Greetings from China. We had an amazing and wonderful time here with many friends and leaders from all over China. The conference was filled with teaching, preaching, worshiping (and of course eating!). We made many new friends from around the world – especially Africa! This is a very unique situation for ‘foreigners’ in China who desire to worship Jesus. They allow regular meetings with other non-Chinese Christians on a limited basis and within those legal limitations there is actually a lot of freedom to worship and grow in Christ. I won’t go into all the details but we found a very vibrant Christian community thriving in many cities throughout China. These churches are called International Christian Fellowships filled with Jesus-believing, grace-receiving, gospel-embracing believers. I heard that in Xiamen (our host church) alone there are over 40 nations represented! Many different religious backgrounds are in the mix, but they are centered around their love and worship of Jesus Christ.
Xiamen is a beautiful island-city of 3.5 million people! with a gorgeous beach around the whole island. Surprisingly to us, this city is very modernized and clean with a lot of highrises to accommodate the populace. The church put us up in a beautiful hotel which was the site of the conference. Certainly not what we were expecting in China but very nice nonetheless. (no complaints here!) We walked the beautiful grounds many times to pray and enjoy this peaceful oasis. The worship conference was attended by worshipers and leaders from 5 different cities throughout China, all attend an International Church – so the attendees were from many nations (mostly in Africa) and we taught and worshiped in English (with a few other languages thrown in – we did sing some Chinese!) These foreigners are here to study, work, etc.
We arrived on a Tuesday night and spent all day Wednesday with our friends from the states, Jamie and Kwadwo Sampany-Kessie on their 3rd anniversary day! (We had the honor of being at their wedding in Washington 3 years ago at The City Church with Pastor Aaron Haskins presiding) We got the royal tour of the island’s beaches and shops, eating great authentic Chinese food and ending the day watching the sun set while sipping beverages at a Starbucks (I know, they are everywhere!)
Thursday we went over to “Piano Island” on a ferry to see this beautiful but much smaller island that has a history of being the headquarters of foreigners attacking China, so it’s architecture is very diverse and interesting. It is apparently called Piano Island because of the high number of pianos per capita (highest in all of China). The ferry was packed since this island is such a popular tourist place for Chinese people. Our guide for the day was Pastor Gabe Orea, the pastor of Xiamen International Christian Fellowship (XICF) a great man, full of faith and joy. We had a wonderful time just wandering and talking and getting to know this pastor from Mexico! He is fighting the fight of faith with an incurable stage 4 lymphoma cancer diagnosis. We are joining him in prayers of faith, and we hope you will too, for total health and strength (he is in his 40s with a wife and two young children). It is stirring to see his joy and passion for the future. He’s not giving up and neither should we! BTW, he sees joy and laughter as his biggest weapon against this disease! A merry heart…
Friday, May 25 was our anniversary (Maryl and I got to celebrate our 38th anniversary twice! Once in China with our new Chinese friends and then again back home in the states) and the beginning of the conference with about 40 attendees from 5 cities and about 17 different nations. Worship leaders, musicians, singers, pastors, technicians from many different backgrounds. The host worship team led by Jamie, helped us jump right into the heart of worship. It was delightful from the very beginning on Friday morning, joining our voices with these voices from all over the world – what a joy we have in doing this again and again everywhere! As I began my teaching Friday morning on the Vision of Worship I could sense the great expectation and revelation of worship growing in the group. By the afternoon we were all on the same page of revealing Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and change us, making songs and words come alive in our worship, promoting healthy relationships and breaking down any barriers to true worship of Jesus Christ.
I then taught on leading the flow of worship in our services starting with David, Asaph and Chenaniah as our models. I love to see the revelation hit when they realize that we are all leaders of worship and everybody has a big part in the worship of our God! Along with practical tools and inspiration they were given a great foundation to lead from. Friday evening capped off a great day with a brother from Zimbabwe (Br. Taona) and a team from other African nations leading some rousing and passionate praise and worship that seemed like it could go on forever. After a sweet time of ministry and prayer over Pastor Gabe we had a Q&A session answering the many questions that had come up already from the teaching. I love that we can sit and discuss and ponder all that God is doing in worship!
Saturday, May 26 started once again with great praise and worship followed by my teaching on working with the worship team. Here we not only worked on the heart of the team member but raised the musical awareness needed to grow in our gifts and callings as worshipers. We spent a lot of time training and releasing their voices as THE instrument God has given us all! You could sense the confidence and increase in volume and tone in their voices in a short amount of time. Then we studied other practical areas like the circle of 5ths, chords, chord progressions and training dvds. At the end of this session, we brought all the instruments up to play collectively and learn how to work together, making room for one another and complimenting the sound with contrasts. It was a great learning session for all and we worshiped throughout! What a joy! I also got a short lesson from Sis. Ailin on the ‘pipa’ a traditional Chinese string instrument you can see in the picture above. In the last afternoon session we just gathered around in a circle and worshiped together with different songs and styles from around the world. An international jam session! Singing and dancing and laughing that was thrilling to be a part of.
Saturday evening was delightful and special with the worship led by a young lady on guitar (Sis. Raychel) that led to a ministry time over the whole group, especially dealing with insecurities and disappointments. We ended with another Q&A session that was very provocative yet enlightening on many subjects of worship. I prayed over the attendees for the gift of songwriting (along with the discipline of course) and that God would release new songs through this group that would touch their nations. Powerful time of impartation – I believe God is going to do just that! New songs, capturing the essence of what God is saying to this generation and to our culture – captivating hearts, changing lives! I taught them a beautiful new song written by a friend of ours in Albany, OR (Angela Pinkston) called ‘What a Love’ (you can hear her team sing it on YouTube here) I believe this will be a great song for the nations. Then I prayed for a new anointing and release as worshipers and leaders in our churches. Great time together in Jesus! Such a responsive and focused group! This is going to be a brand new day for all of them!
Sunday, May 27 found us at XICF, pretty excited to see what God would say and do in this congregation. A visiting brother and his wife (Br. Kennedy and Sis. Maryann) led some songs in worship at the beginning with the team from their church in Nanjing! Beautiful songs and flow! Then Br. Rob from XICF lead a second set with a mix of hymns and current songs that gave a healthy contrast to the morning. I preached on ‘Extreme Worshipers’: Abraham, Job and David – who all faced their own crisis with worship from hearts that trusted in God! May we all face our circumstances with a worshipful heart and Shachah (worship) the King of kings in everything! We ended with a rousing rendition of Chris Tomlin’s ‘Our God is Greater’. A fitting end to a great week of worship!
“Tim and Maryl’s worship workshop was a wonderful experience for our music teams and those of the fellowships who attended! The entire seminar was not only a great worship experience, but we gained solid direction in a biblical vision for our fellowship’s praise and worship. Additionally, we have a great toolkit to develop and monitor the skillset of our musicians as well as the overall management of our worship teams. Tim’s wealth of experience and passion for worship made this one of the most valuable seminar’s I’ve ever attended as a worship leader. If you lead worship and you have an opportunity to attend – you will be greatly blessed regardless your musical background and experience!” Blessings,
Rob Bailey, Xiamen, China
Thank you for conducting the workshop in Xiamen! The big thing I’m taking away from the workshop is that when I’m practicing piano scales, I should look up at people in the room, and recite Scripture, instead of looking at my hands. I tried it last night — I turned our electronic keyboard so that I could see everyone in the living room while practicing. It’s definitely more fun and less boring! I’ve been thinking I should memorize Scripture in Chinese; here’s my chance! I can memorize Chinese scriptures while practicing scales! The second (related) thing is that I should practice every song in every key, also without looking at my hands. Doing so will free me up to have eye contact with the congregation, and to be able to be in the right key when spontaneous singing starts. Sincerely yours,
Nina Leong, Xiamen, China
It was such a pleasure and joy to be in the retreat together and to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn so much through you. Thank you for being willing. Honestly, I am finding that I am still digesting what was taught and have already seen great improvement in my ministry to the Lord. This past weekend we lead worship at our fellowship and I heard great improvement in my voice, pitch, and in the Lord’s anointing. I have been praying fervently for this and believe that greater things are to come (always for His pleasure and glory!). To be honest with you, lately, there have been a few more opposing forces in that area of my life and I have been doubting, so much, whether I was in the right ministry or not, but since the retreat I have been receiving a lot of confirmation, affirmation, and healing from the Holy Spirit to strengthen me. I praise Him. He is so faithful to me! Just thought I’d share a bit of that with you both and thank you once again for your time, ministry, sacrifice, and willingness. God bless you! Draw near to Him…..He will draw near to you!
Maryann Mwenya, Zambia
P.S. We were able to stay one extra day this time and enjoyed the city one more time before heading home on Tuesday. On the way back, we were honored to spend lunch with our good friends, Pastor David and Christiana Copp in LA.
Tired? yes. Full of gratitude and excitement from our trip? absolutely. Will we go again? Most certainly
Maryl and I definitely feel this was a God-connection and can sense it’s strategic timing and placement for who we are and what God has called us to do through Worship Without Borders. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We can’t do this without you and love representing you and the Lord Jesus to the nations.
Please consider a love gift to this ministry during this season to help us continue doing this great work among the nations!
We love you all and would love to hear from you. Be encouraged in His presence today!
Tim and Maryl
