In America's CCM scene RICH MULLINS has done it all, writing songs for Amy Grant, composing popular worship choruses and recording a series of increasingly daring albums of his own. He spoke at length to Jan Willem Vink.

TEACH MUSIC AMONG NATIVE AMERICANS
It is no wonder issues like poverty and richness still play a major role in Rich's life. He is currently studying to be a music teacher at a college in his hometown Wichita in Kansas. When I ask him how he combines singing and studying, he answers tongue-in-cheek" not very successfully". In numerous interviews, Rich has told he wants to quit his career in CCM after finishing college and to become a music teacher to native Americans. "They are the poorest (financially) people in the US", comments Rich. "I am more likely to encounter Christ in an authentic way among the poor and so I hope to live among them. I have another year of school left and then I hope to move. I get increasingly anxious to go there and I suspect that I don't know the whole truth about why.

"Will I end my career? I don't know. I'll just have to see if I can combine being a student and being a singer. No one is more curious about this than me. I have as little notion about how it will come out as anyone."

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN COLOMBIA
Rich's social involvement also crosses American borders. For a long time he has been a spokesperson for Compassion International, Christian relief organisation, who have a sponsorship programme for Third World children. This February, Rich travelled to Colombia, where he visited a student centre which he's currently gathering sponsorships for. "The project that we visited is where they give kids a meal and after-school-tutoring. One of the things about a Third World country is that most of the time children are so malnourished that there's actual brain damage done. They're kind of slow. So they're given enough nutrition so they can learn if the opportunity comes up. The idea is to give them some education so they are at least literate and they can at least read.

"I think for me out of the whole trip the thing that was most moving was just seeing the street kids. A lot of them come from the hills, they are Indian kids and their families are too big and they can't feed them. So they go into town. When they get there, they can't get jobs or anything because they don't read, they don't write, they don't have any real opportunities. They sniff glue to take the edge off their hunger and then they get involved in drugs and prostitution and stealing. The cartel that runs a lot of the shops hire their own policemen. These policemen just go down the streets and shoot the street kids.

I saw these kids, who are ten to fifteen years old who didn't get an education, who don't get the right nutrition, they may live to be sixteen. One of the great contrasts was to meet other young people who are working in regular jobs, they are able to read and write, they know that God lives and that He loves them and that He hears their prayers. To see the contrast between kids who were given half a shot and people who aren't given anything was pretty startling for me."

A DIFFERENT LIFE FOR 1500 KIDS
Colombia isn't the first Third World country Rich has visited. "Wherever I've gotten to it's been pretty much the same. It's kind of heartbreaking to see that kind of poverty, really grinding poverty, people literally don't get enough food to keep going. It's heart breaking but it's so exhilarating to see the difference the love of Christ makes to those situations. Sometimes you feel a little angry at God and you say, 'God if you're so good, if you're so loving, they why are so many people suffering so terribly?'. But I'm not God and it's not my business to think like that, God has given us free will and He allows us either to ignore the poor or to meet Him among them. When we choose to ignore the poor not only do they suffer, but we suffer".

Rich recorded a video in Colombia of his song "Creed" with 120 of the children participating in it. The song will be released on a long-form video, which Rich recorded in New York, Ireland and hometown Wichita, with Steve Taylor and Ben Pearson as producers. "The video was just kind of a side thing", comments Rich . "Being an artist isn't that much of a deal to me. One of the great things that has come about as a result of me being a musician is that I'm a Compassion representative. As far as any real joy in what I do: Of course I like to play music and write and it's a real privilege to be able to make a living doing that. But that wouldn't be enough for me to stay interested very long. But one of the great things that has come about as a result of my music, as a Compassion representative I've been able to raise sponsorships for 1500 kids. What makes me feel good about what I'm doing is to be able to say here are 1500 who otherwise may not be able to have a decent life,"