Feature Story: Lasonja

“Singing for Jesus” is the way she lives

(DENTON, Texas – Feb. 9, 2022) She says it is the will of God that she sings. Lasonja has her own singing ministry where she tells people why God is so good to us. It hasn’t been easy for her, but she keeps striving to bring some sort of comfort with her singing. If you are ever going to the Walmart on Brinker Road, stop by and have a wholesome conversation with a sweet woman.

Armed with a wooden cross, a warm smile, and a boombox, she believes her mission is guided by God. Every day, she heads to that very spot near traffic, singing gospel songs to reach people in passing cars. She makes sure she gets that spot because there are other people that hang around there.

“They are drug dealers,” she says with a serious face. “THIS LAND IS FOR JESUS!”

Every time Lasonja sings, she gets goosebumps in her legs. This is how she knows that her singing comes from a higher power. Before her singing ministry, she led a prison ministry where she wrote to prisoners for 15 years before moving away from doing that. Not by choice—she had another obstacle in life to hurdle.

What was it?

“I have had four heart attacks and quadruple bypass open heart surgery,” she says. “I also had a stroke—I’m 58, and my doctors are surprised I’m still here.”

During her recovery time, she continued to practice her singing and decided that that was her path. She was certain of it because her doctor was born in the same place as Jesus—Jerusalem. “If I needed any more confirmation, there it was,” she says. She left the hospital with a better heart—physically and spiritually.

Since then, she has been living by “Singing for the Lord.” He was the one that kept her through the tough times, and she has now dedicated her life to Him. There have been people that do not like what she does. She moves from her spot near the Walmart when other people are there, but she makes sure to be right in front of traffic so that cars can stop and listen to her singing. “They need to hear me!” she says. On her boombox, she plays gospel songs such as “I Saw the Light” by Hank Williams and Sidney Bechet’s “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

“There used to be a preacher here!” she says with a smile. “Walmart ran him off… I’m going to get a written permission for me to stay here.” Her determination is unshakeable, and she shows no signs of slowing down. Since taking the spot from her competitors, Lasonja lives off whatever she gets from the good Samaritans that care enough. Most of what she gets goes to her ministry, but she says she takes care of herself enough.

Also diabetic, Lasonja takes 22 medications a day. She takes insulin and lives with bipolar disorder. “God has blessed me that I’m still able to be here to cheer,” she says. Most of the people that she tells this to are always confused. They tell her that she should be lucky to even be alive. But for Lasonja, life means little without a purpose, and she believes her purpose is to share her joy and faith.

Lasonja has now been doing this for three years. Adding her previous ministry, she has been doing this for 18 years. She doesn’t want to stop. She knows the ins and outs of Denton and makes sure that she will always be seen in case she has to move again. Her ministry goes wherever she is. She tries every day to be more positive than the previous one.

She doesn’t make the most money, but she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t need validation from anyone but the one she has dedicated her life to. For Lasonja, sharing her faith isn’t just a calling—it’s her way of giving back to the world that kept her going.