Bamboozled by Jesus was written by Nigerian-American comedian Yvonne Orji known for her role as Molly in the popular HBO series Insecure. I first heard Yvonne On her podcast, Jesus and Jollof , co-hosted with Luvvie Ajayi. From there, I began to follow her on Instagram and was excited to hear she wrote this book. I also have Luvvie’s book; I am Judging You, which I’m waiting to read as I am a big fan of both girls! I love Jesus and Jollof Rice, especially their stories of growing up with Nigerian immigrant parents and what success meant to them. The podcast is full of nuggets and tips.
Yvonne’s book is a memoir about her life’s journey and how her Christian faith helped her decisions. She said she was tricked into a life of success by her faith in Jesus. She had a lot of testimonies from her career to how she bought her first home. She said she started in entertainment at 24 and did not get her big break till 31.
Yvonne Orji
“While my friends had houses and kids. I had hopes and dreams.”
As a Christian, I enjoyed listening to Yvonne’s story. In the creative world, it’s a thin line between being creative and being consumed by the world. Yvonne stood up to her parents by choosing her career as a comedian. Most immigrant Nigerian parents want their children to have a professional background as they’re scared of them scraping the bottom of the barrel. They understand the brutality of racism and want to give their children the best start in life.
Yvonne studied sciences but could not stomach a career in this, which began her journey to success. It was a tumultuous rocky journey, but Yvonne persevered with prayer. She felt that every journey she made had a message. And she was never giving up until she got her break. She also said success brings its insecurities as there are now more choices to be made, and you have to choose the right ones. One of the unique things about Yvonne is that she is in her 30s and decided to stay a virgin till she married.
I look forward to going back and rereading the book as you can get a lot of inspiration from her journey even if you’re not a Christian. Thank you so much, Yvonne Orji, for taking the time to write this book and standing up for your faith.
