A Musician's Wish

by Yang Ge-fang

I often pray to God that everything I do would please Him. Five years ago I began to teach in California State University in San Francisco and became the concertmaster of the Alexander Quartet. Since then I have traveled throughout North America and Western Europe. I have cut at least ten CDs and my career has been under the rich blessings of the Lord.

Although I'd very much like to serve the Lord, I often feel I haven't done enough. When I was a student in Cincinnati, I participated in various church activities. I was often full of joy because I had a lot of opportunities praising the Lord with my music. After I started to work, I had to travel a lot and I couldn't take part in a lot of church activities. But I gradually realized that, as long as my wish of serving the Lord remained the same, I could always do that in a different way now that my position and environment had changed. I now had a lot of opportunities to meet with a lot of people. If I really utilized these opportunities, I would be able to give good testimony for the Lord. For instance, when I was performing in the Netherlands last year, I met an old friend of mine whom I hadn't seen for over ten years. Following the performance, we chatted till daybreak. Our subjects ranged from daily incidents to significance of life. Sharing the Gospel naturally became one of our most important subjects. Not long ago I received a letter from her saying that she had recently been baptized. I was extremely joyful for her.

Ever since I believed in the Lord and was exposed to church music, I have often enjoyed the beauty of hymns. I have also hoped to see more musical pieces that are able to focus on Chinese culture, rouse national sentiment and penetrate the heart and soul of the Chinese people. As a musician, I was very sensitive about the lack of musical pieces of these qualities. I had attempted for a few times to try to open up a new field in church music, a field that features simplicity and straightforwardness mixed with songs, prayers and praises, with which I could create an inspirational and easy-to-learn style. But my heart was willing and my body was weak. I also knew this was different from other commercial music, in that nobody would be able to succeed without the Lord's blessing and guidance.

In summer of 1997 I attended a summer retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My testimony was well-received among brothers and sisters. Some of them even offered me financial support. Some volunteered to take care of all management duties. And the responsibility of making music of such qualities naturally fell on my shoulders. Anxiety typically comes before joy. For me, however, joy preceded anxiety. I was joyful because I saw the beginning of a new era of prosperity in Chinese hymns, in which the Lord guided us according to His own time table. I was also anxious because producing music and cutting CDs were extremely tedious and potentially difficult: the determination of music styles, the formation of characteristics, the arrangement of publication, just to name a few. The production of the first set of CDs went through remarkable difficulties. Brother Ho, who worked with me in music, fully demonstrated his talent in musical composition, yet he also had to work extremely hard to adapt to all the new musical instruments and equipment. He told me he often jumped out of bed in the middle of the night to record any inspirational ideas that might have occurred to him.

The time came for us to do final recordings. I had been traveling a lot during that time and I was very tired. But if we couldn't finish the task in time, the entire plan would be delayed. I felt a lot of pressure, both mentally and physically. I remember on the day of the final recordings, I received an e-mail from Brother Zhu, who was responding to my praying request I sent to him the previous night. He wrote in the e-mail: "...with the best of my knowledge, comprehension, strength and motivation I give this service to the Lord with peace. I know He is the Almighty God who deserves our praises with our heart and hands..." I had received spiritual encouragement before, but none was quite like this one. Even today, these words are still posted in my bedroom and they serve as my daily reminder.

I am thankful because the Lord granted me a wonderful beginning for this service. The first set of CDs entitled You Are Great (Violin concerto), which set a high standard for future work, has been published in all the major Christian bookstores in North America. A couple of other CDs planned for 1998 are also in the making. These new ones focus on traditional hymns, surrounding the themes of My Souls Are Singing, and Praise the Savior.

Serving the Lord is sweet and joyful. Nonetheless it is by no means easy. Every day I ask myself if I am serving the Lord with all my heart, with all my mind and with all my soul. One day I was driving home, feeling exhausted. I started to play the music we had just finished recording. Slowly my mind went back to serenity and thankfulness for the Lord emerged. I realized such a feeling was really a blessing from the Lord. I live close to the beach. Every day I come back home, I will spend some time appreciating the scene of the endless sky. At that moment, I felt like the wonderful scene was accompanying me in singing You Are Great.

The author currently participates in the work of Palm Tree Hymns, whose purpose is to provide high-quality musical materials for Chinese churches or individual believers. The CDs they have published are suitable for individual cultivation or assembly background music. If you are interested in their music, please contact Brother Zhu Jian at 505-837-9637 (fax) or 505-872-3980 (phone).