When it comes to the choir of Yunnan village, the most well-known and familiar one is Small Well where people are just general peasants of the Miao nationality yet they could sing hymns and English songs by four parts harmony and their songs can be called songs of nature. The minority’s gift that ”one who can speak will sing, one who can walk will dance” is really God’s grace. In addition, there is another choir called Shubei Bai’Yi Choir in Jiu Long town of Luquan county of Kunming city. There everyone is Christian.
Shubei is a small village of Miao nationality in Jiu Long town of Luquan county of Kunming city, according to brother Pan’s introduction, it is a hundred kilometers away from the county seat, where there are winding mountain paths, located in remote area, and with abackward economy. However, it is the small mountain village far from the city that is active with a chorus team like a group of larks - the "Bai Yi chorus of Shubei of Jiu long of Luquan ".
In the same village of Lisu nationality by Nujiang can be found the most beautiful building in the Shubei countryside, the church. Despite poor living conditions, they who have faith have been living optimistically, often praising God with songs.
Li Zhengyong, a pastor of the Shubei Bai’Yi nationality church, told the writer, “Tracing history, the British pastor of the Pollard missionary team had preached the Gospel to the locals and built the church. With more than 90 households in the village, 80% of them believed in God. Pastor Li’s grandpa had worked with Pollard and taught English in the Yi nationality school.
The minority nationalities of Yunnan are mostly good at singing and dancing, so are Yi’s people. They have been singing folk songs at an early age and when the Gospel was introduced there, they began to sing Psalms and therefore the choir of church has always existed. But ethnic minority people have a lower degree of education and a backward life and culture, so they will suffer some kind of discrimination.
To change this view, Pastor Li created the choir of Bai’Yi. Currently there are more than 60 people in the choir, in ages from 18 to 50 years old. Pastor Li believed in God when he was a child, yethe has also achieved theological education and knowledge about worship and praise. So he often trained the choir and hopes for them to be more professional. While singing hymns of the church, they can also go towards society and witness the Gospel. Li said he is hoping that others will change their attitude to local Bai’Yi Christians and he expects more young people to start understanding the Gospel.
Pastor Li is also director-general of the choir of Kunming, He has led the team to join the competition and performance in Yunnan province, and they have won awards for many times. When in the church, they have sung the Messiah Saint music and Yi’s hymns created by themselves, After moving towards the society, they would sing other kinds of songs as songs of nature in order to move heartstrings.
