New Songs & Missions
Two weeks ago, before my parents flew back to Taipei, my mom challenged me to write a new song each week. Since then, I’ve written two songs: the first an English song “My Trust Is In You” which has since been translated into Japanese (信じる Shinjiru) and the second a Japanese song, which I wrote with two Japanese friends during a creative exercise at worship community night this past Saturday.
It reminds me of what my friend said before I moved to Japan—and that I wrote about in my post Excited & Wary—“Something you should know about Melody is that she thrives on challenges.” I guess she was right. Because what does it mean to thrive if not to overcome challenges?
Germination is the process of a seed breaking out of its shell. Only then can it begin to take root and sprout. Only then can it thrive.
Yet to break out of one’s shell is not always a comfortable process.
Since moving to Tokyo, life has been just the right amount of uncomfortable. As I wrote about in my last post, I live in a share house, and for the last week I’ve been sharing a room with two other girls. However, this arrangement is only temporary, as we’re in the process of getting a new share house, which I will be moving into. And there, I’ll be able to have my own room, so I can write songs and record music as much as I want to.
But is that really a good thing? Of course writing new songs is great, but this “abundance of opportunity and time” is an illusion. I also had my own room when I was living in Taipei, and it’s not like I was constantly writing new songs.
Like how the friends who visit from out of town might end up seeing more of us than the friends who live a few blocks away, the piano sitting in the corner of our room gathers more dust than the piano at church miles away.
Without a sense of urgency, opportunity and time often go wasted.
The person who only has Monday mornings to work on a task will for sure get it done sooner than the person who has “all the time in the world” to do the same thing.
And that’s been me the last two weeks. Pastor Masa and Esther have graciously allowed me to use the overflow room of the church for a few hours on Mondays and Tuesdays, when there is no school or cafe, to write songs and record music. And that’s what I’ve been doing.
If I had my own room and piano this whole time, there would have been no need to block out that time, no need to wake up early in the morning so I can get to church before 8am and have enough time to write, record, and film everything before it’s time to go.
And that’s why I’m grateful that since moving to Tokyo, life has been just the right amount of uncomfortable. Some of that discomfort is outside of my control—for example, not being able to make music at home. As a result, songwriting these days requires active prioritization, and I find myself excited to wake up early so that I can get to church earlier so that I can have more time to write songs. Scarcity breeds gratitude.
On the other hand, some of that discomfort is by choice. Instead of taking the train to church, I like to walk. Each drop of sweat trickling down my forehead under the heat of the rising sun reminds me that anything of value requires sacrifice. Health and fitness requires sacrifice. Sanity and peace of mind requires sacrifice. Sometimes that looks like walking instead of taking the train, waking up early instead of sleeping in.
When we workout our muscles, they stretch and tear. That’s how they grow. Same with our lives. Growth only happens when we’re being stretched beyond our comfort zones.
Same goes for missions. Kingdom expansion requires sacrifice.
I mentioned the second song I wrote in Japan is a Japanese song. One of the collaborators on the song is a Japanese girl named Marina. I would have loved to invite her to film the demo with me, except that she moved to Sendai on Monday morning. She and four others from Awakening Tokyo have been sent as missionaries to Sendai, a city four hours by car northeast of Tokyo, to plant a church there and evangelize on the streets five days a week. Their team includes four native Japanese and one missionary from the Neatherlands.
What motivates someone to sell all they have and move to a new city, a new country, to preach the gospel?
For sure it is not comfort. For sure it is not self-preservation. I imagine that missionaries who lay down their lives for the gospel have discovered a purpose to life beyond these things. In the words of William Wallace in the movie Braveheart, “Every man dies; not every man truly lives.”
What does it mean to truly live, if not to pursue pleasure and comfort? What is it that sets apart the life of a man like William Wallace—or Jesus, for that matter—from the billions of other lives that came and went over the course of history?
Scenes from Braveheart flash through my mind. Hailed by many as “the greatest of Scots,” William Wallace was a Scottish warrior and leader of the Scottish resistance against the brutal King Edward I of England in the 1300’s. He was eventually betrayed and executed in London, culminating in perhaps the most iconic scene from Braveheart, when Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, having just endured gruesome torture, lays on the executioner’s table preparing to be disemboweled, in the middle of a public square with hundreds of onlookers, and with his last ounce of strength draws his final breath and shouts “Freedom!”
His shout rings throughout the square. Those who jeered on his torture just moments ago fall silent.
What does it mean to truly live? Having something worth dying for.
Both William Wallace and Jesus died gruesome deaths. As inspiring as their lives were, if they had not died the way they did for what they did… would we still be reading or watching movies about them?
Jesus saves us not because he lived a good life. We don’t put our hope in him because he spoke profoundly while we was alive. Our salvation is found in him, because he literally died. And then he rose from the dead.
Without death, there is no resurrection.
Without sacrifice, there is no value.
Without discomfort, there is no growth.
And that leads me back to new songs and missions. I choose to write even when it’s inconvenient, because I’ve decided to value creativity over comfort. My friend Marina chose to move to Sendai as a missionary, because she’s decided following the Lord is more important than staying in Tokyo where she first met Him.
At the end of the day, we are all called to missions. It may not look the same as Marina, but Jesus invites each of us to leave our comfort zones and follow Him. That may look like moving to a new city or sharing the gospel with our coworker or dealing with the offense in our heart. Even something as simple as washing the dishes with a cheerful heart—that could be the Lord’s invitation to you right now, to find Him in the place of serving. He is the servant of all.
The Lord may also put on your heart to support those who have been sent. If you want to give financially to what the Lord is doing in Sendai, click here.
I look at songwriting as missions as well. Who knows how many people one song can reach? Who knows the power of song to touch and transform hearts? As a songwriter, I may never know the full scope of my music’s reach, but that isn’t my concern. Whether or not the gospel is received, the evangelist must evangelize; even if the people don’t listen, the prophet must prophesy. I keep writing because He compels me. Pastor Esther says that I am a “musicianary.”
Nevertheless, besides writing songs, I will also be going on a few mission trips this year. Coming up in September, I will be going to Brisbane, Australia, with Pastors Masa and Esther and a few others from our church. There we will join the revival stadium conference Awakening Australia, led by Pastor Ben Fitzgerald, who is also Pastor Masa and Pastor Esther’s spiritual father. In Brisbane, we will be going out on the streets, healing the sick, and witnessing to the lost.
Some of the local Chinese Christian community in Brisbane will also host an event on Tuesday night, September 24th, where I will share and sing. More details to come.
Then in November, Pastor Esther has invited me to go with them to Germany, to Pastor Ben Fitzgerald’s base, Awakening Europe, the spiritual covering of Awakening Tokyo. I personally believe it will be a time of connection, alignment, and refinement.
If you feel led to partner with me financially to go on these mission trips, click here. If you feel led to support me as a musicianary on a one-time or monthly basis, click here.
At first I didn’t think about publicly fundraising for these mission trips. I thought, if the Lord wants me to go, He will provide a way. But my mom encouraged me to share about it and give others the opportunity to sow into what the Lord is doing in Japan, Australia, and Germany.
And the main thing that I see the Lord doing, at least in my own heart, is reigniting a zeal for reaching the lost. What does God really care about, and do I care about what He cares about? God’s will is that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). He’s the God who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one. Every single person He fashioned in their mothers’ womb, whether they are Buddhist or Muslim, atheist or New Age. His heart is for their hearts to hear the gospel and turn to Him.
This is what drew me to Awakening Tokyo in the first place. Personally I had never met a community of young people who cared so much about what God cares about: reaching the lost. They do outreaches after church every single Sunday, not just hosting attractive events to bring people in but going out and preaching the gospel to those who would never find themselves near a church door.
I am excited to see what God will do in Australia and Germany. If what I’m sharing excites you too and you would like to partner with me to go to these nations, you are welcome to click here for more information on ways to support.
Please pray that God will prepare my heart to be open and humble to hear what He is saying and bold and faithful to do what He is doing. As Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” And he continued, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel” (John 5:19-20 ESV).
Let us marvel together what the Father is doing and what He wants to do through you and me. That may look like writing new songs or going on missions.
It may also look like choosing to stay awake at three in the morning to talk to your Uber driver as he drives you home after an international flight. This was me last night. I’m back in Taiwan for 10 days to record a live studio album and sing at a friend’s wedding. I was supposed to fly this afternoon but my flight was cancelled due to typhoon impact. So last minute I snagged the one remaining seat out of Tokyo on a red-eye flight.
Before leaving the girls’ house, they prayed for me. “Lord, bless Melody’s trip back to Taiwan and the people she will meet along the way.” I remember at the time thinking, “Evangelism? I’m not sure I’ll have time for that.” Turns out God always has time for reaching the lost. The only question is if we will be His hands and feet.
Over the forty-five minute car ride, my Uber driver and I talked about God, religion, and family. I was able to share with him the full gospel, how Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we might be reconciled to the Father, because He loves us so much. I also gave him the short version of our family’s testimony, how God saved my parent’s marriage and restored our relationships. By the time we reached home, he was saying, “I think God put you in my car for a purpose. Maybe we were meant to meet, and I was meant to hear these things you’ve shared with me tonight.” He even added, “Maybe we will meet in church one day.”
“Yes, maybe we will!” I smiled. “And not just in this life but eternally in heaven too.” And I felt the joy and providence of God in that moment.
So this is what it means to truly live, to thrive.
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新歌與宣教
兩週前，在我父母飛回台北之前，我媽媽挑戰我每週寫一首新歌。從那時起，我已經寫了兩首歌：第一首是一首英文歌《My Trust Is In You》，目前已經翻譯成日文（信じる Shinjiru），第二首是一首日文歌，是我在上週六的敬拜社群之夜，與兩位日本朋友一起在創意練習中寫的。
這讓我想起，搬到日本之前朋友對我說的話——我在《Excited & Wary》這篇文章中提到過——「你應該知道，Melody 是一個在挑戰中茁壯成長的人。」
我想她是對的！因為什麼叫做茁壯成長，不就是克服挑戰嗎？
發芽是種子突破外殼的過程。只有這樣，它才能開始生根發芽。只有這樣，它才能茁壯成長。
然而，突破外殼並不總是舒適的過程。
自從搬到東京以來，生活變得”恰到好處”的不舒適。正如我在上一篇文章中寫到的，我住在一個合租屋裡，而在過去的一週裡，我與另外兩個女孩共用一個房間。然而，這只是暫時的安排，因為我們正在尋找新的合租屋，我將搬進去。在那裡，我將擁有自己的房間，可以隨時寫歌和錄音。
但這真的是好事嗎？當然，寫新歌是很棒的，但這種“機會和時間的充裕”是一種幻覺。我在台北住的時候也有自己的房間，但那並不意味著我一直在寫新歌。
就像那些從外地來的朋友，可能會比住在街區幾步之遙的朋友，更常見到我們一樣。我們房間角落裡的鋼琴，往往比教堂裡的鋼琴更容易積灰。
缺乏緊迫感，機會和時間往往會被浪費。
那個只能在週一早上完成任務的人，肯定會比那個有“世界上所有時間”的人更快完成同樣的事情。
這就是我過去兩週的狀態。牧師Masa和Esther慷慨地允許我，在周一和周二教堂沒有學校或咖啡廳時，使用教堂的溢出室幾個小時來寫歌和錄音。這就是我現在在做的事情。
如果這段時間我一直有自己的房間和鋼琴，那就不需要特意留出這段時間，也不需要早起，以便在8點前趕到教堂，並在需要走之前有足夠的時間寫歌、錄音和拍攝。
這就是為什麼我要感恩。自從搬到東京以來，生活變得”恰到好處”的不舒適。有些不適是我無法控制的——例如，不能在家裡製作音樂。因此，這些天寫歌需要主動優先安排，我發現自己興奮地早起，這樣我就可以早點到教堂，從而有更多的時間寫歌。稀缺激發感恩！
另一方面，有些不適是自己選擇的。我喜歡走路去教堂，而不是搭乘電車。每一滴，在炙熱的太陽下，從額頭上滑落的汗水都提醒我，任何有價值的事情都需要犧牲！健康和健身需要犧牲！理智與心靈的平和需要犧牲！就像是走路，而不是搭乘電車，早起，而不是賴床。
當我們鍛鍊肌肉時，它們會被拉伸和撕裂。這就是它們增長的方式。我們的生活也是如此。成長只有在我們被推到舒適區之外時，才會發生。
宣教也是如此。國度的擴展需要犧牲！
我提到的第二首在日本寫的歌，是一首日文歌。這首歌其中的一位合作者，是一位名叫Marina的日本女孩。我本來很想邀請她一起拍攝這首歌的樣片，但她在星期一早上搬到仙台了。她和Awakening Tokyo的另外四個人被派往仙台，這是一個位於東京以北四小時車程的城市，他們被派去那裡開拓一間教會，並且每週五天在街頭傳福音。他們的團隊，包括四位日本本地人，和一位來自荷蘭的宣教士。
是什麼驅使一個人願意賣掉他們所有的財產，搬到一個新的城市，一個新的國家去傳福音？
肯定不是為了舒適！肯定不是為了自我保護！
我想那些為了福音而奉獻生命的宣教士們，已經發現了一種，超越這些東西的生命意義。就像電影《勇敢的心》中威廉·華勒斯說的那樣：“每個人都會死；不是每個人都真正活過。”
什麼叫做真正的生活，如果不是追求享樂和舒適？是什麼讓像威廉·華勒斯——或者說，耶穌——這樣的人的生命，與歷史上來去匆匆的數十億人有所不同？
《勇敢的心》中的場景在我腦海中閃過。威廉·華勒斯被許多人稱為“最偉大的蘇格蘭人”，他是一位蘇格蘭戰士和領導人，領導在1300年代，對抗英國國王愛德華一世的殘暴統治。他最終被出賣，並在倫敦被處決，這在《勇敢的心》最具標誌性的場景中達到高潮——華勒斯由梅爾·吉布森飾演，在忍受了殘酷的酷刑後，被放置在行刑台上，準備當眾被剖腹，但他在最後一口氣時，他高喊“自由！”
他的喊聲迴響在廣場上。那些剛剛嘲笑他受刑的人，頓時靜默不語。
什麼叫做真正的生活？擁有了值得為之犧牲的東西！
威廉·華勒斯和耶穌，都經歷了慘烈的死亡。儘管他們的生活激勵人心，但如果他們沒有，為他們所做的事情如此死去……我們還會讀他們的故事，或看他們的電影嗎？
耶穌拯救我們，不是因為他過了一個好生活。我們之所以將希望寄託在他身上，不是因為他在世時，說了多麼深刻的話。我们的救贖在於他，因為他真實地死了，然後他從死裡復活。
沒有死亡，就沒有復活！
沒有犧牲，就沒有價值！
沒有不適，就沒有成長！
這讓我回到了新歌和宣教。我選擇在不方便的時候創作，因為我決定將創意置於舒適之上。我的朋友Marina選擇搬到仙台去做宣教士，因為她決定跟隨主，比留在她首次遇見主的東京，更重要！
最終，我們都被召喚去宣教。這可能不會像Marina那樣，但耶穌邀請我們每一個人離開舒適區並跟隨他。這可能看起來像搬到一個新城市，或與同事分享福音，或處理我們心中的冒犯。甚至像帶著愉快的心情洗碗，這樣簡單的事情——這也可能是主現在給你的邀請，在服侍的地方找到祂。祂是眾人的僕人。
主也可能感動你，去支持那些已被派遣的人。如果你想在財務上支持主在仙台所做的工作，請點擊這裡。
我把寫歌看作是一種宣教。誰知道一首歌可以觸及多少人？誰知道一首歌的力量，可以觸動並改變多少心靈？作為一名詞曲作者，我可能永遠不會知道，我的音樂所能達到的全部範圍，但這不是我的關注點。不管福音是否被接受，傳道者必須傳道；即使人們不聽，先知也必須預言。我繼續寫作，因為祂激勵我。Esther牧師說我是“音樂宣教士”。
儘管如此，除了寫歌，我今年還會參加一些宣教活動。九月，我將與Masa牧師和Esther牧師，以及我們教會的其他幾位成員，一起去澳大利亞的布里斯本。我們將在那裡參加由Ben Fitzgerald牧師領導的復興體育館大會Awakening Australia，他也是Masa牧師和Esther牧師的屬靈父親。在布里斯本，我們將走上街頭，醫治病人，見證失落的人。
布里斯本，當地的華人基督徒社群，也將在9月24日星期二晚上舉辦一場活動，我將在那裡分享和唱歌。更多詳情將會發布。
然後在11月，Esther牧師邀請我和他們一起去德國，去Ben Fitzgerald牧師的基地Awakening Europe，那是Awakening Tokyo的屬靈遮蓋。我個人認為這將是一個聯結、調整和提煉的時刻。
如果你感覺被引導與我財務合作，參加這些宣教活動，請點擊這裡。如果你感覺被引導，以一次性或每月的方式，支持我作為音樂宣教士，請點擊這裡。
起初我沒有考慮過，公開為這些宣教活動募款。我想，如果主希望我去，他會提供一條路。但我媽媽鼓勵我分享這些，並讓大家有機會去參與，主在日本、澳大利亞和德國所做的事。
主在我心中所做的主要事情是，祂重新點燃了我對尋找失喪之人的熱情。神真正關心的是什麼，而我是否關心祂所關心的？神不願一人沉淪（彼得後書 3:9）。祂是那位撇下九十九隻羊去尋找那一隻的神。每一個人，都是祂在母親的腹中，精心塑造的，無論他們是佛教徒、穆斯林、無神論者，還是新時代主義者。祂的心願是，他們的心聽到福音並轉向祂。
這正是我最初被吸引到Awakening Tokyo的原因。個人而言，我從未遇見過一群，這麼在乎神所關心的事情的年輕人：尋找失喪之人。每個星期天教會後，他們都會進行外展活動，不僅僅是舉辦吸引人的活動來吸引人們進來，而是走出去，向那些永遠不會靠近教堂的人傳講福音。
我很期待看到神在澳大利亞和德國將要做的事。如果我分享的內容也讓你感到興奮，並且你想與我合作前往這些國家，你可以點擊這裡，了解更多支持的方式。
請祈禱神會預備我的心，讓我謙卑地聽祂在說什麼，並且大膽而忠實地去做祂在做的事情。正如耶穌對祂門徒說的：“我實實在在地告訴你們，子憑著自己不能做什麼，唯有看見父所做的，子才能做。父所做的事，子也照樣做。祂繼續說道，“因為父愛子，將自己所做的一切事指示他，還要將比這更大的事指示他，叫你們希奇”（約翰福音5:19-20）。
讓我們一起驚嘆父所做的事，以及祂想通過你和我做的事。像是寫新歌或是去宣教。或是像在凌晨三點堅持清醒，與你剛從國際航班回家時的Uber司機聊天。
這是我昨晚的經歷。
我回到台灣待10天，錄製現場專輯並參加朋友的婚禮。我本來應該在今天下午飛行，但由於颱風影響，我的航班被取消。所以在最後一刻，我搶到了從東京出發，最後的一個紅眼航班的座位。
在離開女孩們的房子之前，她們為我祈禱。“主啊，祝福Melody回台灣的旅程，以及她在路上會遇見的人” 。當時我記得我在想，“傳福音？我不確定是否會有時間”。事實證明，神總是有時間去尋找失落的人。唯一的問題是，我們是否願意成為祂的手和腳。
在四十五分鐘回家的車程中，我與Uber司機談論了神、宗教和家庭。我與他分享了完整的福音，講述耶穌如何為我們的罪而死，並從死裡復活，以便我們能與父和好，因為祂如此愛我們。我還向他簡短介紹了我們家庭的見證，講述了神如何拯救了我父母的婚姻，並恢復了我們的關係。到達家時，他說：“我想神把你放在我的車裡，是有目的的，也許我們注定要見面，我注定要聽到你今晚與我分享的這些事”。他甚至還說，“也許有一天我們會在教堂裡見面”。
“是的，也許我們會！”我微笑著說。“而且不僅僅是在這一生中，而是在永恆的天國中” 。
我在那一刻感受到了神的喜悅和旨意。
所以，這就是，真正的生活，真正的茁壯，和成長。
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