CUPERTINO, Calif. - A night of charity concert took place in the Silicon Valley where around 2,500 Chinese-Americans brought a can of food that will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.
The main show of the night features Taiwanese pop singers Ying-Ying Shih, Rachel Liang Wen Yin, Bay Area Tenors, and "Blessed" Shinu. At the entrance of Flint Center in De Anza College, choir group sang Christmas hymns, welcoming the participants, on Dec. 7, 2013.
"Love Changes Everything" charity concert was organized by the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship (FGBMF) in Bay Area and number of local Chinese churches. The proceeds collected that night will benefit 17 non-profit organizations, including American Cancer Society, National Alliance of Mental Illness.
Special guests, who participated, included Rev. Liu Tong, senior pastor of River of Life Christian Church, Rev. Paul Yung, founder of World Wide Bible Society, Cupertino City Council.
Under a giant screen that displayed exotic images, an orchestra performed classical music. And Chinese-American gospel girl band Blessed led the crowd in singing songs like "Peace Flow Like a River."
Taiwanese gospel-singer Ying-Ying Shih took the stage and performed her hit song "Someone is Praying for You," which was nominated 2010 for Taiwan's Golden Melody Award.
Shih shared that before she decided to follow her childhood dream of performing she worked in office jobs for three years, and there was a time she would hold parties, inviting hundreds of people, in order for people to like her. But she realized that none of that can satisfy the deep longing that only God can.
Then, Shih sang in Taiwanese "A Song for Grandma," which she wrote after waking up one night and feeling a deep longing for her late-grandma, who she had shared the same bed with from a little child until 12 years old. She dedicated the song to all the moms and grandmas in this world.
As the emcee of the night, Diana Ding, CEO of Ding Ding TV, encouraged the audience to emulate Shih's perseverance in pursuing her dreams. "Since this is Silicon Valley, many of you here have dreams, so we should all be courageous to pursue our dreams."
The Bay Area Tenors then wooed the crowd with their melodious high-octave singing, which echoed throughout the concert hall. The audience responded with thunderous applause after their performance.
Taiwanese pop singer Rachel Liang Wen-Yin, the main performer of the concert, performed songs like "Oh Baby" from her first four albums. She thanked the organizing committee for their dedication in putting together the concert.
Liang said in her message to the crowd that her life is the fruit of charity. When she was ten, both of her parents died, causing her to abandon her faith in God. In one occasion, she found herself sitting on her ninth floor apartment balcony with her legs extended out. She said that while the world outside seemed so quiet, but her mind was in chaos. She had this deep fear towards living each day of her life with agony.
That was when she heard a familiar voice from her childhood calling out to her, "Child, I am the Lord who loves you. If you pray to me, I will rescue you."
When she heard the voice, she immediately recognized that as the voice of Jesus, who she had prayed to since she was little. She stopped praying ever since her parents died, but that voice made her realize that God has always been with her. Moreover, she said she could sense the regret of her parents of wanting to take care of them, but not being able to. With that realization, she quickly pulled back her legs and went back inside to her bed, where she then cried like a three-year-old child.
Just three days later, Liang and her siblings were sent to an orphanage.
She questioned if this was God's answer so that she doesn't need to worry about food and clothing, but she later found out that it was not just any orphanage, but it was Christian-based. Although the orphans there do not have electronics like average kids do, Liang said one thing that they know best is praying for others. She was deeply touched by this love. She said the children in the orphanage, despite their broken background, had the most beautiful smile when they cry.
Liang then started to cry. In tears, she said the orphans "recognized that this home is a gift from God."
She then joined the orphan's choir that allowed her to travel around the world. The choir sang only psalms with the hope to introduce this God who pulled them out of the dark pits.
At a young age, Liang and the orphans witnessed that behind the nice cars, high-level jobs, people have a deep lacking in their hearts, and they used their little voices to comfort and bring the hope of Jesus to these people.
Liang recalled coming with the orphan choir to the Bay Area ten years ago when she was in middle school. She thanked God for never stop using her - life experiences - and arranging her to enter the entertainment industry, a platform on which she could more effectively proclaim the gospel and influence this generation for the Lord Jesus Christ.
From her observation, singers, show hosts, actors in Taiwan has in recent years converted to Christianity and are unashamedly living out their faith. As for herself, she said she has been sharing devotionals and reflections on her Facebook page.
"All the filled seats today are results of many prayers of the pastors and co-workers," she said, explaining that Christians love because God loved us first. "God wants to speak to you personally just as he said to me, ‘Dear Child, I love you. Pray to me and I will help you.'
"You may have lost something that's very precious to you," said the 26-year-old singer, "but thank God tonight as He can change everything."
"Jesus can enter your life," said Liang. "With Jesus in your life, you can become the blessings for many other people."
The Taiwan-pop sensation then asked her sister, who was standing behind the stage, to come forward. She said her sister has supported her immensely through prayers, and testified that both their lives have the fingerprint of God as children raised by God, who is way, truth and life living inside of them.
She then invited "Blessed" Shinu to join her on stage to perform the hymn that she used to sing in the orphanage's choir - "That Pair of Unseen Hands."
Concluding the night, all the night's performers came on the stage and sang Stream of Praise's "Believe in Love, There Will be Miracle."
