Faith in the Power of Music: Personal ministry with hip-hop beat
By Nicole Johnson McGill
Times-Union staff writer

Ayanna Overall's life changed about a year ago when her television was on as background noise, and a preacher was in the midst of an impassioned sermon.

"He said, 'You need to find a home church, and you need to get yourself grounded in the Word,' " Overall said.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to listen.

"I felt like he was talking to me."

The preacher's daughter had moved from her hometown of Oakland, Calif., to Jacksonville with her military husband. The marriage didn't last, but Overall remained in Jacksonville.

She was a long way from her family and began to drift away from the Christian upbringing that had helped her through hard times in the past.

"I felt empty as a person," said Overall, a 29-year-old computer programmer and analyst. "I felt God had left me, but really I had left him."

Overall started going to church with a friend and later joined. But she took her renewed faith a step further and decided to follow through on David's House, a vision she'd had for some time.

David's House is her personal ministry aimed at bringing young adults to her faith through Christian rap, R&B and hip-hop music. She named it after David of the Old Testament because he praised God with songs and instruments.

Overall approached the management of the Murray Hill Theatre, which provides Christian entertainment on weekends, and they were receptive to letting her bring in bands and play music once a month. David's House will debut there at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"I thought it was a great idea," said Vic Cuccia, who manages the theater. He said Murray Hill's entertainment usually consists of contemporary Christian and rock, so David's House will have a different focus.

"I hope we can establish a good crowd and a good fan base to come out," Cuccia said.

Overall has received mostly praises from her friends and fellow church members, but a few skeptics have expressed doubt about the appropriateness of mixing religion with the rhythms of hip-hop, rap and rock.

"I'd say 90 percent of kids listen to that music, and they're influenced by it," she said. "If that beat was drawing me into the secular world, I could use that same beat. The difference with this ministry is that they're getting the message through the music."

Overall misses her family, but she said she has no plans to move back to California anytime soon.

"They still want me to come back home," she said, "but they know I can't leave because God has me here for a reason."

Nicole Johnson McGill can be reached at (904) 359-4427 or at nmcgill@jacksonville.com.