Editing Rich Mullins (section)

=== Beginnings as a recording artist ===
Mullins' start in the [[Christian music industry]] occurred in mid-1981 when [[Amy Grant]] recorded his song "Sing Your Praise to the Lord."<ref name="cartoons">{{cite news |last = Yonke |first = David |date = November 18, 1995 |title = Rich Mullins 'cartoons' in catchy tunes |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YOE0AAAAIBAJ&pg=6075%2C5328078 |newspaper = Toledo Blade |access-date = May 5, 2016 |archive-date = November 27, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231127021908/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YOE0AAAAIBAJ&pg=6075,5328078 |url-status = live }}</ref> The decision was made to stop touring as "Zion," and for Mullins to start his [[Solo artist|solo]] career. He moved to [[Bellsburg, Tennessee]],<ref name="auto"/> approximately 45 minutes from [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], to begin his professional recording career.<ref name="Rich Mullins time line 1">{{cite web |url = http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline19551974.html |title = Rich Mullins timeline 1 – audiori.net |access-date = July 21, 2023 |archive-date = July 21, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230721185336/http://audiori.net/richmullins/timeline19551974.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Mullins got engaged sometime between the late 70s and early 80s, and wrote the song "Doubly Good to You" (recorded by Amy Grant on her album ''Straight Ahead'') for his upcoming wedding. However, his fiancée broke off the engagement in 1982.<ref name="auto"/> In response to the breakup, Mullins wrote "Damascus Road".<ref>{{cite web |url = http://kidbrothers.net/words/interviews/brothers-keeper-radio-special-oct95.html |title = Brothers Keeper radio special |publisher = Kidbrothers.net |access-date = October 31, 2012 |archive-date = December 3, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203025634/http://kidbrothers.net/words/interviews/brothers-keeper-radio-special-oct95.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = Rick Tarrant |url = http://kidbrothers.net/words/interviews/20-the-countdown-magazine-oct1197.html |title = 20: the Countdown Magazine remembers Rich Mullins |publisher = Kidbrothers.net |date = October 11, 1997 |access-date = October 31, 2012 |archive-date = July 25, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120725003455/http://kidbrothers.net/words/interviews/20-the-countdown-magazine-oct1197.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

Years later, Mullins shared thoughts about his relationships and personal life in a radio interview with Rick Tarrant:

{{blockquote|quote=I would always be frustrated with all those relationships even when I was engaged. I had a ten-year thing with this girl and I would often wonder why, even in those most intimate moments of our relationship, I would still feel really lonely. And it was just a few years ago that I finally realized that friendship is not a remedy for loneliness. Loneliness is a part of our experience and if we are looking for relief from loneliness in friendship, we are only going to frustrate the friendship. Friendship, camaraderie, intimacy, all those things, and loneliness live together in the same experience.<ref name="Heaven Smith 2000 p. 131, 13">An Arrow Pointing to Heaven Smith, JB (2000) B & H Publishing Group Nashville, Tennessee {{ISBN|978-0-8054-2635-9}} p. 131, 13</ref>}}

In 1987, Mullins spent time teaching conversational English in a South Korean seminary. He then served briefly as a [[Christian mission|missionary]] in Thailand where he became involved with a ministry teaching trades and providing medical care to Chinese refugees.<ref name="auto"/> He wrote the song "The Other Side of the World" about his time in Asia.