Urban Christian artists team up with charity to get rid of leprosy
Some of the biggest names in Christian rap and R&P (Rhythm and Praise) are teaming up to obliterate leprosy.
During the 2013 IXIST Tour, artists such as The Ambassador, Sean Simmonds and Jahaziel, will use their clout to help American Leprosy Missions recruit concert attendees to serve as a channel of Christ’s love to persons affected by leprosy and related diseases, helping them to be healed in body and spirit, and restored to lives of dignity and hope.
Founded by missionaries in 1906, American Leprosy Missions is a global organization dedicated to serving Christ by healing people and communities devastated by leprosy.
American Leprosy Missions is the oldest and largest non-profit organization in the U.S. working to cure and care for people with leprosy and Buruli ulcer.
Every two minutes, someone is diagnosed with leprosy. Often believed to have been eradicated, leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease, still occurs in more than 100 countries worldwide. Leprosy is curable.
Leprosy Statistics:
- 130 countries reported cases of leprosy in 2011.
- 3 to 4 million people have disabilities as a result of leprosy.
- Nearly 250,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, and many more go undetected.
- Approximately 10 percent of all new cases are in children.
- 17 countries in Africa, Asia and South America accounted for 95% of all new cases of leprosy in 2011.
With unparalleled expertise, American Leprosy Missions’ world-renowned experts, including award-winning doctors and consultants to the World Health Organization (WHO), focus on empowerment: re-weaving marginalized people into their community, healing them physically, and restoring dignity and hope.
IXIST is more than a concert tour. It is a ministry campaign dedicated to helping people share their testimony. Each night, one local market testimonial will be chosen and posted from an ongoing international YouTube campaign, created to inspire others to share their story and consider the work that God is doing through their lives.
The IXIST TOUR will kick off in late February, routing across the U.S. through March and then on to Africa, where the tour will travel to six countries.
The tour will include IXIST Media Sessions featuring on-site interviews at each location; afternoon IXIST In-Stores in select cities, and, of course, the IXIST Concert each night.