Gospel Singer Acacia Islands Credits “Jesus Intervention” For Escaping Fatal Accident That Claimed Five

Gospel singer Acacia Islands believes that it was nothing less than divine intervention that she is still alive today after narrowly avoiding death in a horrific three-vehicle pile-up over 11 years ago.

On that fateful day in June 2012, she had been on her way home when she took a seat in a taxi after completing her shift at a hotel on the North Coast. However, the driver soon informed her that she couldn’t travel with him today.

Forced to switch taxis, she got home safely, but hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, she awakened to news that five souls had been lost in the accident. The taxi had been involved in a three-vehicle crash along the North Coast Highway. Four of the seven persons, including a mother and daughter, travelling in the Caldina motor car reportedly died on the spot and three were taken to hospital, one of whom subsequently died while undergoing treatment. The accident involved a Toyota Hiace mini-bus, a Toyota Caldina motor car, and a Ford Explorer pickup truck which burst into flames on impact.

“I got out of the car before it left for the journey. I got in the car and Merciless – may he rest in peace – the driver said no Singer. I am not going your way tonight. He had left from Mobay, and that night, he said it was a straight trip to Ochey, no detour to Trelawny. I just missed death, five people in all died,” she said.

She didn’t know the gory details of what had transpired until several hours later.

“My aunt called me in the morning early to say she had heard about the accident and told her I was OK. A musician from the band also called me, he had seen me step into the taxi and then he had seen the accident…all those people lying down in the road, he had thought I was in that taxi but God had a different plan for me,” she said.

The incident changed her life forever.

The Jumamji band broke up in 2012, but she continued to perform and joined the Digicel Group in the area of customer care relations. In May 2015, Acacia was successful in winning the D’ Voice competition, with an amazing rendition of Mariah Carey’s ‘Vision of Love’. During that time, she was also a part of an all female group, Silhouette, which performed at many resorts along the North Coast.

In 2016, she became a Christian. She felt that her transformation towards Christ was a gradual, deliberate design.

“God changes things in your life, little by little, He moves, you find yourself waking up and doing different things, in a different situation, He renews, transforms and restores, He moves in mysterious ways. That’s why I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour,” she said.

Acacia made her debut at the 2019 edition of the Rebel Salute Music Festival, wowing audiences with her hit single “Island Blues” featuring Iziniga. The single, ‘Island Blues’, is her most successful to date, racking up over 8 million views on Youtube.

Now, she is promoting her latest single, ‘Agape Love‘, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor.

“This ‘Agape Love’ song came to me at 4:30 am in the morning. When I woke up in prayer this song came to me like a symphony,” she said.

“Agape Love is the love between God and man, the love that God has for us, the love He gave us when He sent His only son to die for our sins…that’s an eternal love. It’s a love story.”

She grew up in the church as her mother is a devout Christian, who always encouraged her children to go to church. Her musical gift had emerged earlier and when she reached adulthood, she landed a job at Ciboney (now a Sandals resort) then moved to Couples Ocho Rios as an entertainment coordinator. Naturally drawn to the stage, she eventually landed a lead vocalist role with Jumanji in 2001 doing cabaret gigs at the Coral Cliff Casino in Montego Bay.

Beginning in 2002, she performed as a background vocalist for artistes such as Julian Marley, Junior Kelly, Pressure Buss Pipe, Freddie McGregor just to name a few.

She is now putting the finishing touches on an EP chock full of original songs. Her vocal range is anchored by the countless hours she spent on the cabaret circuit singing international standards, mento, pop and reggae hits from icons like Phyllis Dillon, Cynthia Schloss, Marcia Griffiths and others.

“The EP is all original songs, but I might throw something in there. When I started singing, I could do five octaves effortlessly, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, I never realized what I could do until later. I could do alto, tenor, bass, soprano, the 1,3,5, that came naturally, ” Acacia said.

These days, she has replaced her secular days with a rich, fulfilling Christian life.

“I have surrendered my life to Jesus. This is my testimony. His Grace surrounds me. He is at the center of my life. He has shown me that nothing is impossible once God is in it. Jesus saved my life,” she said.

Indeed.