Kampala — HOURS before she sang for charity at a concert organised by Missions Beyond Frontiers, Esther Wahome shared her walk to stardom.

Wahome is not your ordinary gospel artist. Her hit single Furahia was selected together with songs from the likes of Senegal's Youssou N'Dour and Cameroon's Manu Dibango for a CD compilation titled the best of Afro pop series which sold out in several countries around the world.

At 33, she has been named the highest selling musician in Kenya and the first to be featured on such a compilation of songs, something that still surprises her.

Could the secret be her name? Her middle name Wangoye means, the one who leads something that has prophetically come to pass. She launched her professional career at 18. Her international break came in 2000 when: "Furahia introduced me to millions of fans around the world," she says. Her follow-up album, Kuna Dawa, is familiar to the Ugandan listener and did well in Asia, Europe and America. With nine albums under her belt Wahome says the best is yet to come.

Although Furahia was released five years ago, it sold over a million copies in the first year of its release in Kenya and broke the record for the highest sold CD in the history of Kenyan music industry.

"God has been faithful," Wahome, who prefers to call herself blessed rather than rich, says. In 2001 she was awarded the Best Afro pop title, "which is a great honour," she chuckles. She has won the Kisima best contemporary gospel artiste award, Eve Woman Of The Year award and has received several Kora nominations.

"It wasn't easy growing up without luxuries like a television. I went to school barefooted. My dad was a preacher and he didn't have a lot of money. However, he had a big old piano, accordion, guitars and drums. I started singing as a little kid. We always sung family praise and worship every time," Wahome says.

She has always loved music and imagined herself singing on big platforms. "It was something I felt strongly about. However, I never saw it in this magnitude of many nations." Wahome's secret to success lies in the fact that she doesn't sing for the sake of it but for the love of Christ.

"I have embraced God completely and he has blessed my music and opened doors for me all over the world. It humbles me. Previously, we didn't have gospel musicians going beyond Kenya. It used to be the secular musicians making it big and living well. But with God amazing things can happen," says the musician who is currently on a world tour.

Wahome is involved in charity work and in Uganda she is singing to raise funds for sanitary facilities in Namuwongo, Kanyogoga and Soweto slum communities. When not touring, She hosts a television gospel show in Nairobi and attends to her two children and family.

She admits that a woman in ministry needs a lot of support because it is a tougher journey than a man's because there are so many expectations as a mother and a wife which take a lot of energy. But by the grace of God her husband of 12 years continues to support her with the children when she has to travel which is often.

The realisation that God alone and not her father's money made her what she is today keeps her in check. She describes herself as a down-to-earth, friendly and very hardworking focused.

Seeing the positive impact her music has on people regardless of whether they understand the language excites and inspires her to work harder. Success according to this star comes with patience diligence, seriousness in the work you do. "You must also identify who you are and what you want to become and thus package yourself to suit your target audience. My music is for everybody," Wahome says.