Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
WILLIAMSPORT, PA (ANS) -- A missionary and singer/songwriter from Williamsport, Pennsylvania (the birthplace of Little League World Series), Chris Pick's music has been heard globally and has charted on several continents in both mainstream pop and Christian.
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Singer/songwriter Chris Pick (Submitted photo) |
Pick immediately began studio work on new songs in 2002 as a follow-up to the highly successful Lennon tribute, but this time geared towards global missions. In 2008, Pick returned to the music world with his CD release "Songs In Black & White" (produced by Jerry Lynn) -- earning him a Grindie Award throughwww.RadioIndy.com .
In 2009, Pick’s song “The Mission” was featured on Quickstar Production’s “UNIFIED BY GRACE, Eastcoast Unplugged Vol. 1” compilation CD to help finance mission work at a medical clinic in Uganda. In 2010, Quickstar Productions released another mission project on-line entitled “A Call For Healing.” The compilation featured Pick’s song “Rachel’s Prayer,” based on the prayer journals of Columbine High martyr Rachel Joy Scott.
A dynamic performer, Pick's passion for global missions is at the center of his music and concert ministries. Playing a variety of instruments (from keyboard to guitar to lap dulcimer), he has worked with and shared the stage with many artists in many categories of music (i.e. Mark Harris of 4HIM, Davy Jones of The Monkees, Jaded Thorns, etc.) and has performed for mission agencies (Operation Mobilisation in Atlanta), benefits (September 11th Firefighter Benefit Concert in South Carolina), and festivals (Vision, Celebration in the Park, Beatlefests, etc.).
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Cover artwork for 'Christmas In The World' (Submitted photo). |
“I wrote (Yes Virginia) the night of the Virginia Tech tragedy in April 2007,” Pick told ANS.
“I couldn't sleep, and I came out and just starting playing chords. Then, I just started singing about how I felt and the words came to me. We recorded a version of it three days later, and this was that first version,” he said.
“I like this song because it is three-fold: It was written as a song of hope for the Virginia Tech tragedy. But the title gives it a holiday touch in connection to the famous ‘Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus’ editorial. However, to some, the song is about a young girl named Virginia who was hurt by a tragedy in life, is questioning God, and is in need of a ray of hope to light the way.”
CHRISTMAS IN THE WORLD became available Tuesday December 6 on ITunes, AmazonMP3, Spotify, Myspace Music, MediaNet, eMusic, Zune, Rhapsody, Nokia, and VerveLife.
The title track, CHRISTMAS IN THE WORLD, was recorded in Nashville this past summer and features session artists who were well-known for work on several Rich Mullins projects. It features Nashville drummer Steve Brewster, singer/songwriter & producer Rick Elias from A RAGAMUFFIN BAND adds wonderful guitars and keyboards throughout the recording, and Gary Lunn (who played on several Mullins projects including “Awesome God”) plays bass.
“The song came to me two years ago when I was asked to play something ‘Christmasy’ for a church service. Not one to usually play Christmas songs at concerts and such, I thought I'd write a song for the service,” said Pick.
“Christmas is my most favorite time of year, and I love Christmas traditions -- especially the old Victorian-style Christmas celebrations, as well as old German traditions. And it got me thinking about how people celebrate Christmas around the world.
“Being in missions, I've seen Dalit children playing on the streets in the slums of Asia. So, I started to think about what it's like for some people around the world who don't have much for Christmas. And for many, there is no Christmas celebration.”
Pick said he remembers being in Peru years ago and hearing about how some women would kill their own children rather than see them starve to death.
“I spent an afternoon with a pastor from Peru who explained just how hard it is for people in his village to see the love of God. They often ask, ‘If Jesus really loves the world, then why are we living like this?’ And we have people like that in America too!
Pick added: “This all brought me back to that first Christmas so long ago...how the people of Israel had been crying to God for 400 years in misery, waiting for the promised Messiah. And how people at Christmas are still looking for a Savior today!”
As a missionary musician, Pick and his wife Michelle (an elementary teacher in Central PA) are advocates for the native missionary movement and the persecuted church. They partner with Gospel For Asia www.gfa.org with their music ministry. They are also a “Voice” for Voice of the Martyrswww.persecution.com .
Pick has been involved with several mission projects which have included work in South America, Africa, Asia, and even in North America ministering to the Lakota Sioux at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Allen, SD.
Since the start of November, Pick and his wife have been speaking at several churches around Pennsylvania about Gospel For Asia’s Christmas Catalog project www.gfa.org/gift -- a project they tackle every year at Christmas time.
“You can purchase 200 gospel tracts for a dollar to a motorcycle for missionaries,” Pick explained.
“I was in India last January and February and had dinner with one of GFA’s supported missionaries. He shared about a pastor who donated blanks to a cold slum area. This one act of kindness opened a huge door. The people welcomed the pastor into their village to share the Good News and seven people were baptized that day. And they never heard about Jesus prior to this!”
Pick is going back to India with another ministry that trains indigenous missionaries for six weeks after the holidays to help with the training of several new believers in a highly persecuted area as well as help out at an orphanage and school the ministry started.
For more information, or to hear songs from projects, go to Pick’s
BANDCAMP page www.chrispick.bandcamp.com . And follow Pick on MYSPACEwww.myspace.com/pickmusic , FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Pick-fan-page/31011894442 1 , TWITTERwww.twitter.com/pickchris and Reverb Nation www.reverbnation.com/chrispick
For more information, or to hear songs from projects, go to Pick’s
BANDCAMP page www.chrispick.bandcamp.com . And follow Pick on MYSPACEwww.myspace.com/pickmusic , FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Pick-fan-page/31011894442 1 , TWITTERwww.twitter.com/pickchris and Reverb Nation www.reverbnation.com/chrispick
| ** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter |  |
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
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