Anti Drug Prayer Vigil....
[From
Newark
Star Ledger]
Whitney's mom sets up anti-drug
prayer vigil
Saturday, April 03, 2004
BY JENIFER D. BRAUN
Star-Ledger Staff
Cissy Houston gospel singer and mother to troubled
pop diva Whitney is launching another effort to help her daughter battle
drug abuse.
She is convening a two-hour prayer vigil on Monday -- less than a month
after Whitney Houston entered an Atlanta-area rehab clinic. The gathering
will be held, in conjunction with radio station 98.7 KISS-FM, at Harlem's
historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, located at 132 Odell Clark Place (138th
Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard). Church
doors will open at 6 p.m.; the vigil itself will run from 7 to 9 p.m.
Whitney's rehab stint was the result of an intervention by her mother and
other family members, according to the Chicago Sun Times. She entered a
program, but left it five days later because she "felt the walls closing in
on her," according to an unnamed source quoted in published reports. Her
publicist maintains she is continuing treatment as an outpatient.
The pop singer admitted in 2002 that she once had a drug problem, but that
she overcame it through the power of prayer. In 2001, she faced charges when
marijuana was found in her purse while the singer was in Hawaii.
Monday's event, called "Pray for the Children," is open to the public. Cissy
Houston has broadcast recorded messages on KISS-FM calling for mothers to
attend the vigil in order to pray for their sons and daughters affected by
substance abuse.
She hopes the vigil will remind mothers that they have the power "to come
together in prayer, to pray for our children for healing and deliverance."
KISS-FM reports that the Rev. Al Sharpton and Abyssinian Baptist pastor Rev.
Dr. Calvin O. Butts will be among the "pastors and community leaders" who
will join the vigil. Foxonline has reported that Houston cousins Dionne and
Dee Dee Warwick also may attend.
NEWSFILE:
3 APRIL 2004
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