Johnny Cash Continues to Help Ministry Even After Death
A compassion project that received a boost nearly two decades ago from one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century is looking for another one this fall with the release of a new DVD that recaptures that particular day in history.
On Sept. 17, 1991, The Johnny Cash Show performed a heartfelt benefit concert for Jack Shaw Ministries Intl. in Johnstown, Pa., to help raise funds for the construction of a hospital that the Rev. Jack Shaw envisioned to build in Africa.
Shaw, now 66, recalled recently to The Tribune Democrat how Grammy Award-winning Johnny Cash had called the minister up one day and said "June (Cash's wife) and I want to do a concert for your ministries."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"John and June were board members of Jack Shaw Ministries," said Shaw, who was both a friend and a spiritual adviser to Cash. "They believed in this."
That night, about 2,000 people attended the concert at the Greater Johnstown Christian Fellowship, and $15,000 was raised.
Today, Shaw says stone walls are going up around a 10-acre property in Nakuru, Kenya, as a result, but that it will take about $65,000 to build the first structure.
In addition to the hospital, Shaw is also leading an effort to build a center for education to help prevent the spread of AIDS and other diseases plaguing Africa. Eventually, he hopes to build a school as well.
"It's going to take millions [of dollars]," Shaw told The Tribune Democrat.
Shaw hopes the new DVD, to be released Oct. 21, will allow the Cashes to continue helping to make the dream into a reality even years after their deaths.
It is also the hope of John Carter Cash, the Cashes' only son, who has continued into the family business along with his three half-sisters.
"My father is still here in spirit and his enlightened passion endures. His wish to see the continuance of Jack's vision is coming true, in numerous ways," he said in a statement. "So as you watch this concert, and are taken in by the man's music, his charm and charisma, remember what he is singing for. And remember the hope that drives him and those who still share his hope."
"Cash for Kenya: Live in Johnstown," produced by Shaw, features Cash's performance of hits spanning his career, from "Get Rhythm" and "Ring Of Fire" to "Jackson," "If I Were A Carpenter" and "Folsom Prison Blues." The concert also emphasizes the downhome traditional with "The Wabash Cannonball," "Peace In The Valley," "Keep On the Sunnyside," "Lonesome Valley," and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."
Among the rarely recorded – in the studio or live – are "Man In White," "Angel Band," "Beautiful Life" and "The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All." Also heard are "A Thing Called Love," "Five Feet High And Rising" and "Pickin' Time."
In his nearly fifty-year career, Cash had sold over 90 million albums and came to occupy a "commanding position in music history," according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2004, one year after Cash's death, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him No. 31 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
