Starting in late September through December when Family Christian Store shoppers donate $10 to the James Fund, they will receive an exclusive ten song CD from Robert Pierre’s new project Identity before it is available to the public and a Barnabas Bear that will be donated to an orphan in the consumer’s community or in a third world country.

“For generations, my family has been involved with missionaries to build and run Christian orphanages,” says Pierre. “But it wasn’t until I met thousands of kids right here in America who were truly hurting that I felt a calling for ministry. I want kids to understand that it doesn’t matter who the world tells them to be, it only matters who God says they are. That’s our identity and it’s the motivation behind the CD.”

Produced by Matt Bronlewee (DC Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tobymac), Identity includes 10 tracks such as “Breaking My Heart,” “Don’t Miss This” and “I’m Not Perfect.” Four of the new songs were even written by the high school sophomore. Since 2007, Pierre has performed for more than a quarter of a million people at major Christian summer festivals and as the guest artist on Christ In Youth’s national Believe tour. As he talked with students on the road, he realized so many of them find their identity in anything from celebrities and athletes, to music and video games. As a result, Pierre wants to influence his peers to find their identity in Christ.

The James Fund is a non-profit organization founded by Family Christian Stores in 2003 to meet the needs of orphans and widows in the communities it serves. The charity serves orphans and widows in three primary ways: provides adoption assistance to partner agencies, gives hands-on orphan care and supports quality of life initiatives that will make a difference in the lives of orphans and widows.

The United Nations has identified 143,000,000 children in the world as orphans. Last year 122,000 of those children were adopted by families in the United States. Since its inception in 2003, The James Fund has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief efforts worldwide, seen hundreds of families choose adoption, start orphan care ministries in their local churches or personally engage in hands-on work with orphans in various parts of the world.

Pierre is preparing to embark on the iShine Live tour this October with tour mates Luke Benward and The Rubyz. The first of its kind, iShine Live will be a two and a half hour event geared for the eight to 14 tween market with music, speakers and interactive characters from Jelly Telly, a creation of Veggie Tale’s creator Phil Vischer. Around 20 dates are scheduled for the fall, including stops in Nashville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Kansas City, while 70 performances are slated for 2009. Creative Artists Agency is booking the event, home to tween songstress Hannah Montana, Tobymac and Carrie Underwood. Visit www.ishinelive.com http://www.ishinelive.com for the most updated tour information.

Family Christian Stores' Foundation, The James Fund, is a non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the needs of orphans and widows around the world. God's direction and purpose for this mission is defined in scripture: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27 (NIV) Family Christian Stores http://familychristian.com/, through The James Fund, partners with its customers in a shared mission: Reaching out to orphans and widows by showing them the love of our Heavenly Father. In addition, The James Fund provides adoption assistance to partner agencies as well as hands-on orphan care and quality of life initiatives that make differences in the lives of orphans and widows. The James Fund, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Family Christian Stores in 2003 to meet the needs of orphans and widows in the communities it serves.

Robert Pierre is a 16 year-old sophomore who plays high school basketball, leads student worship at his church, is involved in student leadership at his school and is a national recording artist. Identity will be the follow-up project to Inside Out, Pierre’s freshman release on thinkaboutit records.

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http://www.myspace.com/robertpierre
http://www.robertpierre.com