"(TOKYO, JAPAN)—Who would have believed that Sister Act, the 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg "on the run, disguised as a nun," would inspire the formation of some 30 Japanese Gospel choirs." "My wife Bola, a professional singer, and I, used to be professional entertainers in the Philippines where we were both born and raised," he said. "Somewhere in the midst of our entertainment career, God sought us and saved us both." Taylor said he couldn’t shake God’s call to Japan and finally, after going to seminary in the US and being ordained, the family finally made the move to Japan in 1997 under the coving of a ministry called World Venture. “We came here with the idea of being involved in helping global churches, yet with a focus on innovative and creative music ministries,” he said." “So when ‘Sister Act’ came here, they started watching the movie and saw Whoopi Goldberg singing ‘Oh Happy Day’ and taking those old hymns and making them ‘Black Gospel,’ the people really liked it. So what happened was the businesses in Japan, who are quick to adopt these fads, started offering Gospel choir lessons. It was not the churches, but the community centers that had these choirs." “So here were non-Christians in Japan saying that they wanted to sing just like the nuns in the movie. So they began taking Gospel music lessons and, in fact, the first choir that I started began after I was invited to teach in a community center, about ten years ago.” “For many in the audience, it's the first time they have heard the Gospel message, so it's truly pre-evangelism. But, to the choir members that have been with us for a couple of years, they are ripest to receive the Lord.”Praise God for this outreach to the Japanese people. To read the entire article, click here. In other faith news, President Obama has nominated a born again Christian to be the next Director of the National Institutes of Health. According to a Christian Broadcasting News article and a Washington Post article, President Obama has nominated Francis Collins, a physician and scientist who helped guide the Human Genome Project to completion, to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. Both articles report that he is a born again Christian who may help President Obama reach out to the Christian community. The Washington Post reports:
"Rare among world-class scientists, Collins is also a born-again Christian, which may help him build bridges with those who view some gene-based research as a potential threat to religious values. Collins resigned as director of NIH's genome institute last August and has since finished "The Language of Life," a book about the dawning era of personalized medicine, which will be published next year. If confirmed by the Senate, Collins will lead the NIH's 27 institutes and centers, which together employ 18,000 people, most at the Bethesda campus. The agency has a budget of $31 billion this year, about 80 percent of which is distributed to scientists elsewhere."The Washington Post article spoke highly of Dr. Collins:
"I like it," Alan I. Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said of the Obama administration's choice. "Francis Collins is a guy who can speak to top-notch scientists and at the same time has a tremendous skill speaking to the public and policymakers."
"Collins, who had a conversion experience in medical school, in 2007 published a book, 'The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.'"What are your thoughts on his chances of being confirmed and whether or not this will change the way the Scientific Community sees creation? Come share!