In 2017, the American Chinese ministry Clay Music visited Japan for the first time, holding worship and praise meetings in six cities. When Amy Sand, the founder of Clay Music, led praise on the stage, she suddenly felt inspired, "Japan is relatively lacking in spiritual resources. It would be great if our songs could be translated into Japanese."
As a non-profit organization to spread the gospel, Clay Music was registered in California in 2004. Famous for its genre of popular music, this Amy Sand’s team has been invited to host more than 400 concerts around the world, with "Open the Darkest Corner" and "One Day" widely sung. Many Christians testified that their hearts were healed by the Lord through the songs of the music ministry.
In the summer of 2021, Amy received a message from a stranger unexpectedly, saying: "Dear Amy, we have translated the hymn "Live Out Love" into Japanese in Japan, hoping to obtain your authorization." There had been much news as such in the past, but it was different this time, which reminded her of the inspiration at the worship and praise meeting in Japan in 2017. Meanwhile, in recent years, Amy has also written down her desire to "translate their hymns into Japanese, Vietnamese and Arabic".
It seemed like a reminder from God, "Aren't you inspired? Then do it."
Just do it! Amy decided to reply to the message through which she got to know the song translator Prof. Wu who majored in Japanese Studies. Prof. Wu had also sung without music a number of hymns created by Clay Music in Japanese on her shows, which made Amy very excited, giving her consent for Prof. Wu to start translating and producing the hymns.
In an interview, Amy claimed that despite the 10-hour time difference with Prof. Wu, she still responded enthusiastically. She was "very proactive, often telling me which hymns had been translated, and singing them to me line by line. Also, she taught our team to sing hymns in Japanese."
Although no one in Clay Music could speak Japanese, after three months of studying, practicing pronunciation and enunciation, the band finally completed the first Japanese hymn album Live Out Love on June 30. A new lead singer who couldn’t speak Japanese debuted in the new album as a bold move of the band. Even though the new member learned the language from scratch, he had the courage to challenge himself.
"God has opened the way", which is the takeaway of Amy Sand from translating and making the Japanese hymn album. "God has given you everything you need. So, everyone just needs to obey... He has begun a good work and accomplished it, which has also touched our hearts."
At the same time, Amy is convinced that what her team did may not have a big impact instantly, but it is a road led by God, like a small but steady stream, which will become smoother as it persists, and sweeter as it is more obedient.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
2017年，泥土音乐团队第一次踏上日本的土地，并在6个城市举办了敬拜赞美会。那时的泥土音乐创始人盛晓玫站在台上带领赞美时，突然有了一个感动：“日本这地属灵资源比较缺乏，如果我们的歌可以翻成日文就好了…”
转眼到了2021年夏季，某一天盛晓玫突然收到一条来自陌生人的消息，称：“盛晓玫姊妹平安，我们有在日本把《活出爱》这首诗歌翻成日文，希望取得您的授权。”以往这样类似的消息有很多，不过这次不太一样。这让她回忆起17年在日本敬拜赞美会时的感动，而近年来盛晓玫也曾在写下“将诗歌翻译成日文、越南文和阿拉伯文”的愿望。
这似乎是上帝的提醒一般，“你不是有感动吗？那就去做吧。”
说做就做！盛晓玫决定回复这条消息，并认识了将诗歌翻译成日文的日语研究专业的吴教授。这位吴教授也曾在节目上用日语清唱过泥土音乐的多首诗歌。这一发现，让盛晓玫非常兴奋，并联系吴教授开始进入诗歌的翻译和制作中。
盛晓玫在一次采访中表示，尽管与吴教授有着10个小时的时差，吴教授仍热络地回应着，她“非常积极主动，常告诉我又翻译了哪一首诗歌，而且还一句一句地唱给我听，也教我们团队唱日语诗歌。”
虽然泥土音乐团队并没有人会日语，但是通过三个月的学习、练习发音和咬字等，团队终于在6月30日完成了首张日语赞美诗专辑《活出爱》。这次录制的新专辑也大胆地启用了不会日语的新人主唱，虽然新人也是从零学起，但是却勇于挑战自己。
“神把这条路开好了”，这是盛晓玫整个翻译和制作日语诗歌专辑的过程的感受，“需要的东西也都给你了，大家不过是顺服而已……神动了善工，成全善工，也把这份感动放在我们心里。”（==英文当summary）
同时，盛晓玫深信也许团队所做的事情并不是瞬间起很大的作用，但是却是蒙神带领的道路，就像是细水长流一般，越做越顺遂、越顺服越是甘甜。
见证| “神把这条路开好了” ——泥土音乐新专辑的翻译与录制
In 2017, the American Chinese ministry Clay Music visited Japan for the first time, holding worship and praise meetings in six cities. When Amy Sand, the founder of Clay Music, led praise on the stage, she suddenly felt inspired, "Japan is relatively lacking in spiritual resources. It would be great if our songs could be translated into Japanese."
As a non-profit organization to spread the gospel, Clay Music was registered in California in 2004. Famous for its genre of popular music, this Amy Sand’s team has been invited to host more than 400 concerts around the world, with "Open the Darkest Corner" and "One Day" widely sung. Many Christians testified that their hearts were healed by the Lord through the songs of the music ministry.
In the summer of 2021, Amy received a message from a stranger unexpectedly, saying: "Dear Amy, we have translated the hymn "Live Out Love" into Japanese in Japan, hoping to obtain your authorization." There had been much news as such in the past, but it was different this time, which reminded her of the inspiration at the worship and praise meeting in Japan in 2017. Meanwhile, in recent years, Amy has also written down her desire to "translate their hymns into Japanese, Vietnamese and Arabic".
It seemed like a reminder from God, "Aren't you inspired? Then do it."
Just do it! Amy decided to reply to the message through which she got to know the song translator Prof. Wu who majored in Japanese Studies. Prof. Wu had also sung without music a number of hymns created by Clay Music in Japanese on her shows, which made Amy very excited, giving her consent for Prof. Wu to start translating and producing the hymns.
In an interview, Amy claimed that despite the 10-hour time difference with Prof. Wu, she still responded enthusiastically. She was "very proactive, often telling me which hymns had been translated, and singing them to me line by line. Also, she taught our team to sing hymns in Japanese."
Although no one in Clay Music could speak Japanese, after three months of studying, practicing pronunciation and enunciation, the band finally completed the first Japanese hymn album Live Out Love on June 30. A new lead singer who couldn’t speak Japanese debuted in the new album as a bold move of the band. Even though the new member learned the language from scratch, he had the courage to challenge himself.
"God has opened the way", which is the takeaway of Amy Sand from translating and making the Japanese hymn album. "God has given you everything you need. So, everyone just needs to obey... He has begun a good work and accomplished it, which has also touched our hearts."
At the same time, Amy is convinced that what her team did may not have a big impact instantly, but it is a road led by God, like a small but steady stream, which will become smoother as it persists, and sweeter as it is more obedient.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Testimony Takeaway of Clay Music from Producing New Album
