I am Michael Mark Blackburn; I was born March 21st, 1990 in the beautiful Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. I grew up in the district of West Bay where I have lived for most of my life and currently reside (represent!). I grew up living at my grandmother’s house with my immediate family— my mother, my younger brother, two older sisters— and two uncles along with my grandmother. Life was that of any average Caymanian, quiet and easy-going, though with its hardships too.
Testimony
I am a Christian. I grew up going to church and being ‘groomed’ in the church life, but I have only been a Christian since 2003 when I was thirteen years old. I remember the night I gave my life over to Christ most vividly; it is a mark that stays! I also grew up without my father, without knowing him completely, and even unsure of his name. The sting of that in my young life caused me to lash out in various ways, from bullying other children in primary school, to becoming a very quiet self-kept person with self-esteem issues. Those issues took their toll on me, until I finally gave up and had to make a decision; my choices were: take my own life or give it all up to God, with the latter coming only by the means of serious grace! Thank you God! One fateful night I came home from Friday youth group service, having received an invitation through the gospel by way of my then youth group leader (shout out to Mr. Clifton Gayle! He was and is like a father to me). A weight was on me and it made me fall to the floor in my living room and cry out to God: come into my life and change me. Ever since then I have been growing and living in and through Christ Jesus my King! God has saved me from myself, and made me his own. I went from being a scared, scarred unsure-of-myself little boy into a scared, unsure-of-myself young man, but with a certainty in Christ that cannot be taken from me.
Ministry
God has used me and is using me to bring the gospel to all persons through means of my passions and ministries, namely: the After School Program at my local church where I work with children and through my love of writing and music. I have been writing since I was twelve years old and now I am one of the four enlisted rappers with Pauze Entertainment. It is truly a blessing. I am privileged to be at this point in my life, given a chance to do the things I love, for the one I love, who first loved me, Jesus the Christ!
“He took me out the trash can, dusted me off and told me, ‘stand’. Now I’m living holding onto his hands!”
Future
I look forward to growing even more and getting even closer to my God, Jehovah, and also to seeing what he has in store for my talents in writing poetry, raps, and even my love for stories. I hope to one day write a book and to continue pouring into the lives of the younger generations so that they too can see Christ and get to know him as young as I did, and even younger, by God’s glory, for God’s glory! I seek to lift him up in all that I do for he said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth (exalted), will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32
