East Coast or Bust
Christian recording artist performs in Gallup

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

The sold out crowd raises to their feet to clap along while Mark Schultz, platinum selling Christian recording artist, sings and performs at the Grace Bible Church on Saturday evening in Gallup. Schultz is currently riding his bicycle from California to New Hampshire raising funds to help out orphans and widows who are in need. Gallup was chosen to be one of the stops on his Mark Across America Tour. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

GALLUP — Sitting in the middle of what once was Historic Route 66, Gallup sees its share of walkers, marchers, runners, and bikers making cross-country treks.

But Mark Schultz has to be one for the record books.

Not only did he just bike from Holbrook, Ariz. and have to cope with six flat tires in 50 miles, he performed in concert that night before a packed house in Gallup and then got up the next morning and hit the highway again for a bike ride to Grants, N.M.

Schultz, a nationally-known contemporary Christian singer/songwriter, is in the beginning weeks of a 3,500 mile cross-country bike to raise funds for The James Fund, a charity that assists widows and orphaned children around the world. Along the way, Schultz is stopping to perform in concerts that promote adoption and aid to orphans.

On Saturday, Schultz performed before a standing-room-only crowd at Gallup's Grace Bible Church. The Gallup performance sold out earlier this month, and Schultz's next scheduled concert is set for Thursday, May 24 at the Cornerstone Church in Las Vegas, N.M.

Although Schultz is known for his emotional ballads, he surprised Saturday's audience with his entertaining and sometimes wacky sense of humor. Schultz spoofed his own musical style and blamed it on the fact he grew up in the 80s listening to over-the-top rock ballads by groups like Journey and REO Speedwagon.

Schultz, a popular Dove Award winner and platinum selling recording artist, aimed more of his self-deprecating humor at his musical abilities. "I don't play the piano," he claimed, "I just play the black notes because there are fewer of them, and they stick up." A couple of times Schultz also joked he really didn't write the song he was about to perform, he "just happened to be in the room" when God shared it with him.

All of Schultz's well-known songs have apparently been inspired by people in his life, and during the concert the singer/songwriter shared the stories behind each song.

Schultz said he became involved with promoting the work of The James Fund after volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico with his wife. Schultz was also adopted when he was two weeks old.

"It was the hardest two weeks of my life," he joked, "with the paperwork and everything."

The James Fund, a nonprofit organization founded by a charitable foundation in Michigan, was inspired by a scripture in the New Testament. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27). According to literature distributed at the concert, The James Fund helps support home-based care for orphans in Mexico, provides grants to families for adoption-related expenses, funds building materials and supplies for orphanages, and makes donations to disaster relief efforts.

Schultz is being accompanied on his journey by a few crew members who are traveling along in his tour bus. Between helping Schultz with his flat tires and staging his concerts, the crew is shooting video of his bike ride and posting it daily on the Internet. After Schultz's frustrating ride from Holbrook to Gallup, video blogs show him getting new bike tires at High Mesa Bikes and Gear on Coal Avenue, hanging out in the lobby of El Rancho Hotel, and signing autographs for a Native American couple out on the highway.

Schultz's bike ride is scheduled to conclude in July in Portsmouth, N.H. Information about his itinerary and upcoming concert schedule can be found at www.markschultzmusic.com.

For information about The James Fund, visit www.JamesFund.org. Tax deductible donations can be mailed to The James Fund, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530.