Jason Gray, a contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, is making a stop in Cambridge on his Christmas Stories Tour.
Gray will be performing at the Hardy Performing Arts Center at Cambridge-Isanti High School at 7 p.m. Dec. 5. The tour is sponsored by World Vision, a global humanitarian organization, and hosted by Our Response, a Minnesota nonprofit based in Cambridge.
The show also includes performances by Christian contemporary and rock group Carrollton and Christian pop singer Jonny Diaz.
Gray is a southwestern Minnesota native. He converted to Christianity at the age of 15 and has been pursuing ministry music full time since 1999. He released four independent records before signing with Centricity Music in 2006, which produced his first major record, “All The Lovely Losers,” in 2007.
Since then, Gray has released five studio albums with Centricity Music, as well as a number of EPs and singles. His 2012 album, “A Way to See in the Dark,” was named Album of the Year by critics. The album held three top-five radio singles, including “Nothing is Wasted,” which held the No. 1 spot for nine weeks on Christian radio.
Gray’s newest album, “Love Will Have the Final Word,” conveys messages of endurance and perseverance within one’s faith and life.
“It’s a statement of confidence and determination. And it’s true: We live in the assurance that through all of our ups and downs, the ultimate victory has been won for us, and love has spoken,” Gray said on his website.
Gray has previously performed at Our Response events.
“We had him in concert a couple of years ago because we felt he has similar perspectives on global poverty but would also provide a concert that many in our community would enjoy,” said Steve Fredlund, director of Our Response.
Fredlund said he is looking forward to the way the three groups will convey the holiday message through their music in the Cambridge performance.
“Jason Gray is a great singer, songwriter and musician, but he is also a wonderful storyteller,” Fredlund said. “At the last concert, everyone had an amazing time with his music but also his personality and ability to relate. I’m looking forward to seeing how he, Carrollton and Jonny Diaz can tell the Christmas story while weaving in a fantastic night of music.”
World Vision and Our Response have partnered together for a number of years to change the lives of people living in Kivuruga, a 75-square-mile area located in the mountains of Rwanda, by providing on-the-ground community transformation efforts.
A group of volunteers recently returned from a mission trip there, where Fredlund said he experienced his “best day ever.”
Among the many trips the group has taken, they have seen the dire conditions of the health care facilities in the area, particularly the maternity ward. In 2011, Fredlund learned there were no trained medical professionals present and babies were delivered on two 10-foot-by-10-foot tables. There was no running water nor electricity in the room.
Upon their return in 2013, the group found that while other areas of the clinic had additions and improvements, the maternity ward remained in the same deplorable conditions.
But on their 2015 trip, the facility was unrecognizable. The clinic now has an entire building dedicated to the maternity ward, equipped with a reception area, waiting area, delivery area with privacy screens, a separate post-delivery area, electricity and running water.
“I think almost every day of the thousands of women who have given birth in that old room and how many complications have resulted,” Fredlund said on the Our Response blog. “The prior four years of wishing we could do something came flooding in as I realized much of this new development had been funded by over 700 sponsorships by people primarily living in East Central Minnesota.”
At the concert, there will be an opportunity for attendees to become involved in child sponsorship through World Vision. The children available to be sponsored on Dec. 5 are all from Kivuruga.
“The impact the people of East Central Minnesota is having in Kivuruga, Rwanda, through Our Response and the partnership with World Vision is absolutely staggering,” Fredlund said. “I have been there four times since 2009, basically every two years, and continue to see impact.”
Fredlund welcomes anyone to the concert but gives a special invite to those who are looking for a special way to kick-off the Christmas season and try to get in the mindset of Christmas while in the midst of the hustle and bustle that usually comes with the season.
“It will be a great night of community, relaxing, laughing and should be good for the heart. These are the people we are focusing on helping, and the concert has the potential to increase our impact. If nothing else, however, more people will hear about the story of how our community has united to change the world,” Fredlund said.
Tickets are available at the door for $20 on the day of the event or online at itickets.com until the afternoon of Dec. 5. All seats are reserved. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
If finances are an issue, contact Steve Fredlund at stevefredlund@gmail.com or call 651-587-5435 to learn what arrangements might be made.