

My prayer for Lagen and many faith-fueled creatives (and the churches that shape them) in Kampala, is that God will continue to quicken a surpassing desire for himself in us, liberate our imagination from worldliness, and grant us a culture that communicates the gospel, whether we are bringing little known dancers to share our stage, mentoring young creatives, or revisiting our history to tell stories of how God has been at work since the village that first raised us. 

Congratulations to you Lagen and team, may Grace continue to triumph in you, you are not from near here! Child’s praise is a testimony that the kingdom of God is for such as these little ones indeed! 

Bye bye bye bye!