Kanye West joins Lecrae, Hillsong Young & Free, as headliner for 2020 teen conference
The newly born-again superstar, Kanye West was announced as one of the headliners of the Strength to Stand Bible Conference in Pigeon Forge, TN, in January after comedian John Crist was removed from the lineup.
After Crist was "removed due to a moral failure" in November, Strength to Stand Student Bible Conference leader Scott Dawson was looking to find someone to fill the slot until a friend suggested the mainstream fashion leader and hip-hop artist.
Dawson said he shocked when he picked up the phone and West was on the other end.
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For many years, West publicly projected a God complex through his blasphemous alter ego Yeezus. But in 2019, everything changed for him, and he began his Sunday Service events featuring a gospel choir that reimagined mainstream songs with Christian lyrics. The “Jesus Walks” emcee declared he became a born-again Christian during this process and has since devoted his life to “working for God” and traveling the world as a music minister.
“I realized that, although this is a worldwide megastar, he was a brother in Christ,” Dawson revealed in a YouTube video recently posted. “He told me his testimony. He told me his struggles, what he was still going through. He said he’s been delivered, but he’s on a growth journey with Jesus.”
When asked if he would consider being a headliner in the conference, West assuredly responded, "After prayer and deliberation, I want you to know that I'm not considering it: I'm coming. I'll be there for your January conference."
West, whose album Jesus Is King made Billboard history this year, will be joining Lecrae, Tauren Wells, Hillsong Young & Free and others as a headliner, each performing on different nights.
After the announcement of West's appearance, the conference quickly sold out.
The Strength to Stand Student Bible Conference is geared to young people from middle school to college and is described as a "well-balanced, intense conference that will challenge your students to go beyond the surface of casual Christianity and bring them into a lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ."
