New Faces for Friday - Meet Laura Hawthorne

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, from the time she was five years old, Laura Hawthorne knew that she would grow up to be a singer. At 16, she asked Jesus into her heart but, like so many young people, decided to follow her own path to fame and fortune. As a young adult, she moved to New York in search of her dreams. In 2000, her younger brother was involved in a construction accident that left him as a quadriplegic, dependent on a ventilator just to breathe. As she sat at his bedside, God reached out and gave her comfort and a song. "Ease the Pain" gave the entire family hope and later, shared that hope with others when she sang it at Shea Stadium during the 1st Annual Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day. The woman who called herself "self-centered and driven" until her brother's accident realized that God had given her a gift to be used for His glory.

Four years later, Laura was traveling the country as a worship leader and speaker with Livin’ in His Love Inc., a world outreach music ministry that she founded. In 2009, she released, He’s Been Faithful and started traveling internationally, leading worship during mission trips in the Dominican Republic and Swaziland (Africa). In 2013, she was asked to minster at a benefit concert in Newtown, Connecticut, immediatelyafter the Sandy Hook tragedy. Laura says, "We all must be ready to be the hands and feet of Jesus…whenever and wherever He calls."

Her latest project, an EP titled In the Garden, released in August 2013. The worship leader at Netherwood Baptist Church in New York, has an incredibly strong voice that is matched only by her passion for reaching the hurting.

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