AT just 14 and 10 years old, siblings Olivia and Jostice Watson believe they’ve received a divine call from God to minister through song and speech, sharing their gifts at churches and events, locally and overseas.

Their ministry, however, was born out of personal challenges that they now see as testimonies of God’s power to transform weakness into purpose. The older sibling, Olivia, struggled with a hoarse voice that impacted her speech until around age four. Their mother, Jacques Sylvester, said she was deeply concerned until “a miraculous” turn of events revealed that Olivia carried the voice of an angel by the age of seven.

For Jostice, the hurdle was reading. His mother admitted that she once felt the need to shelter him from others because of his struggles. Yet, despite being unable to read, he possessed an exceptional vocabulary and a natural gift for storytelling. Over time, that gift blossomed into his ability to recount biblical stories and share the deeper messages behind them.

Together, Olivia and Jostice, who worship at Harbour View Seventh-day Adventist Church, now use what were once seen as limitations to inspire others, showing how God can turn trials into tools for His mission.

Olivia shared that she was about nine years old when she got baptised and, for the first time, sang at church.

“I believe that singing chose me. I feel that God ordained me to be a singer because anything else that I do, I don’t have that kind of passion for it like I have for singing and music overall,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

She stated that, overall, she has a deep appreciation for the arts and a strong affection for music. The 14-year-old added that she is especially drawn to singing songs about God’s intervention and deliverance, as they reflect her own personal struggles.

“I like songs like that because I feel that it really resonates with me, because there have been periods in my life that I’ve been down and only God could bring me back up. No one else could, so those songs really touch my heart,” she explained.

After performing at her local church, she said many people approached her to express their admiration for her beautiful voice. Before long, she began receiving requests to minister online for churches overseas, and those requests continued to grow.

“It feels good to me to share the gospel and the good news with others, especially those who haven’t heard about the gospel or haven’t accepted Jesus in their hearts. But I would say there’s a downside, because I’ve been met with rejection because of it, because it isn’t something that people accept in this society nowadays,” said the teen.

However, Olivia said she continues in her mission because in her dark days, when rejection gave way to doubt, God gave her the strength to continue.

“I started reading the Bible and praying to God and telling him how I felt, and it took some time, but God eventually showed me his love. The love that he showed for the biblical character, he showed it to me, and I just feel so happy knowing that he’s the one that delivered me out of that dark period. That’s why now I choose God, because I know he’s the one who could have taken me out of that situation, no one else could,” she insisted to the Sunday Observer.

Olivia shared that as she ministered to others, her younger brother Jostice would sit and listen to her sing. She recalled one day, while singing online for a church in New York, her brother said he wanted to share a story from the Bible — that was the beginning of their journey as siblings who minister.

A now 10-year-old Jostice shared that, for much of his life, he has held a deep appreciation for storytelling.

“It’s been my passion since I was five years old, when I started. My mom and my sister would always be annoyed when I was younger, because from I was one year old, I could talk. I would constantly tell these little stories that would annoy them, but I think it was God preparing me for my journey as a preacher,” he said.

He recounted that the first story he shared in church was about a woman caught in adultery and how Jesus defended her from the Pharisees. He was eight years old at the time.

“After I did that, everyone was like, ‘Wow, that was very good,’ and at first, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s nice.’ After a couple of months, I completely forgot about what I did, and then suddenly my mother told me that those same people want me to do a story. I was kind of shocked because I didn’t think it was that good. I ended up doing that story and then, for a while, every Friday I would tell a story,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Jostice shared that at nine years old he got baptised and has preached many times since, but his favourite story will always be David and Goliath.

“It kind of goes in my direction, because David was a child when he beat Goliath, and the meaning of the story is that no matter how young you are or how big the challenge is, you can always overcome it,” said the 10-year-old.

Sylvester described her children’s baptisms as profoundly transformative moments. She never could have imagined that the struggles they faced as young children — Olivia’s speech impediment and Jostice’s difficulties with reading — would one day manifest in such extraordinary ways. Witnessing them minister through song and storytelling, she said, is a testament to how God can turn challenges into gifts, and how faith and perseverance can shape a child’s purpose.

“There were really difficult times when we had to take a leap of faith with everything, and I believe that their ministries were also their purpose. I believe that they were special for a purpose, because both of them they have gifts.

“The commitment to ministry spiritually like that, I believe it came out of a time when we came out of struggles and struggles, because after that, everything changed. Their ministry just started to grow, and I believe that it was out of struggles and purpose,” Sylvester said.

Ten-year-old Jostice Watson (left) and his sister 14-year-old Olivia Watson.

JOSTICE…David was a child when he beat Goliath and the meaning of the story is that no matter how young you are, or how big the challenge is, you can always overcome it

OLIVIA…there have been periods in my life that I’ve been down and only God could bring me back up

Olivia Watson (left) and her brother Jostice Watson pose for a family picture with their mother Jacques Sylvester.