Leong Khai Shen, 2018, Malaysia
In December 2017, fresh out of high school, I was worried about the next phase of my life. The friends around me have made plans and decisions for their future, but I did not know where to go. I grew up in a Christian family, with parents that taught and encouraged me to put God first in my life, and then God would guide me step by step in the path I should take. This resulted in me being very careful with the decisions I made. Even though I am a music fanatic and I love to make music, I was hesitant to chase my music dreams. All I had in mind was wanting to know what God’s calling on my life was. That year, I went along with my church team to Skudai to attend the School of Ministry co-workers conference and saw the screening of the School of Theology promotional video. In one of the sessions, Pastor Sun preached and gave the call to challenge the young people present to love God courageously and live for Him. At that time, I was deeply moved by God, and could not help rushing to the front of the stage with tears in my eyes to answer this call. I decided to enrol into SOT in 2018.
During the 7 months of SOT, not only was my heart deeply touched and changed by the love of God and those around me, I also received a word spoken into my life by Pastor Mike Connell when he came to teach the class about prophets and prophecies. He said to me, “One day, you will lead the new generation through Chinese praise and worship in Ipoh.” I was only prepared to be blessed and prayed for by this Pastor whom I’d just met; but never would I imagine that God would use him to answer that deep longing and cry within me. God is truly amazing! After graduating from SOT, I felt the need to develop myself in the are of music; so I went to Kuala Lumpur to study music production.
One day, I found some notebooks that I had used in church to take down notes when I was young. I realised that in addition to the sermon notes, I had also written down many song album covers and titles that I had dreamed about. I was very moved in my heart to know that that God had placed the call and inspiration of song writing in my heart all this time, from the beginning. What I received at SOT was not only a prophecy, but a confirmation. So, I began to spend more time and energy on writing songs and making music. With the encouragement of my pastor, I also led our congregation in worship with the songs I wrote. However, I never had the courage to post my songs online because I always thought they were not good enough. I was also worried about being criticized by others. This struggle with confidence went on for some time.
In March 2021, the Taiwan Christian TV station was holding a global selection of Chinese original song writing. Without hesitation, I decided to sign up for it and started making plans to record songs with some of my friends from church. In spite of limited time and resources, God gave me unlimited creativity and grace. For the first time, my friends and I completed the recording of several original songs, and I submitted these songs to participate in the selection contest.
Part of the selection process includes getting friends to vote for our songs to accumulate points. I mustered up all the courage I had to forward the songs to all my friends and relatives. Their response was overwhelming as they all encouraged me and gave me positive feedback. Many of my non-believer friends and relatives were hearing Christian songs and connecting to God for the first time. By God’s grace, two of my songs made it to the Top 50 song list. Although my songs did not eventually win, I saw how this could become a channel for evangelism, and bring blessing to the people around me. This fulfilling joy and satisfaction far outweighed the results of the song writing contest.
Today, I continue to write songs and create music for God, constantly honing my craft and applying the gifts God has given me to be a blessing to others. During the pandemic (which was a very difficult time for many), I had a chance to take up leadership and became a cell group leader of the youth team. I am both excited and looking forward to the road ahead. For I know that when I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all that I need will be added to me (Matthew 6:33). I am convinced that this is just the beginning, the best is yet to come!
To view more of Khai Shen’s music videos, you may find the YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClmI0jzJzD2G-K3hWWSsCbw/videos