CREDIT Songwriter Dennis Jernigan says, "Honestly, I feel like the Lord wants to bring great comfort to hurting people." Click photo for larger image. "Dennis Jernigan -- A Night of Praise" Where: Eastminster Presbyterian Church, East Liberty. When: 7 p.m. Thursday. Tickets: $15 at all Family Christian Stores and at the door. To make a donation or buy a ticket, call 412-434-0404.

Adrienne Young knows sadness all too well.

Her son Javon attended church, stayed out of trouble and focused his energy on writing and the visual arts. When he graduated from Peabody High School he had earned a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University. He was home on his first Christmas break when he was robbed and gunned down. Young buried her son on Dec. 23, 1994.

After his death, Young dealt with her grief by founding the Tree of Hope ministry to assist families and children who suffered traumatic losses in the family such as homicide and/or suicide. She saw that while there are programs in place to minister to the families of the incarcerated, bringing everything from Christmas gifts to warm clothes, the families of the victims are left behind.

Musician Dennis Jernigan believes in the gift of hope and healing. Many years ago when he was struggling with sexual issues and abuse, he dealt with his emotional pain by spending hours writing about his feelings, eventually setting his thoughts to music. The songs were simple and yet profound: a heartfelt cry for God to come and make sense of it all.

While Young was picking up the pieces of her life, Jernigan's music was becoming widely known in the Christian community. In 1995, he released "Daddy's Song," a somewhat allegorical collection of songs that focused on the relationship between father and son/God and man. Shortly after, Young heard his song "You Are My All in All," and remembers being blown away.

"I would hear the song and it would touch my heart. The loss was so great in my life, and I knew that if I was ever going to be whole again, I needed to let Christ make sense of it, because my son was doing all the right things and he was still gone."

Jernigan kept on writing, and Young picked up another of his recordings: "Giant Killer: A Heart Like David."

"So many songs touched my life, and I realized that I was not the only one going through this pain," Young recalled. "His music ministered restoration, hope and healing in my life." She began using his music when she would meet with other mothers who had lost their children. She kept it on all the time. She found that the music was bringing comfort that words could not to those broken hearts.

Ten years after her son's murder, teenagers continue to be killed. Five teens have been murdered in Pittsburgh this year, and the death toll stands at 76 overall in Allegheny County. The city's budget problems have been overwhelming, and Hurricane Ivan decided to make an extended visit one Friday evening.

Young was on the phone with City Councilman Gene Riccardi and commented, "Our whole community has been hit so hard this year -- the floods, the violence, budget woes, layoffs -- it is a very, very hard time for Pittsburgh right now. I feel like the city just needs to get together for a time of healing. Wouldn't it be nice to just a get a reprieve for one night?" After further discussion, Young said that she was going to invite Jernigan to come for a concert.

It was a long shot. Jernigan's music has reached around the world, and he is now a "heavyweight" in the world of worship music. But she e-mailed him and, even though he doesn't typically do concerts close to Christmas, he said yes.

"I just wanted to be with people who had gone through such life-altering traumatic things," Jernigan said. "To get the opportunity to bring any comfort to their souls is humbling." What's more, he offered to do the show as a benefit. When asked about the message he wants to bring to Pittsburgh, Jernigan said, "Honestly, I feel like the Lord wants to bring great comfort to hurting people. I have this vision of him just wrapping his arms around your city and these people, like a warm blanket in the winter."

There are more than 450 children in the Tree of Hope pipeline in need of holiday gifts, 62 more than last year. Tree of Hope lost a grant provided by the Pittsburgh City Council's discretionary fund when that program was eliminated this year. Other agencies also cut funding because budgets were tight. Various organizations have stepped forward to help, including Allegheny Center Christian and Missionary Alliance Church on the North Side, The Pittsburgh Opera, The Courtyard Marriott Downtown, Thomas and Sandy Usher of U.S. Steel and District Attorney Stephen Zappala. Young is thrilled at the diversity of these groups and says "There is no color when it comes to ministering restoration to the broken-hearted."