Gully Bop cried for forgiveness - Evangelist said late deejay was sorry for the hurt he caused

Late dancehall artiste Gully Bop once ruled the stage and at times had a smart mouth and was oftentimes labelled as being disrespectful. But in his quiet space, the 59-year-old often cried about the hurt he caused.

According to Erma Tic, an evangelist who took him under her wings and into her ministry home earlier this year, Gully Bop, whose given name is Robert Lee Malcolm, expressed remorse for his many misdeeds.

"Robert know the Bible more than me," Tic said, adding that he often took over praise and worship sessions during morning devotions.

"He was all about his God. There was a time when he told me that he knew he hurt a lot of people and disrespected them. I watched him pray and I watched him cry. Robert can cry, enuh, and I knew he was sorry for all he had hurt. He told me that he wanted to do a [social media] live [session] one day and talk about it. I carried him to Waterhouse with me one day when I was ministering, and I watched how he talked to people about God," she said.

The evangelist, who operates the God and Me Kingdom Fund Ministry, said she first met Gully Bop 20 years ago through one of his brothers who she hired as a welder. She watched him flourish as a dancehall artiste dominating the stage, and often encouraged him to have a closer relationship with God.

"Three days before he came into my hand, I got a dream about him and I knew that the Lord wanted to do something in his life. I was driving along Grants Pen and he saw me and shouted and I stopped immediately, and he just jumped in the car," she said.

Tic said after she took him home, she realised that he was extremely ill. She prayed earnestly for him and even took him to get medical attention. On May 6 the dancehall artiste decided to serve the Lord.

"I was praying for him but he was getting worse and I was feeling helpless, but I knew God brought him to me. ... I took him to the ministry's altar and wrapped him in a white sheet and prayed for him. He wasn't in a good condition and I started to minister to him and told him only God can save him," she said.

But Gully Bop, according to the evangelist, had a lot of negative influence in his ears. She said he was encouraged to leave from under her care and that was what led to his demise.

"He told me that he needed to go to Grants Pen to check on the dogs and plants and I told him I would drop him off and pick him up in the evening as usual. That evening rain fell hard and it got late so I didn't get to pick him up. The next day I got a call from someone that I must return his clothes and I prayed about it and God said I should return the clothes. I was very hurt because I knew something bad was going to happen to him. I told him that my doors were still open and if he allowed himself to come out of my hands where the Lord placed him, he was going to die," she said.

The hitmaker died on Monday following a series of illnesses.

"I wasn't surprised because I knew he was going to die. I did everything that the Lord asked me to do, and I showed him love and the love of Jesus," she said.