For those of you who have lived your
entire Christian lives in the contemporary English-speaking Christian world,
I’m sure names such as Jesus Culture, Hillsong and Planetshakers are no longer
foreign. Walk into any contemporary church service in any part of the
English-speaking world, and you’re bound to encounter an entire congregation
jumping and dancing to the tune of one of these bands’ songs in praise and
adoration for God!
Nevertheless, many of you who are
accustomed to the English-speaking Christian world would probably never have
ventured out into a church service in an entirely different language before.
Doubtless to say, if you were to try stepping into a contemporary church
service in the Mandarin Chinese language, you would probably not hear Jesus
Culture, Hillsong or Planetshakers resonating through the halls of worship, but
a comparable equivalent of them that has been making unprecedented waves of
spiritual influence over the Chinese-speaking Christian world. Friends, let me
introduce to you what is arguably the Jesus Culture, Hillsong or Planetshakers
equivalent of the Chinese-speaking Christian world – Stream of Praise (赞美之泉, Zànmĕi
zhī Quán).
Of course, no article about Stream
of Praise is complete without first mentioning the woman of God behind this
ministry who was set apart by the calling of the Holy Spirit to start a revival
of worship throughout the global Chinese diaspora. She is none other than
Pastor Sandy Yu (游智婷, Yóu Zhìtíng), founder and director of Stream of Praise.
Pastor Sandy Yu (游智婷牧师)
Pastor Yu, who was born in Taiwan,
recalled that during her youth, she was just like any other typical Taiwanese
girl: carefree, easygoing and having a penchant for the latest Mandopop songs
in the market. But it was when she was 17 years old during a worship service
that she heard God’s calling for her life, in which she was “called to serve
with her voice.” In 1993, while pursuing her studies in the University of
Southern California, she felt touched by God once again during a worship
service, and it was then that she realized that there was a severe scarcity of
Chinese praise and worship songs at that time. For many, many years, most of
the songs sung by Chinese Christians worldwide have been translated from
Western hymns.
With that in mind, Pastor Yu sought
the will and favour of God to lead her in starting a worship band that would be
able to write songs in the Chinese language with the Chinese heart in mind. Her
heart’s desire was to write praise and worship songs that Chinese-speaking
congregations could relate to in their own language and music. God granted her
heart’s desire and soon enough, she gathered a few Chinese Christian friends
who together started a small Christian band called Stream of Praise in that
same year. And as they say, the rest is history.
Pastor Sandy Yu leading worship
Shortly after starting their band,
Pastor Yu and her friends came up with their first ever song, Stream of Praise
(赞美之泉, Zànmĕi
zhī Quán), which became the flagship of their ministry and simultaneously
the name by which it would be known as. In July 1993, Stream of Praise made
their debut on the worship stage when they received their first ever invitation
to lead worship at an all Evangelical Formosan Church (EFC) Young Adult Gospel
Camp in San Diego, California. A few months later, in October 1993, the band
held their first ever worship night in the Evangelical Formosan Church Los
Angeles (EFCLA) (洛杉矶台福基督教会, Luòshānjī Táifú Jīdū Jiàohuì), which served to propel them into
further prominence in the Chinese praise and worship arena.
Invitations to lead worship poured
in, and Pastor Yu and her friends found themselves actively involved in
numerous praise and worship programs in several Chinese churches in California.
Two years after its establishment, that is in October 1995, Stream of Praise
was officially registered as a non-profit organization, and at the same time
the band’s involvement in praise and worship programs multiplied rapidly. They
were by then one of the most popular Chinese Christian worship bands in
California, with one of their songs, Victorious Life (生命的凯歌, Shēngmìng de Kǎigē), even
winning multiple awards in the Southern California Religious Music Competition
that same year.
Cover of Stream of Praise's Victorious Life (生命的凯歌) instrumental album
The following year, 1996, saw two
major milestones that would seal Stream of Praise’s position in the global
Chinese Christian community for the decades to come. In that year, their first
ever album was released: Let Praise Arise (让赞美飞扬, Ràng Zànmĕi Fēiyáng). It was
a culmination of all their work until that point and the recognition that they
have received from the Chinese Christian communities in the United States. At
the same time, they embarked on their first ever worldwide tour, mainly touring
churches in the United States and Taiwan to share the gospel and the love of
Jesus through their music.
Cover of Stream of Praise's first ever album, Let Praise Arise (让赞美飞扬)
From then on, Stream of Praise
embarked on worldwide tours almost every year, touring almost every continent
and region where large Chinese communities can be found. Their second worldwide
tour in 1997 witnessed the addition of Hong Kong and Macau into their tour
itinerary. In the same year, they officially moved into their first ever home
(i.e. administrative office) in El Monte, California. In the following year, five
more countries with significant Chinese communities were added into their tour
itinerary: Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Panama. And in 1999,
Canada too was added into the list, along with several European countries in
2006.
2014 Stream of Praise concert in Hong Kong
Having travelled to most parts of
the world where large Chinese communities now call their home, there was still
one very large portion of the global Chinese community that Stream of Praise
could not reach, at least physically – mainland China. As has been the case
since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China under the Communist
Party of China in 1949, restrictions are in place as far as freedom of religion
and the presence of foreign missionaries are concerned in the mainland. Despite
being ethnically and linguistically Chinese, Stream of Praise was, after all,
perceived as a foreign organization in the eyes of officials from the People’s
Republic. The door to mainland China was shut to ‘foreign missionaries,’
especially those that would require large gatherings outside the auspices of
the mainland’s state-sanctioned churches.
Pastor Yu and the entire ministry
were constantly praying for years that a door would be open for them to
physically bring their music and message into the mainland. After all, despite
the lack of legal channels to distribute their music in the mainland, their CDs
and music have made their way from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and subsequently
through the internet. Those prayers were finally answered when an invitation
came in from Shenzhen Christian Church to perform in the Shenzhen Gymnasium (深圳体育馆, Shēnzhèn
Tĭyùguǎn) on August 9, 2014, in conjunction with a thanksgiving celebration
and commemoration of 30 years of the restoration of churches in Shenzhen. This
was the first time Stream of Praise performed anywhere in mainland China, which
saw an attendance of prominent Chinese church leaders and a turnout of more
than 5000 people.
2014 Stream of Praise concert in Shenzhen, China (Source: www.christiantimes.cn)
Besides being their first time
performing in mainland China, the year 2014 also marked yet another ‘first’ for
the music ministry – their first time performing on Japanese soil. In that
year, Stream of Praise took a leap of faith and decided to work together with
the Japan Chinese Christian Centre (JCC) to start a music mission and a series
of children’s praise and worship in Japan. This culminated in their first ever
series of praise and worship performances from August 22 – 24 in several
churches in Tokyo and Yokohama, as well as the release of their first album in
Japanese (see next paragraph), spearheaded by Stream of Praise’s own Japanese
pastor, Pastor Mary Chikagami Lee (Japanese:
周神たつみ, Chikagami Tatsumi).
In addition to actively producing a
plethora of praise and worship albums in the Mandarin Chinese language, Stream
of Praise also occasionally comes up with albums in other minority Chinese
languages as well as other Asian languages. In 2001, their first album in
Taiwanese Hokkien, You Are a Faithful God (你是信实的上帝, Mandarin Pinyin: Nĭ Shì Xìnshí de Shàngdì), was produced,
and in 2009, their first Korean album was produced, entitled Jesus My
Everything (Korean: 예수,
내 모든 것, Yesu, Nae Modeun Geos). Several
children’s praise and worship albums have also been produced, the first of
which was published in 2010 entitled Little Dream (小小的梦想, Xiǎoxiǎo de Mèngxiǎng). A
children’s album with the same title in Japanese (Japanese: 小さな夢, Chiisana Yume) was also
released in 2014, which at the same time is their first ever album in Japanese.
Additionally, Stream of Praise has published several instrumental album series,
piano album series, live worship series and many others throughout their years
in the Chinese praise and worship scene.
Stream of Praise's first ever album in Japanese, Little Dream (小さな夢), with Pastor Mary Chikagami Lee (left) (Source: Stream of Praise Youtube channel)
Since 2006, Stream of Praise has also been running a
Children’s Creative Worship School (儿童创意敬拜学校, Értóng Chuàngyì Jìngbài Xuéxiào)
that specializes in training students of kindergarten to senior high school
ages in music worship and Bible studies. Headed by Pastor Mary Chikagami Lee as its
headmistress and taught by many of the core members of Stream of Praise, the
worship school has regularly produced children’s praise and worship albums that
feature many of the music ministry’s all time favourite songs. At the time of
writing, the school runs courses in California, Hong Kong and Taiwan, raising
hundreds of students every year to become the next generation of young
worshippers.
A praise & worship session by students from Stream of Praise's Children's Creative Worship School
Stream of Praise currently maintains
its headquarters in Tustin, California, with main offices in Taipei, Taiwan and
Kowloon, Hong Kong, as well as a distribution office in Tokyo, Japan. Every
year, the ministry embarks on tours around the Chinese-speaking Christian world
that draw hundreds, if not thousands of people to each of its praise and
worship nights. For more information about them, their albums and annual
events, click here to visit their English website, and here for their Chinese website.
2014 Stream of Praise concert in Taichung, Taiwan (Source: www.gospelherald.com.hk)
Introductory video to Stream of Praise based on their 2014 worldwide tour (in Mandarin Chinese) (Source: Stream of Praise Youtube channel)
Main reference:
1. Wen
JY. 赞美之泉游智婷和Tiffany谈事奉的美好：献上恩赐给神使用(Sandy Yu and Tiffany of Stream of Praise
discuss the beauty of serving: to offer one’s gifts for God to use) [Chinese]. 基督时报(Christian Times). 2015 November 12. Available
from: http://www.christiantimes.cn/news/13279/%E8%B5%9E%E7%BE%8E%E4%B9%8B%E6%B3%89%E6%B8%B8%E6%99%BA%E5%A9%B7%E5%92%8CTiffany%E8%B0%88%E4%BA%8B%E5%A5%89%E7%9A%84%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%BD%EF%BC%9A%E7%8C%AE%E4%B8%8A%E6%81%A9%E8%B5%90%E7%BB%99%E7%A5%9E%E4%BD%BF%E7%94%A8
2. Stream
of Praise. Timeline [Internet]. Tustin, CA (United States): Stream of Praise;
2015 [cited 2015 November 12]. Available from: https://www.sop.org/en/timeline/
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