He is risen indeed!

First time went to a local Chinese church in Ningbo today for Easter service and their praise section of the worship left me a little bit confused. Essentially, they had a "worship leader" who sang one line and then the congregation repeats that line. So, for example...

Leader: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"
Congregation: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound"
Leader: "That saved a wretch like me"
Congregation: "That saved a wretch like me"
Leader: "I once was lost, but now I'm found"
Congregation: "I once was lost, but now I'm found"
Leader: "Was blind, but now I see"
Congregation: "Was blind, but now I see"

They didn't actually sing "Amazing Grace" but it was a very popular traditional hymn. The hymn actually had 3 verses (and the chorus) and they did that for all of the verses AND all three times of the chorus. When I thought that we could finally sing the song through without repeating, the worship leader said "我們再來一次！" We ended up singing this ONE song for close to 40 minutes.

Things I noticed:
1. 我從來不覺得原來唱歌可以令我那麽累．
2. 我從來不覺得原來唱歌可以令我那麽悶.
3. Even though we've sang the song for the Nth time already, the people were still singing loudly and quite enjoying themselves (except me and my international friends)
4. I wonder what would happen if I led worship like that at PMPGMBC.

I received a very special Easter gift from Gary, my pastor here. It was a gold medallion (imagine an Olympic gold medal) with a cross on one side and five horses on the reverse. It comes with a very special story to remind us that we are messengers of Christ and we're on this earth with a very important message: He is risen.

He is risen indeed.