In May this year, the band and I travelled to Plymouth to play at the Annual Baptist Assembly.
This included the launch of the Thailand songs, God Are You There and Mr Free Man, both of which feature on the BMS World Mission DVD, This Dark World.
Check out the video below to hear about the songs and watch a performance of Mr Free Man, filmed at the Redux evening session at the Assembly.
This Dark World is a new & innovative DVD from BMS World Mission.
Filmed during my visit to Bangkok with BMS in 2009, the documentary explores mission on the front line of spiritual warfare in the context of the international sex industry.
Both of the songs written in response to what I encountered, God Are you there? and Mr Free Man feature on this DVD and will be performed at the album launch gig on May 23rd.
You can order your copy by visiting the BMS World Mission website and it will also be on sale at the launch gig where we will be joined by representatives from BMS World Mission.
Click here for more on the album launch on May 23rd.
When BMS World Mission was looking for the best way to highlight its work in Thailand, it turned to a musician. Ben Rochelle talks to Pete James about his experiences on a recent BMS visit there.
Sex for sale, film, mission and music. Worship leader and singer/songwriter Pete James recently got an insight into the ways in which these apparently unrelated elements are being drawn together on the streets of Bangkok.
Pete, who’s worship leader of Sheffield’s Baptist/Anglican St Thomas’ Church, Philadelphia, was part of a BMS World Mission filming team that recently travelled to Bangkok.
The capital of Thailand is often considered the capital of the world’s sex-tourism industry. The team were there to highlight the plight of trafficked women and how their dignity is being restored. Pete’s reflections, and the music the environment inspired, will form the focus of a forthcoming BMS video resource.
This song was written during a week stay in Bangkok while filming with BMS World Mission in 2009. Where as much of “God Are You There?” was written before I left for Thailand, this song was informed and inspired by all that I saw and heard in that week.
I remember being impacted instantly as I boarded the plane. I had previously heard a statistic that 6 out of every 10 men on a plane headed to Bangkok were going with the intention of using the girls out there for sex. I looked around at the men on the plane and wondered what must be going on in their lives to want to travel so far for this experience. I remembered hearing of men deceiving their wives and girlfriends with stories about work trips in order to get to Bangkok. It was almost like this city had some mystical lure that was drawing men from across the world to its shores. I found out later that I wasn’t far from the truth.
On arrival I was reminded of the scale of the issue, as many white aging men were walking through the airport with young, slim, attractive Thai girls. As I arrived at my apartment and ventured out into the local streets it seemed to be everywhere I went, white men with young Thai girls.
My senses were in overdrive taking in all the sights and sounds from the poorest of the poor on the streets to cutting edge technology and high rise businesses flourishing around them. The noise of traffic, the smell of street restaurants, cattle walking past and music playing were everywhere, were evidence of a city full of every kind of life.
It was in this context I began to put pen to paper. Having written “God Are You There?” which was clearly going to be a rock song, I wanted to write something different for the second song. I was drawn to Jack Johnson and Bob Dylan, two of the greatest musical poets of our day, for inspiration and decided to write another story telling song. I was intrigued by both Dylan and Johnson’s ability to create music that was uplifting and yet write political or challenging lyrics.
The Song.
The whole theme of the song revolves around the story of a man who visits Bangkok. It would appear on the surface that this man who travels there is free. Free to choose where to go or what to do, free to choose what he buys because he has money and even free to choose from the rows of girls that line Bangkok’s streets. The reality is he is not free, but instead he is trapped by his desires that have a tight grip on them. He is out of control and a slave to something he cannot see. This became the content for the chorus, ending with the truth that only Jesus can truly free Mr Free Man.
Tuesday night’s rehearsal was really good! It feels like the songs I wrote for BMS World Mission (during my visit to Bangkok earlier this year) are coming together. The arrangements are falling into place and dates to be in the studio look set for early November. I’m really excited to be recording these songs with Dan Bowater at DB Studios in Lincoln.
God Are You There? is gritty and edgy and in contrast Mr Free Man is musically very uplifting but awkwardly challenging in its lyric content.
I’m praying that these songs will make a difference in some way, not sure how, but am aware of God smiling on this project…will keep you posted.
Below are a few pictures from Tuesday night’s rehearsal…
The band...
Jamie Parker adding up how many effects his Nord has...
Ceeds (Chris) disecting his guitar parts...awesome!
Steve and Wadey - the rhythm section hard at work...
I was asked by BMS World Mission if I would consider going to Bangkok to write some songs based on what I saw there. Plans quickly fell into place for me to join a film crew making a documentary about the sex industry there and film the song writing process as it unfolded. In the run up to the trip I was deeply impacted by documentaries on TV about the atrocities in Bangkok, but I also had a moment where God took me on a imaginary path where I met a prostitute and in that moment I physically engaged with the heartache of what life was like for this girl. That is where the song idea came from.
This Dark World is a new & innovative DVD from BMS World Mission.
