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| About Rev. Benjamin Chan |
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Rev. Benjamin Chan is the Area Director of the American Baptist International Ministries for East Asia and India; his primary responsibility is to promote mission partnership in China/Hong Kong, India, Korea, Nepal and Philippines. He is also one of the advisors to jnX. He resides in Royersford, Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.
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Glorify God in All the Earth
by Rev. Benjamin Chan
The Council of Baptist Churches in North East India (CBCNEI) is one of the most energetic partners of American Baptist International Ministries (IM). Their members represent 250 of the 500 tribes in the area. Every Sunday, our brothers and sisters there use 250 languages and dialects to worship God. However, their Christian influence surely does not merely stay within the four walls of the church building. They reach out to their neighboring villages, helping the poor, the sick and those who are afflicted by substance abuse and AIDS/ HIV. Over the past ten years, the Lord added 300,000 baptized members to the CBCNEI family. You are right. This is indeed one of the most amazing miracles, especially given the fact that many of these 250 tribes were headhunters.
While the ministry of CBCNEI continues to expand, Satan also tries to stop the growth of God's Kingdom. Many young people of the 920,000 members family of CBCNEI became more and more frustrated with the traditional style of worship, especially after they were exposed to contemporary church and secular music. Definitely we cannot lose the next generation, for they are the future of the church. After much prayer and consultation, CBCNEI and IM decided to launch a ten-year plan to promote the revival of church worship. The goal was to train 100 praise teams to model relevant and contextual worship styles in the local churches. Now the key question was how and where to recruit the trainers.
Anthony Chan, a wonderful singer and worship leader, has been known to my church (the Chinese Christian Church and Center, Philadelphia). We came to meet each other in a church gathering during his visit to Philadelphia. I was personally touched by his beautiful voice and spirit. However, one problem remained-- he was not a Baptist! I was not sure if he was willing to help the Baptist church. "Worst" of all, when I told him about the ten-year plan, he said he would pray about this, and shortly after, he said that the Holy Spirit told him to make a commitment to help. I am a pastor and I believe in prayer, but this came too quickly! I had several more conversations with Anthony, and by God's grace, this partnership became a reality - a reality far better than I could have imagined.
Anthony brought with him his wife Isabella, and a group of wonderful musicians. They learned about the culture of Northeast India. They raised their support to go to this strange land. They responded positively to the request for musical instruments. They went with a genuine heart and a high vision - for God's glory to reign in the mind and spirit of local churches in Northeast India!
Words cannot tell the excitement expressed by Anthony and the joyful noise Xpress team, as well as from the sisters and brothers in Northeast India. Anthony told me that his heart remained on the other side of the ocean after the first visit! He became a mentor and a friend to many young people. This "Hong Kong Chinese with beautiful white hair" and the jnX team also became a trusted partner of CBCNEI.
It is also amazing to see how Anthony and the other musicians work together. Just imagine yourself sitting in front of the computer. Chatting with you via the Internet is a music professor from West Virginia, Dr. Jim Angel. Jim has led a student choir to Nagaland that has created a huge impact on the Naga-American Christian relationship. Connecting through another line is
Michael Heneise, a missionary kid who was brought up in a Hispanic background. He has a rich knowledge of cross-cultural communication and music, and is pursuing graduate theological studies. Across the ocean are CBCNEI officers CBCNEI General Secretary Dr. J. M. Pau who earned his doctoral degree from Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon, and Brother Milton Terang who is a gifted young person good at management. If two Baptists produce three opinions, these five gentlemen of different professional and cultural backgrounds could make a mess! Thank God for the humble and cooperative spirit of these brothers. They worked beautifully together producing one of the most meaningful and relevant music training programs for Northeast India.
Lastly, I cannot but thank Anthony and jnX for the amazing work they have done these past five years. I’ve watched how Anthony and his team rush from one country to the next without losing their joy in serving the Lord. Most importantly, Anthony and jnX have become part of the legend of CBCNEI, leaving their footprints and tremendous impact on the lives of many young people, pastors, worship leaders and local congregations.
I thank the prayer and financial support of jnX friends who are really the backbone of this ministry. Keep it up, my friends, as the Lord calls us to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to glorify Him in all the earth!
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