"In a remote village in Kunming, Yunnan, there is a special choir consisting of young teenagers as well as members in their 60s and 70s."
A program launched by Phoenix Television on March 17 told a story behind "a choir in a Yunnan village".
Starting in the winter of 2019, the program team of C'est La Vie walked into Dapingtan Village, Wuhua District, Kunming, Yunnan. The two-episode story began with a morning scenario of daily Miao village life: locals selling pigs, old people shepherding sheep, and vendors hawking on the street.
Then the scene changed with the voices of some grannies who, leaning on sticks and carrying baskets on their backs, pulled radishes in the field.
As they returned home, one of the elderly women said that they could sing secular songs but instead sang Christians hymns every day.
While walking, they were singing, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters...." Back home, another senior Christian sang, "Jehovah, what is mankind? Human beings that you care for them? Mankind is like a breath, his days are like a shadow and pass quickly...."
Later the camera moved to the village's Meng'en Church. A brother opened a piano and started playing while several believers sat in the pews, opened the Bible, and read in their native Miao language.
After the meeting, elderly believers recalled the past while sitting by the fire. One of them said that they are lovers of songs but that they are poor. However, singing is easy for them. Most local Christians can read music and turn lyrics into songs, but they need to practice for hymns such as The Messiah.
In their younger days before cellphones, they hummed while herding cattle on the hills. The person mentioned Wang Zhiming, a martyr Miao pastor, who had gone to Beijing as vice-head of a Yunnan ethnic visitation team.
They sang again, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! It's like precious oil poured on Aaron's head... For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."
In a rehearsal before Christmas, believers wearing everyday clothing sang, "All is the Lord's grace, all is the Lord's love..." Then they prayed aloud.
The scene cut to a working Christian. He lives on growing maize, wheat, and raising cattle and sheep. When he is sick and needs money, he sells livestock. Few villagers have been to college and normally they work after graduating from middle school. They, along with a few younger laborers, are able to sing hymns.
Another believer became a Christian when she was young. She makes a living by keeping pigs and sheep and is also involved in the choir. She is a soprano in the choir.
Her 70-year-old mother-in-law said that her parents were also Christians. Speaking of hardships, she sang a hymn about heaven: "My hometown is not here, but in heaven. People who suffer will not have disasters, toil, diseases, and will rejoice forever... " While singing, she burst into tears.
The last scene ends with the carol Silent Night, sung in the church by believers in their ethnic costumes: "Silent night, holy night...Jesus, Lord at Thy birth..."
- Translated by Karen Luo
凤凰卫视《冷暖人生》栏目走进云南苗族蒙恩堂唱诗班（上）
“在云南昆明一个偏僻的村落，有着一个拥有上至花甲古稀的老人、下至十几岁孩童组成的特别诗班。”
在3月17日发布的凤凰卫视《冷暖人生》中，节目组走进昆明苗寨，讲述了“云南村落中的唱诗班”的故事。
2019年冬，《冷暖人生》栏目组去到了云南省昆明市五华区大平滩村，故事从清晨时分几个村民卖猪的场景开始，有人拿笔在纸上算着价钱，其中一个人数钱的时候，其他人表情严肃而认真，收到钱的村民脸上笑容绽放。
随着镜头移动，还能看到老人赶羊、鸡儿啄食和路边叫卖的场景，那就是农村的样子，真实而淳朴。
采访人员跟一个小老板聊起了天，那人说赶集要到15公里以外，很远。
这时，走过来一个老奶奶，说给上次家人买炒面的钱，老板说一共买了三包，45元，老奶奶紧紧攥着钱，说怕自己钱不够，老板说“不怕”，意思是不够了可以下次给。
那位老板还告诉采访人员，当地苗族人多以种地和养殖猪鸡为生，像他一样的汉族人则以生意和打工为生。
镜头随着几个老奶奶的歌声而移动，她们背着背篓、拄着木棍，到地里拔萝卜。
往回走时，采访人员跟一位老人家聊起了天，问对方“你会唱歌吗？”
对方说，会唱“社会歌”，就是通俗歌曲，他随即哼了起来，“我们像飞驰的骏马……”问到苗族歌，他让身后的奶奶们唱，她们说，每天都在唱，一般唱赞美耶稣的歌。
采访人员让她们唱一个，于是边走边唱起来，“耶和华是我的牧者，我必不至缺乏，他使我躺卧在青草地上，领我在可安歇的水边……那是三位70多岁的老信徒，其中一位说：“虽然我不年轻了，但是想唱。”
走过土路，回到家里，一位老信徒又唱了起来，“耶和华，人算什么？
你竟顾念他，世人算什么？
你竟顾念他 ？
人好像一口气，他的年日好像影儿，快快就过去……”一边唱着，一边插入她们掰玉米的镜头，“我们把从你而得的献给你……”
随后，镜头移动到了大平滩村的基督教蒙恩堂，一位弟兄打开钢琴开始弹奏，耶和华是爱的旋律响起，一些信徒到堂里坐下，翻开圣经，用苗语诵读。
聚会完，几个老信徒坐在那里烤火，回忆过往，其中一位说他们喜欢唱歌，但没有条件，不过对于他们来说，唱歌很容易，大部分信徒在教会里看谱、把歌词填进去就会了，像《弥赛亚》那样的赞美诗则需要练习。
想起年轻的时候，他们没有手机，在山上放牛的时候会哼唱起来。
他还提起了王志明牧师，是云南省民族参观副团长，曾去过北京。
“看那弟兄和睦同居，是何等的善和等的美，就好比那贵重的油，浇在亚伦的头上……因为在那里有耶和华所命定的福，就是永远的生命。”
在圣诞节前的排练里，信徒们穿着普通的衣服，唱起了诗歌，“全部都是主的恩典，全部都是主的爱……”，随后开口祷告。
镜头切换，采访人员跟一位正在劳作的信徒聊了起来，问他村里主要的经济来源，对方说是种玉米和小麦、养牛养羊，需要钱比如看病的时候就把牲畜卖掉，村里的人上大学的很少，一般读完初中就回，年轻人不多，但都会唱诗歌。
另一位信徒家也是养猪养羊，她家里信主，从小就在唱诗班，嫁到现在的村，也还在唱诗班，她说自己唱一声部，还来了一段，“耶稣的爱，在天地间流动，等你的心，归回主身边……”
她70岁的婆婆也找来歌本，戴上眼镜，唱起了诗歌，“遵主教训做礼拜，感谢主恩，万物献主来赞美……一心跟随主耶稣，这家不在这里在天上。
婆婆说，她父辈都信主，说起苦难的时候会唱：“我家不在这里，我家在天上，受苦人到那里就没有灾难，没劳苦，没疾病，永远乐无涯……”唱着唱歌，她流下泪来，“在危险的世界，我心里不惧，得天父保佑，我何用忧虑，从这里到那里，我总是靠他……”
上半部分的最后一个场景，信徒们穿着苗族服装，在教堂里唱起了平安夜诗歌，“平安夜，圣善夜…… 耶稣我主降生……”
"In a remote village in Kunming, Yunnan, there is a special choir consisting of young teenagers as well as members in their 60s and 70s."
A program launched by Phoenix Television on March 17 told a story behind "a choir in a Yunnan village".
Starting in the winter of 2019, the program team of C'est La Vie walked into Dapingtan Village, Wuhua District, Kunming, Yunnan. The two-episode story began with a morning scenario of daily Miao village life: locals selling pigs, old people shepherding sheep, and vendors hawking on the street.
Then the scene changed with the voices of some grannies who, leaning on sticks and carrying baskets on their backs, pulled radishes in the field.
As they returned home, one of the elderly women said that they could sing secular songs but instead sang Christians hymns every day.
While walking, they were singing, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters...." Back home, another senior Christian sang, "Jehovah, what is mankind? Human beings that you care for them? Mankind is like a breath, his days are like a shadow and pass quickly...."
Later the camera moved to the village's Meng'en Church. A brother opened a piano and started playing while several believers sat in the pews, opened the Bible, and read in their native Miao language.
After the meeting, elderly believers recalled the past while sitting by the fire. One of them said that they are lovers of songs but that they are poor. However, singing is easy for them. Most local Christians can read music and turn lyrics into songs, but they need to practice for hymns such as The Messiah.
In their younger days before cellphones, they hummed while herding cattle on the hills. The person mentioned Wang Zhiming, a martyr Miao pastor, who had gone to Beijing as vice-head of a Yunnan ethnic visitation team.
They sang again, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! It's like precious oil poured on Aaron's head... For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."
In a rehearsal before Christmas, believers wearing everyday clothing sang, "All is the Lord's grace, all is the Lord's love..." Then they prayed aloud.
The scene cut to a working Christian. He lives on growing maize, wheat, and raising cattle and sheep. When he is sick and needs money, he sells livestock. Few villagers have been to college and normally they work after graduating from middle school. They, along with a few younger laborers, are able to sing hymns.
Another believer became a Christian when she was young. She makes a living by keeping pigs and sheep and is also involved in the choir. She is a soprano in the choir.
Her 70-year-old mother-in-law said that her parents were also Christians. Speaking of hardships, she sang a hymn about heaven: "My hometown is not here, but in heaven. People who suffer will not have disasters, toil, diseases, and will rejoice forever... " While singing, she burst into tears.
The last scene ends with the carol Silent Night, sung in the church by believers in their ethnic costumes: "Silent night, holy night...Jesus, Lord at Thy birth..."
- Translated by Karen Luo
Yunnan Miao Church Choir's Singing Gift: Part 1
