R&B veteran Mabel John now running homeless ministry in Los Angeles

THE AUGUST issue of Charisma magazine has run an article on Mabel John, one time R&B singer who now runs a cutting edge ministry serving the homeless in Los Angeles. Once a recording star with Atlantic Records and who later was the leader of Ray Charles' back up singers The Raelettes, today the 77 year old runs the Joy Community Outreach which feeds more than 150 people a day in addition to providing counselling, clothing and other services. John, the eldest sister of famous Little Willie John, told Charisma magazine how she was in the middle of a performance with The Raelettes in 1973 when she heard God say, 'Go home. I have something for you to do.' She obeyed and eventually attended Crenshaw Christian Center's ministry school. Before launching Joy In Jesus, she served as an associate pastor at praise Sanctuary in Los Angeles.

Thanks in part to John's music career, Joy Community outreach receives support from celebrities such as Motown's Berry Gordy, singer/songwriter Bonnie Raitt and Tova Borgnine, who for five years donated valuable products from her cosmetic line. The ministry also receives assistance from an array of state and local politicians.

Mother of seven, John made her movie debut this year playing a semi-retired nightclub singer in the film Honeydripper, starring Danny Glover. She has also written two novels, Sanctified Blues and Stay Out Of The Kitchen, about a blues singer turned evangelist.