As some of you may know, Chris & I recently had the opportunity to meet MC Jin. It was pretty random actually – Chris stumbled upon this ‘Asians in Brisbane’ page on FB and found out that Jin was coming to do a show for a nightclub opening. We also saw that they were selling Meet & Greet + dinner tickets at the Japanese restaurant (run by Chinese ppl) 5 mins drive away (in the randomest of suburbs/places – a very non-Asian area). So we bought them!
Anyways many of you might be asking WHO IS JIN ANYWAY? He’s a American-Chinese rapper. I guess you’d really know of him if you are:
- Australian/American Born Chinese around your 30’s – for you guys the song you know is ‘Learn Chinese’…from like AGES ago….
- Really into Rap/Hip Hop culture
- Been in HK for the last few years: Jin really got popular at this time releasing songs, making ads, film, dramas, hosting shows
- …Or some combination of the above + Christian
If you haven’t read Jin’s story, check out my older post or simply Google him or listen to some of his latest songs. It’s amazing the transformation he’s gone through and we are SO inspired by his boldness and vulnerability in proclaiming his faith through his rapping.
We were blessed enough to have some interaction with him before. Not long after my last blog post on Jin, Chris & I had been discussing the topic for a while and he took the chance of attempting to contacting Jin – thinking that we wouldn’t get a response. We were really surprised to see he responded! Before this dinner then, Chris took the chance (again) of contacting him to tell him and convey our hope of meeting him and amazingly he responded again!
So anyway, we phoned the guy to get tickets and picked them up at the restaurant. No offense to the restaurant, but seriously I could think of better venues to hold this …like its next to a fruit market and a butcher…but I guess its far from the chaotic Asian areas around Sunnybank or the Valley. We wondered…what kind of ppl would turn up to this event? like club-going types? Would we be the 2 randomest ppl there? Would there be fangirls/boys overcrowding the restaurant?
Haha. We got there, found a parking spot right away and walked to this quiet dingy area where the restaurant is located. He hadn’t arrived yet. The restaurant was maybe half full. But it slowly filled up and we were updated that he was running late so we all ate first while watching this Jin DVD on the screen.
After like 45 mins, he came!! one of the first things he said (jokingly) was…something like….’stop looking at me…’ and then ‘can you take me off the T.V.? watching myself I can’t eat’
We then had to wait our turn to take photos with him outside (in front of the restaurant sign haha). We were second yay! When it was our turn, I presented to him the Tim Tams I had prepared and he was happy yay. We then introduced ourselves as ‘that Chris guy that’s been emailing you’ and he remembered us and some info we had previously shared about us in the emails! Yay!
We had brought our polaroid so hoping to get a photo on both the phone and Polaroid camera – when we got the second photo, I asked whether he could point to my belly as we were expecting. He was like ‘what? is this like recent?’ I said ‘it’s like 3 months’ and he said ‘you look more like 3 weeks!’ but he was super, super happy and wanted to pray for us. After that we had to sit down again but he was going to come around the tables later. While we were waiting for him to eat and meet the other tables, we prepped what we were going to ask him:
- What is your inspiration?
- How to get enough support to keep going as a Christian in the midst of all the busyness?
- How do you juggle family life and career?
After lots of waiting, he finally came around! (we were the last table).
Firstly, I asked him if he’s really tired – he said he’d be lying if he wasn’t but everytime he goes to these things or performs, he feels this energy inside of him – what else but the Holy Spirit’s power?
Secondly, we asked him about support – he told us about his INTENTIONALITY in including God in everything, by:
- Praying with his staff before shows and events (many of the staff he works with are Christians, the rest aren’t but they don’t get condemned or anything) and trying to witness/model the faith to them (something like that). To be a light and not to fall into temptation (??)
- Just ‘loving on people’: like going around talking to everyone, being interested in their lives, not hiding in a Christians-only club, but also not being ‘preachy’ either (I guess he does a lot of that in his songs) but yeah you could hear him talking to the other tables (he spent at least 5 mins at each one), asking about how couples met, being concerned about someone who had a sick baby, taking the time to explain what he’s doing here (one group didn’t know he was here for the club opening!)
- He acknowledged that some people might disagree with him going to places like nightclubs – (he said, Grace you shouldn’t go there in your condition), like the temptations for men, and the culture/spirit of the place. But in trying to be faithful to his family and stuff that’s where prayer and intentionality in what God has called him to be comes in.
(something like that – I didn’t record this, so its from my memory…Jin if you ever read this and I misrepresented you, please do let me know)
So he mentioned those things before he had to move on – but said he wanted to come back and pray for me/(us).
Not too long after we had finished eating we felt the chaotic level was rising…people booked in for a second session meet & greet hadn’t met him yet, the club opening was half an hour away…round about this time Jin hurriedly asks for me to come outside…and then EVERYONE to go outside to PRAY together.
He got everyone around, explained and introduced that he’s going to PRAY for me and this other table with a sick kid and that they didn’t have to pray/participate but he wanted them there (or something). He then put his hands on me and the kid and prayed for Chris & I, our pregnancy, this poor kid, and thanked God earnestly that everyone could make the time to be there tonight and how thankful to God he is for that.
After the prayer, we left. Sitting in the (5 min) car ride, digesting our ‘meeting the superstar’ experience. I’ve since urged Chris to not contact such a busy person again, he’s too nice, he might respond!
For many of us, Jin’s ‘brand’ of Christianity is not one that we’re familiar with. Maybe those from my ‘flavour’ of Christianity may notice the lack of regular Christian fellowship and/or the place of the Bible in the (short) convo we had. He’s not really considered a ‘Christian artist’. But you can’t deny there has been a radical transformation in this guy who just GLOWS with passion for Jesus. The attention goes from him, back to God. God’s really using this guy.
It really inspired us to be bolder and ‘real’ about our faith with others. And showed us the impact that simply loving people can make.
My sister (living in HK) tells me that he’s going to be a guest at the Worship Conference of The Vine Church in HK – maybe if you’re there in November you can check it out. I think its also the church Jin experienced most of his growth as a Christian in HK.
Grace Lung 