About Our Ministry

10th Leper

www.10thleper.com

About Our Ministry

10th Leper plays wherever God opens the doors all over Texas. We enjoy the occasional church or outdoor concert, but God has primarily opened the doors of opportunity for prison ministry, therefore we simply obey and go where God calls us. When I think of prison ministry, I think of what Jesus told his disciples in John 4:35 (WEB): "Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already." I don't know of any field of ministry that is more ready for harvest than prison ministry, and in the prisons the most effective place to reach people is in the youth facilities. And at least two members of 10th Leper return to the youth centers on a regular basis to provide mentoring and further ministry.

We don't expect people to act "churchy" during our concerts - in fact we're not really "churchy" people either! Depending on the place and circumstances it's not unusual for our audience to end up on their feet, dancing and clapping. While we wouldn't necessarily expect that to happen in a church setting, when it happens in the prisons or in a park, we just lift it up as a praise to our God. We believe the church as Jesus set it in motion is a vital part of ministry and Christian life, but 10th Leper's primary calling is to the world, NOT to the church. Consequently we're willing to make allowances for the colorful backgrounds of the people in our audiences.

A typical 10th Leper concert would start with a fast Praise song or our own blues-rock rendition of "This Little Light Of Mine." We would then go through a variety of songs with different styles and tempos, offering testimony, encouragement, and exhortation between songs. Usually, the band member who wrote the song or will be singing the lead vocals is the one who gets to introduce it If there is time and if the Holy Spirit directs us, we generally end by giving our audience a chance to believe and accept Jesus. Our songs are all very instrumentally driven since we all love to play our instruments. We play a LOT of instrumental leads, and we get a real kick out of cheering each other on. This may not be typical for a Christian band, but we never have cared much for "typical" anyway. 10th Leper is unique among Christian bands because our calling is unique. And we like it that way! :-)