Affective Ministry Team-Music, Art, and Life Transformation
The Affective Ministry Team is a non-profit organization,
Chinese Name: 中華恩感基督文化協會(恩感事奉團隊)
English Name:The Christian Affective Ministry
The team was founded by Pastor Kuohsiung Yu(Caleb) and provides various resources, including original songs, gospel dramas, and inspiring messages, aimed at helping people to connect with the Christian faith and experience personal transformation as well as cultural quality enhancement and change.
Origin of Affective Ministry
In 1998, Pastor Pastor Kuohsiung Yu(Caleb) began writing soul-inspiring songs. Subsequently, he completed one song each week. His songs differ from those of other Chinese Christian churches, as they are based on folk musics with simple, easy-to-learn melodies that resonate directly with people’s hearts.
In 2008, he first released nine original Oriental Christmas songs on YouTube, which can be found by searching for “Oriental Christmas songs” on the calebyuu channel. Today, there are over 30 Eastern Christmas songs.
In April 2009, during the annual church leadership training retreat at CLRC (Christian Leadership Renewal Center) in North Carolina, Pastor Yu Kuohsiung (Caleb) led worship using self-written song videos, which received high praise from the organizers. He then began producing CLRC song videos and short talks (still available in the CLRC playlist on the calebyuu YouTube channel).
In 2010, he established the Chinese CAM Association and obtained tax-exempt status from the IRS, focusing on the production of Christian folk songs and videos, providing free sheet music and cards to our members, and raising funds for operational needs.
In 2018, the Affective Ministry Team was established, collaborating with churches in southern Taiwan to organize fundraising events, drama troupes, and singing groups, working with Pastor Yu’s gospel folk songs and drama teams to create gospel dramas deeply rooted in Taiwanese local culture! This also allowed the participating ministry teams to experience life transformation.
By 2024, seven gospel dramas with 13 performances have been launched, all available for viewing on the Affective Gospel Singing Group’s YouTube channel. In the future, we will continue to commit to producing gospel dramas and media operations annually, and we plan to establish the Affective Arts and Culture Center in Qiaotou, Kaohsiung, to promote Pastor Yu’s songs and gospel dramas, with future anticipated performances overseas.
Founder of the Ministry: Kuohsiung Yu and His Vision:
The founder, Kuohsiung Yu, was born in 1953.
🎧He was grown in the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan and served as a financial and worship deacon, and an organist in the church. His piano skills and music often move many people. Although he did not have a very favorable environment to be well educated musically during his growth, his musical talents and sensitive temperament, coupled with long years of disciplines, tempering in various aspects, he is able to combine theology, cultural depth, historical backgrounds, and literature, overcoming many difficulties in life and the pressures at work, to write profound, beautiful and touching poetic songs, which made him more confident in the usefulness of the Taiwanese simple and delicate affectivity, to be a channel to response to the helplessness and tragic feelings from our Chinese ancient poets.
🎧As a pastor, as he walking among the daily necessities of life, still is able to sympathy with the world, being sensitive to people, responding to the needs of contemporaries, persuading them to return. This is what makes his poetic songs different, and it is the best proof that he is breaking away from the influence of Western colonial mentality and moving towards the context in the locality. He has composed more than a thousand poetic songs (one song a week since 1998), and collected into collections of poetic songs, included in Christian Affective Songs (112 songs), and Taiwanese Short Songs (125 poems).
🎧In addition to the efforts of writing hymns, the greater vision of the Christian Affective Ministry is still lie to transform local cultures and their every-day life experiences, through every-day and gospel-oriented hymns, and Christian Affective oriented teachings, and team services, and the performances of gospel dramas, and participating with teachings of the church communities, so that the gospel can be implemented and rooted in their local areas, every-day life, interpersonal relationships, and the deepest structure with the real experiences in human nature.
🎧So far, there have been seven pieces of performances with thirteen shows of the Gospel Oratorio:🎧
- 2018 Kaohsiung Cultural Center Zhishan Hall [Southern Water Flows Again—the Biblical Story of Hosea],
- 2019 Kaohsiung Fengshan Dadong Performing Arts Hall [Why Not Come Back—the Biblical Story of Naomi & Ruth],
- 2020 Kaohsiung Cultural Center Zhide Hall [The Rising Sun—the Biblical Story of Samson],
- 2021 Kaohsiung/Pingtung/Tainan Performing Arts Halls [Oriental Christmas—the Biblical Story of Wise Men and the Birth of Jesus],
- 2022 Kaohsiung/Tainan/Hualien Performing Arts Halls [Quiet Storm—the Biblical Story of Easter],
- 2023 Kaohsiung Cultural Center Zhide Hall [Woman’s Story—the Biblical Story of Women Met Jesus],
- 2024 Taoyuan/Kaohsiung Zhide Hall [The Story of the Son of Man—the Biblical Story of the Last Week of Jesus], 12/1 Kaohsiung Gangshan Cultural Center Performing Arts Hall [Oriental Christmas(as above)], etc.
Generally, well received!