CompassionArt: A Small Miracle
12-12-2007
by Kevan Breitinger

Martin Smith has had opportunity to travel the world with his iconic band Delirious? But he has gained more from his journeys than mere pleasure.  The band has traveled  often to some of the globe’s poorest spots and seen first hand the suffering of the poverty-stricken. After considering the public platform the Lord had given him, Martin made a promise to do all that he could to bring help to the poor. CompassionArt is the fruit of that promise.

Martin and his wife Anna have called upon some of the best-known writers in the gospel/Christian music scene to join them for a few days next month in Scotland writing songs to impact these issues on a long-term basis. It’s an idea that immediately resonates with potential and possibilities, but it’s also easier said than done, according to Martin. “It’s not just a celebrity list,” he insists. “These are people who’ve stayed at our home and hung out with us. We’ve eaten meals together and talked about these things for years. All are friends that we trust. This is a big thing we’re taking on, logistically very difficult to put together. The first calls were very easy because everybody was like, ‘great, lets do this, it’s fantastic.’  But then it was a matter of coordinating all the schedules.”

Easy to understand when you look at the participants: Michael W Smith, Darlene Zschech, Chris Tomlin, Matt and Beth Redman, Tim Hughes, Paul Baloche, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick, Steven Curtis-Chapman, Andy Park, Stu Garrard, and of course, Martin Smith. The list may read like a who’s who of Christian music, but more than that, it’s a gathering of those who believe they've been called by God to serve the poor. Even more intriguing, these leaders have been joined in their mission by an army of publishers and managers, for once not the ‘bad cops’ of the music scene, as Martin laughingly points out. “All the managers are waiving their rights,” says Martin, “the publishers are doing it for free, as is the church copywriting group, and even ASCAP came on. It’s the first time in history anything like this has happened,” he adds enthusiastically. “It’s a small miracle.”

Martin, Anna, and his brother Paul have been spearheading the administrative duties for the past year, along with a London lawyer. But Martin is quick to say, “This sort of thing really shouldn’t have been able to get off the ground, but God’s been in it, so it happened.” This January, from the 7^th to the 11^th, the team of worshippers will gather to write a dozen songs for a cause bigger than themselves.  When I asked about the album to follow, Martin was both gentle and honest. “There are no hard and fast plans to record,” he reminded me. “One step at a time. We don’t want to rush this thing. If we write 12 fantastic songs, we’ll try to record them. If we don’t, we’ll try again. We haven’t written the songs yet,” he laughed, “so we don’t really know.”

The plans for the finances are a bit more established. “What we have in mind,” said Martin, “is that each writer can nominate the charity of their choice, and half of the financial gain will go to those twelve charities.  There will be a mix among those twelve, I’m sure, from Hope: Rwanda, to Mercy Ministries, to Stephen’s Ministries. And then when we sit around the dinner table in Scotland, we’ll dream up the plans for the other half, come up with something that we can all get excited about, in terms of making a real impact.”

The project is also guided by a six-man team of Trustees, made up of seasoned ministry and music veterans like Dave Meyer (of Joyce Meyer Ministries) and Bill Hearn (CEO of EMI CMG). Still, Martin recognizes the undertaking’s vital need for blessing from on high, and specific prayers. “Please pray for our team that week, that we’d have fantastic inspiration. And that travel plans would be safe,” he adds, “as people are coming in from all over the world for this. Pray that we get ‘in the zone,’ and we’d really find out what God wants to say through these songs. I think it could be amazing.”

And this comes from a man who already has great reason to be amazed. At the time of our conversation, Martin was at home with Anna, their five children…. and their newest addition, baby Marianna Merciful, born only four days before! Please pray also as Anna and Marianna accompany the team to Scotland. ‘Amazing’ may be only the beginning of what the Lord has in mind!