The Overview
So I just got back from Shanghai China. It was one of the most amazing trips that I have ever been on.
The first thing I want to say is how ridiculous the city of Shanghai is, it had such intense energy. Every building is an architectural piece of art.
Think of it like this, a bunch of chinese people came to New York city, took a picture, than went home and built a better version of it times 10.
I was so impressed with China as a whole. First, the very grand ridiculous Olympic display of new stadiums in Beijing, and now in Shanghai they are building the world's tallest skyscraper. However, they are not revealing the actual height, and are leaving room to add additional height just in case someone else tries to trump them. Very smart. They are also preparing for a massive 2010 EXPO in Shanghai where they are basically building a new city within the city, unlike anything on the earth. It's pretty insane. All this to say I love this city! I would definitely say Shanghai will be one the most important cities to watch in the coming future.
The Mission
There is an incredible family in Shanghai doing some extraordinary things. A great friend of mine, Jason Morant, and I were so humbled to be a small part of the heart of their mission. The Weidner family is really shaking the ground in Shanghai, check out www.jamesweidner.com. Jamie Weidner was a missionary in the Philippines, he then moved to New Orleans to pastor a church when hurricane Katrina hit. He was able to help orchestrate relief with other local churches in the area to make a huge impact on the community. He then accepted a job at the Shanghai Community Center right when the earthquake shook the land. Because of his previous experience, Jamie moved right into action. The Community Center is a huge hub for all the international families that live in Shanghai and it's purpose is to help families get adjusted to living in another Chinese culture. They offer classes to help make a smooth transition, ranging from language, cooking shopping, art, etc. Since Jamie been the director, he has added worship nights into the mix, which is an awesome thing.
Jamie has also started a Non-Profit called Shelter for Hope, which has been a powerful arm helping helping the earthquake relief.
The Project
Jason and I really wanted to help raise awareness for everything Jamie was pioneering, and be a part of what God was doing in Shanghai. We grabbed our guitars, laptops, and cameras and hopped on a 15 hour flight. Our Mission was to capture as much footage as we could and to also see worship erupt in a fresh way. Well the second day we were there my hard drive crashed on my computer, and the video camera I brought stopped working due to the humidity- not the best way to start the trip. We didn't let that stop us! Over the next 2 weeks I saw God move in amazing supernatural ways. I will never forget Shanghai!
One of the first nights we led worship together kind of freaked me out. We were set up on the second floor of a sports bar both thinking this would be just a nice, acoustic, chilled out show. Well I was wrong. The night turned into a full on worship night right in the middle of Shanghai! We were singing songs at the top of our lungs joined by hundreds of other Internationals. It was truly earth moving! This was a completely new side to China I had never seen. As this was my sixth trip to China, all the previous trips were very strategic, underground, and camouflaged working more directly with the nationals. This trip was completely wide open, nice and bold, working directly with Internationals. It was crazy to see how God was using the business world to crack open the Gospel and to let the sound of worship flood the streets.
We were also able to be a part of an earthquake relief mission in Chengdu. We went high up into the mountains, right on the border of Tibet. We helped give away winter packs to different families, which had boots,socks, blankets, and other essentials to keep them warm for the coming cold days. It was incredibly touching to see these families receive their packs and all of a sudden see joy, their smiles saying thank you for not forgetting about us, and know that hope was on the way. I'll always remember the smiles on some of the little kids faces.
The next sunday we were honored to be apart of leading worship at 3 international services at 2 different fellowships. Now again these gatherings were just for foreign passport holders, meaning no Chinese. The 2nd church had over 60 nations represented in the 2 services. It was unbelievable. The Spirit of God moved in an intense way. The only way I can really describe the feeling I had is this. Here were some hungry desperate people wanting a touch from God and in the middle of this communist nation and a touch came indeed. It blew me away. How Brilliant it was.
So here are my "take-aways" from this beautiful Shanghai trip.
1. God's heart has and always will be for the nations. For God so loved the WORLD!
Here's what I believe about missions. Back in the day, to be a missionary meant you sold everything you owned, and lived like a early 90's home schooler. Today the word missions is something really simple- you envelope yourself in a culture and live life in the most real way. Let your life reveal your message . Let your life shine love, let the world see our imperfections, that we screw up on a daily occurrence. Then we can prove the infinite, merciful, love of an unwavering Savior. What the world needs is not another church, not another evangelist, and not another worship CD. The world needs to experience love exploding out of us, breathing life into the dead places. Then we will see a resurrection of true faith that can never be crucified.
2. We left on November 4th, election day, and on the 14th hour of our flight the pilot announced our new president. It hit me that yes, change needs to come!
Change- both as a nation, but more importantly as Christ followers. Change in what we believe, change in how the world respects us, and change in the staleness that sometime we call our walk with God. I find myself getting caught up with timing, asking "when am I really going to really make it?" or "which record label is going to ask me to join their corporation?", and "when will I never have to worry about finances?". I have no ideas what the answers to those questions really are, but here is what I do know. Never forget the power. I think sometimes in our trendy relevant seeking, we try to too hard to be free and open, and forget that there is a supernatural power out there that is not trendy or relevant, but firey and controversial.
It's the power of God that crashes down kingdoms and the power of God that comes down to love us in our filth. May we never forget the Power of one God that will never become uncharged no matter how chaotic things get.
3. I love different cultures, whether it's the kind that may offend some people in the church, or international cultures that open your eyes to see how crazy creative God is. Culture is what makes up who we are. So here is my mission. I want to mess the whole system up, instead of culture telling me who I am supposed to be and what I should do. I want to take control of these false agendas, and see an explosion of roars that produce an earthquake of worship. I want to see an eruption of worshippers that destroy the cultural walls that we have fashioned, and out of the ruins we see healing and the singing of a new song that can never be quenched or silenced. Awake Awake all you dreamers!
