Powerful Moment During Kirk Franklin Tour Stop

Grammy Award Winning Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin has kicked off the second leg of his,  Twenty Years in One Night Tour.  Before going on a brief hiatus, the tour hit several cities across the country and opened to rave reviews. The tour has been filled with special appearances from Tasha Cobbs, Marvin Sapp, Geoffrey Golden, and others.  During the Jacksonville stop this past weekend, Franklin gave the microphone to Josiah “Jojo” Martin during his song, “Intercession”.

Martin is a newly signed artist to Grammy Winner PJ Morton’s label, Morton Records, and has been a background vocalist, writer, and producer in the music industry for over a decade. While Martin did his ad-lib parts the song became very personal. For the past three years he’s battled kidney disease and is currently on the waiting list to receive a new one. At the age of 31 the disease has had a profound impact on his health and he’s currently undergoing dialysis treatment. To support JoJo during his medical crisis, you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/luuou8

Clips of his performance hit social media rapidly, as his prayer request touched the hearts of many. Many began to share the post which sparked prayer and support from all over the world. As Martin began to weep in the middle of singing, Franklin along with his band mates stopped and began to pray. On Instagram, Franklin stated, “As he began to sing, he sung from one of the most honest and broken places I’ve ever heard a voice communicate from. As he sang about the fatigue of dialysis and the discouragement of waiting for a match, I wanted to pray for him, but was terrified to. The moment was so pure and the entire building was in tears before the Lord”. 

Franklin went on to thank Martin for a moment that he will never forget, as it reminded him of the importance of his platform. The video clip of Martin’s performance has gone viral, and Franklin has posted the image  (above) on all his social media platforms as he asks for continued prayers for his colleague in the industry.

Martin is currently on tour with the McDonalds Inspiration Gospel Tour with Donald Lawrence and others, as well as the Bridges Tour with Kierra Sheard.

Some of you have already seen this picture, but I wanted to send it with my own personal experience during this moment. Tonight my tour was in Jacksonville Florida and a young man named Josiah Martin attended tonight. Many in the music industry know him as JO JO, a prolific artist who’s voice has been featured on many gospel and mainstream albums. Jo jo is 31 and has been waiting for a kidney match for over 3 years now. Tonight while I was performing a song called INTERCESSION I passed him the mic in the audience and that’s when the air was sucked out of the room and the entrance of Gods presence was the only thing we remembered.. As he began to sing, he sung from one of the most honest and broken places I’ve ever heard a voice communicate from. As he sang about the fatigue of dialysis and the discouragement of waiting for a match, I wanted to pray for him, but was terrified to. The moment was so pure and the entire building was in tears before the lord . I did not want to abuse my platform at the expense of trying to pray one of these impressive prayers that makes people shout and the organ and drummer cause the people’s feet to run. Though there’s nothing wrong with those moments, they are often too much of the goal, and we often think that God Didn’t move if we didn’t run around a building. Not so. I did not want to say things I cannot promise, nor did I want to rebuke a devil that has NOTHING to do with this! I wanted to be like Habakkuk in the bible who when facing his enemies and problems too big for his own strength, prayed one of the most intimate and honest prayers that has become my favorite love letter to God. If the face of his giants he prayed “God,I don’t know what to do, but God my eyes are on you”. That’s what I needed to say. To be weak before Him, humble before Him, because that’s what my brother needed… Not Kirk, but the KING. And my King, I ask of you to do what no one else can do…a miracle for our brother. Amen. I’ll never forget tonight. Thank you JO JO.???????? #wewontstopaskingthefatherforyou

A photo posted by Kirk Franklin (@kirkfranklin) on Jun 5, 2016 at 11:27pm PDT