In the end of 2015 Shubei Bai'Yi Choir from Luquan county of Kunming city attended a choir competition of Ark Wealth Cup which is broadcast live on Kunming station. The choir won gold award by the Yi psalm All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name.
Rev. Li Zhengyong, pastor of the Shubei Bai'Yi nationality church, tells that the choir enrolled in the contest on Dec. 30, 2015. They jumped over the first round in which more than 100 choirs competed and directly joined in the final. In the final the choir won the first prize against the other 11 choirs. The Gospel Times, an online publisher, reported.
Li said, "I thank God because all the brothers and sisters prayed before singing in the preparation hall. They hoped that beautiful sound could come out on the channel and to preach gospel in this way. They were excited and thanked the Lord that we got the champion. It was impossible, without God's power, to win gold award among one hundred choirs. So they were full of thanks."
Shubei is a small village of Miao nationality in Jiu Long town of Luquan county, Kunming city, which sits a hundred kilometers away from the county seat. There are winding mountain paths, located in remote area, and with backward economy. Back to the history, it recorded that the British pastors of the Pollard missionary team had preached the Gospel to the locals and set up the church. With more than 90 households in the village, 80% of them convert to Christianity.
Yi nationality people sing folk songs at an early age. When Christianity was introduced there, they began to sing Psalms and therefore the choir has always existed. However, due to low level of education and lagged culture and life, they suffer discrimination.
To change this view the society has toward them, Pastor Li founded the choir of Bai'Yi. Currently there are more than 60 members in the choir with ages ranging from 18 to 50. Pastor Li became a Christian since young and he has received his theological education in Beijing, Qingdao and learned about worship and praise. So he often trains the choir, hoping them to be more professional and to walk into the society and witness the gospel when singing hymns.
Since the choir founded, he has led the team to join competitions and performance in Yunnan province. They have won awards for many times. When in the church, they sing the Messiah Saint music and Yi's hymns created by themselves.
