Hi Mark....

"Hi Mark, Please allow me to add you as a friend.  I discovered 'the door' album that your team has been a part of.  My wife is Chinese and we're living in Scotland, UK and I just want to say thank you to your team for their faithfulness in serving God ~ your album has brought a greater sense of God's presence into our home. God bless!"

JOY Magazine highlights The Door

Click on the link below to head to the Worshiplanet website.  You can download a great article from JOY Magazine highlighting The Door!   www.worshiplanet.com

We are praising God that years later The Door is still reaching hearts.

Amazing Google Search

It's amazing where The Door has gone.  We did a Google Search for The Door and below is something that came up.  This was written after a concert we did at a university in Beijing in 2007.

Mark Tedder music band concert in BJFU

(2007-03-23 23:11:33)

转载

分类：Rainの日记

    This evening I attended a concert in my school presented by a band from America called "Mark Tedder".I think I can percieve this band as a family band,cause it is comprised of Mr. Mrs.Tedder and their son(a very handsome boy),plus a boy from Latin America.

   When I know they are families,I can hardly believe it.I admire their style of life,just like the classic.In the band,Mr. Tedder is the voicalist,Mrs. Thedder is the one playing keyball,while their son is the drumer player.They have travelled to lots of coutries all over the world.It seems they make music a kind of life rather than a tough job.They play their songs,love them by heart and take pleasure and contentment from them .How wonderful!This is what life really means!!!

   Tedder said "Look at your palms.Everyone in the world has unique hands.how amazing!You are created to be a unique one.No one can take place of you!"I like his words.

   Life is a magic itself!

The Netherlands

Hello Door Fans!

Just got this photo from a friend in Colorado who was traveling in The Netherlands recently. This was located in a record store in The Hague! 

With Integrity's help in getting this China project distributed throughout all their Global platforms, it is good to see that it's getting out there into people's hands, hearts, and worship experiences. :)

Till all the world hears....

Did you tune in to The Door on God TV?

Here is a humbling note we received after the airing of The Door. Praise God!

I am from Minnesota, USA and viewed your program on God TV during the Super Bowl.
In fact I got into worshiping the Lord more than watching the Super Bowl. Praise God and many thanks for your wonderful spirit filled service! I even had tears streaming down my face because I was so moved!

Opening The Door into a new territory

Hey guys, check out this article that Christian Marketplace put in their February 2010 issue!

Opening The Door into a new territory

Clem Jackson met with Mark and Carrie Tedder to talk about a groundbreaking worship project in China and about living and ministering in what for many is a closed land.

In 2008 Mark Tedder and his Worshiplanet band, together with a group of Chinese musicians performed a worship concert in a theatre which is home to the biggest International Church in
Beijing in China. Whilst that in itself was unusual the most amazing part of the project was that the whole event was recorded and filmed – a first for a worship concert in China. The result was The Door, a CD and DVD package issued earlier in 2009 in the UK by Integrity Music Europe.
At the time Mark and some of his family were living in Beijing but have now returned to Colorado and I met up with him and his wife Carrie on a visit to England at the end of last year to talk about the project and life in China. I began by asking them about the ministry of Worshiplanet.
Mark: Worshiplanet is an international equipping ministry. We really have a heart for working with worship teams and local churches all around the world and so, where we are invited, we will take a small band with us and will go and work with, train, equip, local worship ministries and local expressions of worship in various nations.
CJ: You recently spent two years in China but how did that all come about?
Carrie: About five years ago we were invited by the Chinese government to do a series of benefit concerts for the Disabled Federation of China. The deal was they would raise money at the concerts by selling tickets (they paid our expenses) if we could sing what we liked. They said OK; we couldn’t speak but we could sing what we liked. We did a series of 90 minute concerts all over mainland China for two weeks and it was from that series of concerts that we really got a big heart for China. When we found out that the International Church in Beijing, 4,000 people and fourteen congregations, were without a worship pastor we very quickly volunteered. We spent six months raising funds for a two-year stay in China so we didn’t cost the church anything, found a little apartment and lived there.
CJ: To shift the family and shift the home all the way from Colorado to China, how difficult
was that for you Carrie?
Carrie: Easy! I travel easier than he does. (“she does” - Mark). It wasn’t too bad mainly because our kids are older. Now we would have done it, if our kids had been younger, in fact we have made moves like that before. Whilst there are some remote places, China is easier than we think, particularly the bigger cities like Shanghai and Beijing.
CJ: While you were in China The Door project came about; why The Door?
Mark: We called it The Door because we really sensed from the very first time we went to China that the door was open; God clearly has been opening a door in China for evangelisation, for proclamation. The other reason we called it The Door was because doors are significant in China. The door is probably one of the most significant parts of the home. Even if you live in a shanty the door, the threshold, is a very significant part of that house. If you are invited into a person’s house in China it’s a high honour; they have opened their door and are saying ‘please come and spend time with us, come and eat with us’. Wherever you go you see above each threshold the symbol of the door that’s on the cover of the project.
CJ: You talk about a door being opened but in the West we hear all sorts of conflicting stories about how free Christianity is, about the persecution of pastors. What’s your experience having spent two years there?
Carrie: Someone told us when we first arrived in China that ‘any statement you make about China is true – somewhere in China’. And we know there is persecution going on, there are horrible things happening, they continue to happen, it will take forever to change this. At the same time there are amazing things happening; like 18 months ago they passed a ruling which said it was no longer illegal to be a card carrying Communist Party member and to be a Christ follower in Parliament. We know there are believers who are very high up in the government.
So you’ve got this underlying history of bad things happening but you have this fresh move
of God’s Spirit. There are believers throughout society in China from the peasant population all
the way up to government.
Mark: We even got the opportunity to be interviewed about what we were doing in China
on Beijing Radio (17 million listeners) and although they had this file on us, they knew all about us, the interviewer just says “You’re with Worshiplanet – what is Worshiplanet?” and then she says to me “Just say what you want to say, I don’t really care, it’s OK.”
CJ: Have you been back to China in 2009?
Mark: We were there in February; we try to go there once a year now. We are planning another tour there again with the government - the same organisation wants us to come back again - in
2010 if we can get the money together.
CJ: What were the challenges in writing songs for the project that were translatable into the Chinese context?
Mark: I tend to write songs based on what is happening in my life, in my congregation’s life, in
the life of the church, kind of more around me. So the expression and the songs that came from The Door project were mostly written in Beijing. What we did is we fused these two worlds together. We brought a Western song and combined it with Chinese ethnic instruments. In terms of fusing Chinese instruments and bringing Chinese musicians onto the project, that was a challenge. People in China don’t view a Guzheng (a long wooden stringed instrument that looks like a harp laying on its side), or a Yangqin (a hammer dulcimer type of instrument), as instruments for worship. It was a big risk to use them but we had heard young Chinese musicians playing these instruments in their homes; it was just a beautiful expression of worship.
Carrie: We let the Chinese musicians we used create around what Mark had written, so there
was a lot of creativity on their part.
CJ: And on the CDRom you have the words in Chinese script alongside the English translation
of the words too.
Mark: To be honest with you The Door was never meant to be released outside of China; it
was meant to be for the Chinese Church. There is nothing at all like this in China, this is a first. When we had it pressed in China we said, 'Look, take this record and copy it as many times as you want to and give it out to as many villages and towns and cities as you can. Get it out there.
Carrie: And we’re praying that this will be a prototype because if this eventually gets permission it means that some other things will get permission too and that’s actually much
more important.

by Tony Cummings
tony.cummings@crossrhythms.co.uk

For more info on Christian Marketplace visit http://christianmarketplace.org.uk/

Stop The Presses!

Don't forget to tune into God TV this weekend, February 7 & 8 to watch the airing of The Door project! Remember you can go to www.god.tv/thedoor or check your Dish Network listing for channel #365 to see when it will be airing in your area.

Below is a media release that God TV put out yesterday about The Door...

GOD TV airs ground-breaking event from China

‘The Door’ offers vibrant cross-cultural worship from Beijing to viewers worldwide

As part of GOD TV’s commitment to broadcast what is happening in the Body of Christ across the globe, the international network is to air one of the first LIVE worship events ever recorded in Mainland China.

Combining Western songs with Chinese instrumental sounds and with musicians from Beijing and the USA, ‘The Door’ sets a new trend in today’s worship and can be seen on GOD EUROPE this Sunday, 7^th February at 18.00 and 23.30 as well as the GOD Channel UK at 19.30 (GMT).

Produced during China’s Olympic Games in 2008, the event was filmed during a service at Beijing’s 4,000-member International Christian Fellowship and is ground-breaking because it took place with Government authorisation.

The project was spearheaded by US ‘musicianary’ Mark Tedder, who served as a worship leader at the fellowship for two years. He and his wife now lead the international worship equipping ministry, Worshiplanet.

“The heart of the Door project was that God would use it to encourage local churches throughout China,” said Mark Tedder. “There have been other major worship initiatives in China, but this was the first officially sanctioned live project. It was a miracle to pull it off and there are many reports of people getting saved through it.”

The Door is a breakthrough for the Church in China as it symbolises an open door on two levels. Firstly, the miracle of obtaining permission to film it is a door into the entire region for the Gospel. It is also an opening into different cultural experiences for those who haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy the unique sounds of ethnic Chinese instruments and musical styles. This includes 2,000-year-old traditional Chinese instruments such as the yangqin, guzheng and the hulusi.

“GOD TV has a vision to serve the Chinese people and ‘The Door’ is an event not to be missed!” said GOD TV co-founder and head of television, Wendy Alec, “Since we launched into Greater China in 2008, GOD TV has received many reports of changed lives in Hong Kong, Macau and the Mainland. Now it is our privilege to share some of what GOD has been doing in Beijing with the rest of the world.”

Wendy Alec is also the author of the book, “Journal of the Unknown Prophet’ (www.unknownprophet.com) which speaks of coming revival in China.

“Prepare for a season of grace that will come upon you in the next years – for where you have been My suffering Church, prepare to be My mass evangelists,” she wrote in a prophetic word entitled ‘China – The Endtime Dynasty of the Son.’ “For where you have whispered in secret, prepare to shout My Gospel from the rooftops to all of China and beyond. For I shall open a voice of utterance that shall resound in Shanghai, that shall resound in Beijing.”

GOD TV can be viewed on SKY 580/1 and Virgin 279 as well as online. GOD TV’s website has just been upgraded with a more advanced web-streaming service and web viewers can watch at www.god.tv/live or via video on demand at www.god.tv/video.

For more information about The Door visit: www.worshiplanet.com

Global broadcast of "The Door"

God TV brodcasts "The Door"!



Hey everybody! We are excited to let you in on the latest news from around the world. God TV are broadcasting "The Door" on all of their Global platforms on February 7th and 8th.

Please go to the following web link and find out the broadcast times in your area. The programme will be aired on all feeds, broadcasting in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Greater China, UK and the USA on February 7th & 8th - following is a promo of the show, courtesy of God TV.

http://www.god.tv/thedoor

The Door is featured this month in Charisma Magazine. Below is the article in full. Praise God, He is still using The Door to get the message out there!

Indigenous Music Of The Chinese Church

A live worship recording is highlighting the indigenous sounds of the Chinese church––and drawing people to Christ

A live worship project that joins musicians from the U. S., Europe and China is highlighting the indigenous sounds of the Chinese church––and drawing people to Christ.

Produced during China’s Olympic Games, The Door was recorded during a Sunday service at Beijing’s 4,000-member International Christian Fellowship––where worshipers’ identities are checked by government agents before they can enter the hall.

“To get into the church, you have to show a foreign ID of some sort,” said Arkansas-born musician Mark Tedder, 47, who served as full-time worship leader at the fellowship for two years and spearheaded the project.

“There is a police presence at the front door.” Remarkably, authorities gave their offi cial permission, but Tedder and his team still made sure the hard drive containing the recording left China quickly. The main condition was that the team should not broadcast the recording before the Olympics.

“It was a miracle to pull it off , simply because it’s never been done before,” said Tedder, now based in Colorado.

Captured on both CD and DVD, the live worship recording brings standard Western worship sounds alongside 2,000- year-old traditional Chinese instruments such as the dulcimerlike yangqin, the harpstyle guzheng and the drone pipe hulusi.

“We wanted [the recording] to give the vibe that local worship teams could actually incorporate and redeem some of these ancient instruments,” Tedder said.

Tedder did not intend to make a commercial recording and initially distributed the album freely. But the project caught the attention of Integrity Music Europe and was picked up for distribution. In the U.S., the CD is available at worshiplanet.com. “I had no idea it would go outside of mainland China,” Tedder admitted.

“The heart of this project was that God would use it to encourage local churches throughout China.” There have been other major worship initiatives in China––notably the famous Canaan Hymns by Xiao Min, who wrote more than 1,000 indigenous praise songs.

In addition, Hong Kong-based Vine Band released From Ashes to Beauty in both English and Mandarin.

But The Door is the fi rst offi cially sanctioned live project to come out of China.

Reports claim that lives are being changed through it. “We’re hearing stories from China that villages are sitting down in one person’s home who has a TV and watching The Door project,” Tedder said. “People are getting saved through it.” —CLIVE PRICE

A Small Story of God's Marvel

We received this from a friend in the UK:

A small story of God's marvel:
I was asked very recently by a local church to help them out by leading worship singing at their evening service. The curate told me the Bible verses he would base his talk on and the basic layout of the worship programme. He asked that we both pray for guidance on suitable songs. He asked me to pray particularly about the song between his talk and the prayers.

We both did this and when we met to discuss the songs, we had both written down the same song for between the prayers! Your song: Be Still. Wow!

Many people were kind enough to speak to me afterwards and I was amazed by how many said that the "Be Still" song had really taken them into a mood of prayer.

Doors are opening!

The Door is opening many doors throughout the world! We just received this email from a friend working with pastors who are planting churches in Muslim countries.

Hi from the Philippines!
I'm here for a training seminar for two weeks geared to language coaches who train missionaries. I played one of your songs during a devotional (Redeeming Light of God) and a number of the Filipino missionaries who serve among Muslims asked if they could copy it. I wanted to ask your permission before I allowed them to do this.

And from Niger, Africa
We are in charge of Sunday night's church service here. I'm in charge of leading worship. Thought you might like to know that actually YOU are leading us in two songs. :) We are the People of God and How Great is Our God - off your Waiting for the Son cd. So, how about that?!?"

Hey all of you in the Manchester/Liverpool area come out to see us at Sutton Village Church in St. Helens on November 14 & 15.

"Tools for Worship"

Greetings from snowy Colorado!

We just returned from a tour of Thailand and Singapore. To be honest to try to tell the story would take several days of talking, lots of coffee and a room full of pictures!

I must tell you of a story however, of one of the guys Carrie met while we were in Thailand. This person asked that their name and location not be identified for security reasons. All I can say is that they are part of a 'pre-church planting' team in the middle east.

"Jim" asked the question in one of our worship workshops about how (as a worshiper) we can use what little we have to lead others in worship. Carrie began to explain how often in China where we served for two years, it was normal for worship services to be lead by human voice only! This prompted other questions - "but how can you lead them without instruments?" Jim asked; Carrie told them how many of the Christians in China often will create rhythm by taking a water bottle, filling it with rice and using it as a percussion (shaker) instrument.

The workshop ended. Later the next week, the Worshiplanet Band went into leading other events and the church planters returned to their host countries..... a few days ago Carrie received an email from "Jim" in the middle east. Following is the transcript from his email;

"Carrie - I hope this finds you well and the rest of your time in Chiang Mai was
blessed. I am sure that you all were a blessing to the churches there.
I want to thank you again for taking time out of your schedule to meet
with me and encourage and help me brainstorm ideas of how to bring a
more lively worship to my field and team. My teammates and I actually
got creative and used some empty water bottles and rice and made some
shakers that we incorporated into our worship the other day. It was
actually fun. At first we felt like little kids again, but I think
that really helped us just put everything aside and really get to the
heart of worship. Our neighbor's kids came over yesterday and wanted to know what they were so I got to sing worship songs over them while they danced and shook the shakers all over the room. I also contacted
my worship pastor back home and he sent me some stuff to help me get
going on the guitar again. I think this month, as it is Ramadan, will
be a good time to try and carve out some hours on the guitar as not
much else is happening here as everyone is fasting. Well I hope that
you guys found some time to enjoy Thailand and that you were in
someway blessed by being there as much as we were by having you there.
Thank you once again for all that you do.

In Him,
"Jim"

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Thailand & Singapore

Hey everybody!

We just returned from a three week tour of Thailand and Singapore. The first week we led 15 worship sets, 2 workshops and found time somewhere in the middle of the week to head into the jungle for a half day of "zip-line" adventure - see (www.jungle-flight.com) Our mission the first week in Thailand was to equip about 800 pastors and their wives who faithfully serve Christ in the most sensitive nations in the world. A gathering of church planters and missionaries who are strategically sharing the viral message of Jesus in countries like Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan, U.A.E., Indonesia, Turkmenistan, etc...you get the picture. I guess to sum it all up, (according to one of the pastors who attended the conference) he told me; "Mark, we all came hungry and thirsty...to meet with God; we are leaving refreshed and full of His Spirit, excited to continue the work He's called us to..."

What an incredible privilege it has been to lead those modern-day apostles into worship every morning and evening.

We ended that first week with a Saturday 'night of worship' with all of the local international churches in Chiang Mai. There was a real sense of God's presence with us as we saw pastors refreshed, the body of Christ unified in worship and the name of Jesus be lifted up! We spent 3 more days with the local churches in Chiang Mai, leading workshops and spending time with a couple of the pastors and their families.

We then left for Singapore, via Bangkok, where Integrity Media and Scripture Union set up a series of workshops, training, leading worship, meeting some of the worship 'gatekeepers' in Singapore and basically hearing about what God is doing in that nation. We can truly attest of God's faithfulness and blessing on Singapore. One of the things we felt very strongly to speak into was to encourage the songwriters of Singapore to be refreshed, renewed and released to write new songs of praise for and over their nation.

We had an additional opportunity of leading worship (some in Mandarin!) at an event where several Singaporean Chinese churches came together for an evening of worship and encouragement. Again, we were blessed to see how God is strategically using the Chinese church in Singapore to "sing" back into China and over their own land the songs of redemption and blessing.

We are grateful that we are allowed this opportunity to travel the planet, meet with people just like us who are serving local churches week in and week out. We bless the nations of Thailand and Singapore - we sing life, health, peace and God's Spirit over the pastors, worship leaders and teams who, each week, create space for God's people to gather together to lift up the name of Christ!

Please pray for Thailand and Singapore!
Till next time....
mark

PS - if you want more information about what we do around the world - go to www.worshiplanet.com

God TV

To all our Asia friends!

The Door is being broadcast this weekend all over China!

You can access The Door "live" worship concert on the Asia platform Dream Network package out of the Philippines this weekend! Broadcast times are as follows (Beijing local Time)

Saturday July 18th at 18:00 (Beijing local time)
Sunday July 19th at 14:00 (Beijing local time)

Please tell everyone in that region of the world to catch The Door live in China!

Blessings
mark

from the inside...

from the inside....

We just got a story from inside china and had to share it with you. Most of you know that we are still waiting for The Door to open 'legally' in the Peoples Republic of China. Whilst we're working diligently on that, there have been a few "Door" stories coming back at us. This one happened a few weeks ago in an orphanage in a remote village in the Shaanxi Province. I'll just let you in on the story as it was told to me....

"we had a Chinese house church pastor with us who helped with explaining the song "Be Still" to the kids. And there were a few parts of the song that we had difficulty deciphering...so we replayed Be Still to him over and over on my iPod shuffle. Haha...then finally when we had the lyrics complete, Tiffany and I played it on guitar and taught the kids the song. They loved it!!!!!!

We're constantly amazed and grateful at how God is using The Door to open the hearts of people in China - even the little children.

Psalm 8:2 - "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise"

The Door Is Opening in Europe!

Hey everybody!

Check out this e-card blast that the guys at Integrity Europe have put together.

http://www.musicwithintegrity.com/ecards/thedoor/index.html

It's been a pleasure to partner with Integrity in getting The Door out there throughout Europe. You will start to see The Door project available in your local bookshops (particularly in the UK) and for sure on the e-card link.

We have had great response thus far and are hearing stories about how the project is being used to draw attention to Creator God and how he is shaping and restoring the peoples of China using the medium of worship.

Thanks for hitting the blog and if you haven't picked up a copy of The Door yet, get out there and get a couple - one for yourself and one to give away! :)

take care
Mark

Fresh Worship in Kenya

On Sunday morning, Mark was tuning his guitar on-stage at Woodmen Valley Chapel, when a man approached him and told him a quick story.
Just a week earlier, this man was in Kenya worshipping along fellow African believers. After the service, he approached the pastor and they began chatting about the worship songs in the church. They discussed the need for fresh, new worship in their church. The pastor agreed and asked for some examples of new music. At that point, the American pulled out his iPod and picked the song "More Of You". He put the earphones in, and as the song progressed, the pastor had tears streaming down his face. He said he was ministered to by the song and encouraged to bring new songs to the congregation.
Who knew that this recording in Beijing, China would minister to a man in Kenya, Africa just a year later? We are thankful that God uses us as tools in His Kingdom and we are praying that the ministry of this project would continue to spread to the far corners of the Earth.

The Door in Japan!

At Worshiplanet, our aim is not to have our name in bright lights. More exciting to us, is to know that worship music is going to all corners of the Earth. We were so excited to find The Door on Japanese version of Amazon. Now if we could only know what it says...

Spring Harvest. Abbreviated.

After a couple weeks in the UK, everyone has returned home and is getting some rest. Who knew that rocking out in worship could be so exhausting?

Let's rewind a bit. On April 1st, the team came together from all around the globe. Mark, Carrie, Jessica and Alli flew from Denver, Colorado. Daniel caught a flight from Beijing, and Manu took a short flight from Germany. Joe drove up from Brighton and Richard took the train from Brunel.  We all met at the Butt's home in London for some team time and rehearsals. After some fish and chips, we dove right into learning new songs and getting all the equipment together for our 10 days at Spring Harvest.

We did find some time to do a short tour of central London. It was Jessica and Alli's first time to see the city so we toured Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, shoved ourselves into a phone booth, and spent some time in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Square.  It was a whirlwind tour and the beginning of great team bonding.  

And, of course, we made time for espresso. As a rule, there is always time for caffeine with Worshiplanet.

On April 4th, we loaded everything (and everyone) into 2 vehicles and headed north to Skegness. Skegness is an oceanside town with a Butlins Resort that hosted the 30,000+ people that attend Spring Harvest. The first week, the band led worship for the young adults in the iScape program. It was a joy to worship alongside young people as they learn to be Jesus' apprentices.

The second week, Mark and the band switched over to the Big Top to lead worship with the adults. The Big Top is named that because it's truly a circus tent. Every morning and evening thousands of worshippers would raise their voices under that yellow and green striped tent. It was absolutely beautiful.
This, of course, is the Reader's Digest version of a fantastic two weeks.  For those of you that attended Spring Harvest- it was our pleasure to meet you and worship alongside you!  

-The Worshiplanet Band