Building 429 Kicks Off Winter Blast Tour to Help the Hungry

Artists come together to help the food relief effort

By Josephine Vivaldo, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, January 15, 2011

Young Christian artists have partnered up with Food for the Hungry to benefit the needy around the world.

The Food for the Hungry Winter Blast 2011 kicked off this week in Bowling Green, Ky., and Bristol, Tenn., and will hit eight more cities over the next month. Leading the tour is Building 429 and other featured artists include 33Miles, Jason Gray, and Kerrie Roberts. The like-minded artists are excited to participate in the tour for international food relief effort.

The 10-city tour sprung out of Building 429's ongoing partnership with the Christian relief organization as well as personal encounters with scarcity in some of the poorest nations.

Last year, through its partnership with Food for the Hungry, the award-winning Christian band was able to change the lives of more than 4,000 families through child sponsorship in Haiti.

"Recently, my wife and I spent some time in Haiti, and we returned from that trip more convinced than ever that this mission must continue," Building 429's Jason Gray said.

Gray spoke to The Christian Post about the importance of working with Food for the Hungry, especially has after having personally seen the plight of those in desperate need.

"I work with World Vision, I'm passionate about that. It's kind of gratifying I think to be part of a tour that is sponsored by a different organization that helps the poor. And it's not so territorial, you know like 'I can't work with these guys because they work with World Vision.' I like crosspollination," he said. "We are all going out for the same thing.

"I've been to Africa; I've seen the need firsthand and I've seen what happens when a person sponsors a child, the difference it makes. The Gospel is revealed. It's beautiful. I'm passionate about it. All the sacrifices make it worth it."

He emphasized why participating in such efforts is especially important for him.

"Being part of the Food for the Hungry gives me the opportunity to talk to my audience about weakness and brokenness since I have a speech impediment. I think we are all afraid of our weakness," he said. "Our imperfections will be an obstacle that hinders the best things that we hope. So I get to be the person to come in and remind them of Scripture, like how in our weakness His strength is perfected. I believe that God called us because of our weaknesses."

Gray concluded, "I'm always impressed by God's grace working through the weak. And so that's why I think that He prefers to use weak, broken and unlikely people because He gets the glory that way; He is a showoff."

Winter Blast 2011 Tour Dates (all dates subject to change) (*Jason Gray not appearing):

1/20/11 – Ft. Smith, AR*
1/22/11 – Longview, TX*
1/27/11 – Springfield, IL
1/28/11 – South Bend, IN
1/29/11 – Marion, IL
2/3/11 – Montgomery, AL
2/4/11 – Fort Walton Beach, FL
2/5/11 – TBD