Gospel Singer Motivates Youth through Nonprofit

AMERICAN GRADUATE -- December 6, 2012 at 11:07 AM EDT

Gospel Singer Motivates Youth through Nonprofit

Video edited by John Dargan.

As a Grammy award-winning Christian singer, gospel artist and worship leader at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, Israel Houghton wants part of his legacy to be his work helping children maximize their full potential.

In collaboration with the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision and the New York-based nonprofit Elevate NY, Houghton is encouraging young people to use education as a tool to improve their lives and rise out of poverty.

Musically, Houghton is known for merging contemporary gospel and worship with an infectious energy. He has created a canon of songs that have become standards in houses of faith around the globe.

NewsHour Extra caught up with Houghton during his recent tour to talk about his legacy and work as a national and international humanitarian.

Beginning October 24, 2012, PBS NewsHour will allow open commenting for all registered users. We hope that the elimination of our moderation process will enable a more organic discussion amongst you, our audience. However, if a commenter violates our terms of use or abuses the commenting forum, their comment will be removed. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or emails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.