God leads Christian Recording Artist to Kenya mission field

Worship leader Brandon Smith thought that the opportunity to lead worship at a conference for pastors in Africa would be similar to other ministry outreaches in which he had participated. But God had other plans. According to the Christian Newswire, when Smith reached out to these leaders, God reached into Smith’s heart and gave him a new ministry vision.

Instead of the hotels and / or missionary housing often provided for conference leaders, Smith stayed with a local pastor's family in Kenya, and the less-than-ideal conditions of the poor community were eye-opening. Smith, a father of four, decided to partner with Kenya's Manna Ministries to help develop a feeding program in the slum schools of Nairobi. The No Hungry Children initiative program will directly affect and potentially save the lives of thousands of poverty-stricken children each year.

“After seeing the children in the slums of Nairobi first-hand, there was no way I could come back to my comfortable life in Atlanta and do nothing to help these children. My life was forever changed.”

Smith has launched a new initiative to raise $120,000 annually, so that an additional 2,000 children can eat each year, since it only costs $60 to feed a child for a full year.

On May 19th, No Hungry Children will hold a benefit festival at Bergfeld Park in Tyler, TX. The all-day event, sponsored by Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-a, Jason's Deli and State Farm Insurance, will include a variety of events for the whole family, including food, silent auction and musical performances.

Smith is also donating 100% of the sales of his latest album, See the Glory, to the No Hungry Children initiative. The first single, "Can't Get Enough," is currently being serviced to Christian radio stations nationwide.

"With 100% of the donated funds going directly to purchase the food, it only takes $1 to feed 1 child for 1 week. I still can't believe how little it takes to make such a huge difference. I won't rest until we're feeding them all."

For more information, please visit www.nohungrychildren.org  and www.brandonscottsmith.net.

Persistent determination pays off

As someone who has an interest in both the writing and music industries, I have noticed over the years that there are many similarities. Perhaps one of the strongest is the importance of persistent determination. As competitive as both industries are, discouragement can take its toll on both aspiring writers and aspiring singer-musician-songwriters. For that matter, it can take its toll on those who have been blessed of God to break into the industries – for a whole myriad of reasons. That’s where being connected to a supportive group of like-minded (and perhaps equally or slightly more crazed) artists than yourself can be of great benefit. Being surrounded with people who will weep with you through the bad times and rejoice with you through the good just somehow bolsters a person’s persistent determination and fans the flames of inspiration.

Another thing that I personally find inspiring is reading about others who have managed to gain some success. Any of them who are honest will vouch for the fact that there is no such thing as an overnight success. There’s a lot of time, sweat, tears, training and of course money involved in what’s really comparable to a journey – as opposed to, say, a microwave dinner. Jenn Gotzon is a recent example of persist determination paying off. According to Movie Guide, Gotzon had been on her journey of being an actress for 15 years when she received her major breakthrough in the industry. I especially find it inspiring that part of Gotzon’s vision for her career is to “inspire and impact” the audience.

Founder and editor of Movie Guide Ted Baehr has written a fantastic book called How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Losing Your Soul that is an amazing tool for those desiring to use their gifts make a difference in the fields of the arts and entertainment. Not only does he offer great insights, but he has written it in such as way that it can help the reader to develop their own vision and definition of what success means to them – as opposed to what everyone else says it ought to be.

Another author who points out the importance of defining what success means on a personal level is Kristi Holl. In her book Writer’s First Aid, she reveals that when a person allows others to define what success is for them, that they’ll find that they are mysteriously unable to truly enjoy it. This could also easily be applied to someone who is a singer-songwriter-musician, and / or who has an interest in acting. Holl goes on to challenge the reader to consider the personal importance of the following: prestige of a byline or first sale (or cd label or movie contract); the passion of doing something meaningful to you; the career goal of making enough money to support your family; and further points out that personal success can change over time. So it’s important to reassess what success truly is on a personal level at strategic times in your life, such as when a goal is met or a person gets married or has a child or whatever. More on her book can be found here.

Because it can take years to really gain momentum in the arts industries, a person’s belief system will also have a strong impact on their ability to maintain persistent determination. Though the journey may be long, if we are looking to Him to lead us we can expect that He will open doors and even cause divine appointments.