“It’s been like a long dream,” said Mrs. Mellett on New Year’s Day.
It had been at the top of her Christmas list for years, and she'd told her children every year that she would one day see it. “And today’s my day.”
“Today is the day,” Mr. Mellett agreed.
The Melletts both sing, and Mr. Mellett is the vocal director of Lakewood Church, the largest church in the United States. The megachurch can see some 45,000 attendees a week, meeting in a stadium where Mr. Mellett conducts a 300-piece choir.
“I love to see all of the colors and the multimedia. That was incredible. The way that they bring the two together. Really, really an amazing evening,” Mr. Mellett said. “So gorgeous.”
“It made us feel part of it, part of the traditions, part of the culture. It was a beautiful experience, really,” Mr. Mellett said.
“The whole experience, and what [Shen Yun] is doing for the whole people of China, it’s powerful and necessary,” she said.
Courage and Faith
Mrs. Mellett explained that 25 years ago, her mother traveled to China to smuggle Bibles into the country, so she was well aware of the oppression that communism ushered into China.“We believe in truth, and we believe in justice. And we believe that it’s important to be able to explain and make people aware in a way that you bring them in—it’s beautiful,” she said.
“You bring them in, and you make them feel,” she said. “It’s lovely. And give them a perspective of all that is precious and wonderful. But then tell them the hard parts too ... and to help the people understand what really being Chinese is all about.”
Mr. Mellett added that from the United States, they could see the situation clearly and hoped to “see China return to its roots.”
“So that it’s able to be free,” he said.
