My mind was arguing with God....But, but...it's going to be expensive now; the airfare's gone up for sure; besides the whole tingy is in Mandarin, and I am a 'banana Chinese', I won't be able to understand what the speakers are talking about....Actually Korea Prayer Mt. is indeed one of the 2 places in the world I want to visit before I go home to heaven (the other is Jerusalem), only I didn't expect or want to make the trip that soon. But as usual, God has a way of messing up my nicely laid-out plans... He just shut up my objections with 1 line - Go for the sake of ( a dearly loved one) ... . And so it was, I found myself on a plane 6 months later bound for Korea Prayer Mt.... joining our Chinese church on what is now their annual 'pilgrimage' to the Asian Christian Conference held there every year. I went with this burning desire in my heart - to meet with God, since it was His call. I have learnt when God calls, if we answer, He is sure to bless, and so it was that I was tremendously blessed during that 1 week in Korea.
I had expected a 'mountain' but found instead a place built up with main sanctuary, prayer grottoes and chapels which functioned as spartan dorms to accommodate the thousands who troop in for the 2 1/2 days conference. It was no 'walk in the park' tho, very grueling schedule, starting at 5.30 am, ending only about 9 pm... and fasting throughout the duration. Guess what time we had to wake up to "Q" for open communal toilet/bath and to 'jom' a seat in the sanctuary.... imagine people so packed into pews there is no space to even maneuver our knees.... and minimal breaks in between sessions. Some chose to catch their 40 winks, some hung around to yak, desperadoes like me hogged the prayer grottoes...I had heard much about these little cubby holes, where one just gets 'shut in' with God. And truly they are little... rooms so small you have to stoop to get in, and once in, you can only kneel or sit, and all the walls enclose around you like a brick cocoon. (those with claustrophobia definitely have a problem!).
I have never seen worship the way they do it on Prayer Mt. I always thought I was pretty 'liberated' in my worship. But Prayer Mt opened me up to an entirely different level of corporate worship and prayer. The experience of 4500 united hearts beating as one is nothing less than awesome. We were all dressed in different color codes, gathered in groups all over the sanctuary, and my first sight of so many hands raised in praising God, so many happy voices shouting, singing, people dancing... was that this is how heaven is gonna be like... the very air was pulsing with joy. If i didn't know better, I would conclude this was a bunch of very crazy people, high on something.... come to think of it, yes indeed, we were high drunk..with and in the Spirit of God. It was very spontaneous, and no, it wasn't mass crowd hysteria. I was totally in control and yet not in control. The desire to just praise God was so overwhelming; it didn't matter that I didn't know the songs, I couldn't bother about the fella/s next to me. All I knew was the joy bursting out from somewhere deep inside me. And whenever the call for prayer was issued (which was often), a whole chorus of cries would rise in immediate response. No wonder Bible tells us the whole of heaven stops to listen to the prayers of believing saints!
Truly I have never seen prayer the way they do it on Prayer Mt. For the first time in my life, I heard, I saw what prayer can and should be. Of coz I pray, and I do believe all prayers are heard, however and wherever prayed. But the way Koreans pray put me into shock. They don't 'just' pray; they PRAY! - loud, clear, and insistent. Finally I understood what the Bible meant when it talks about 'travailing prayer'.... that's equivalent to a woman in labor pain. The Koreans know how to travail - deep. You can hear their cries from the individual grottoes, some even park themselves in the cemetery grounds to pray. Initially, I thot what the heck, this is soooo strange, praying in an open graveyard?? But I steeled myself, I had come to pray, so pray I did... That nite, I stood and unloaded all of my heart's burdens to God under an open heaven. Never have I prayed so hard, so long and so loud. And it was in the throes of totally unhindered prayer, that I realized the truth of what Jesus said, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.(Mark 11:24) By faith, I have already received answers to every prayer I prayed on that mountain; and I merely wait for its physical manifestation in due course. How do I know? Because I have come in faith, asked in faith and thru faith in Jesus, I can approach God with freedom and confidence, that it's a done deal, sealed 2000 years ago by the blood of Him who hung on the cross for me.
God had called me to Korea so that i could appropriate this truth into my heart, not just know it as a doctrine in the head. I will never pray the same again. Looking back, I see the grace of God extended to enabling me to comprehend enuf Mandarin to catch the main gist of the messages presented by the various conference speakers. Indeed He even prepared an easy start for me, for the first 3 sessions were 'conveniently' taken up by an African pastor who spoke in English! Feeding on so much spiritual food, I was already more than satisfied by the time I said goodbye to Prayer Mt, as we headed down into Seoul city But there was more... there always is more from the God of abundance!!
The programme called for us to attend a Korean cell meeting at a local resident's home. I had been warned it would be very much 'touch-n-go', since most times, the sessions would end up like chickens trying to talk to ducks! But the cell group I was slotted in with turned out to be a group of Korean ladies who had all married foreigners and so could handle English, thus we could follow and understand the lesson pretty well indeed. And contrary to expectations, our host group didn't take the easy way out by simply going out for makan...instead we were treated to an authentic (and fantastic) home-cooked spread of Korean food...such a blessing it was!
But God saved the best for last.... we got to attend the Sunday service in the world's largest church - Yoido Full Gospel Church. Currently numbering some 800,000 members, the church services run thru out 7 sessions every Sunday, back to back. 1 session finishes and walks out from 1 side of the building, at the opposite side a stream of people are coming in for the next session. If you think 4500 a crowd, just try to imagine some 120,000 bodies at any one time, packed corner to corner, pew upon pew, downstairs, upstairs...practically an indoor stadium of people gathered together intent on 1 single focus - God. That's Yoido church service, complete with full orchestra and choir. When they sing, I swear it must be how angels sound like! My mind and eyes boggled at the sheer magnitude and magnificence of it all. As I put on the headphones to listen to the simultaneous translation (in 7 languages, i tink), I heard God speak, or rather He sang, to me, such a beautiful song. I had come to Korea with heavy burdens in the heart, I had released them up on the mountain. And He now capped it all with a very vocal assurance coming straight into my ears...the unseen voice translated the words of the worship song.... God will take care of you, He will take care of you, He will take care of you, thru every day, over all the ways, God will take care of you. Over and over again, the words sounded and resounded, throbbing into my ears. Yes, it's just a song, and the translator ain't God. You can be cynical all you want, but I know God meant it for me. In the midst of 120,000 people, God was thinking about little me. So whilst the music played and the song was taken up repeatedly, I heard it as God taking all the trouble to console, comfort and convince me He has everything, absolutely everything, in my life under His control. I did the only thing I could do.... I cried.
That was the high but by no means the end of my Korean rendezvous. For beyond being so tremendously blessed at the receiving end , God made sure to give me some 'work' to do. We had a pretty amiable Korean lass as our tour guide in the city. Not only pretty, but efficient too, taking care of all our transport, tour and food arrangements. On our second last day, I felt the familiar tug in my heart to open my mouth and share, for God had given me a very specific vision for her. I found just enuf time to release it to her as we were walking out of a museum. Still my heart was burdened; the job wasn't finished. But I was hesitant, unsure and truth be told, a little wary, for I didn't know how she would react. I simply told God if He wanted me to carry on, He would have to make more time available and put us together somehow. The very next morning, we had a 1 hour journey ahead, and there was an empty seat next to her on the bus. Not only that, at a stop over in a Christian bookstore, I picked up 5 similar book-marks for frens back home. At the counter, I spotted another 1 of different design, but was told it was the very last 1 available. I was thinking to buy or not to buy, since it was the odd one out. I bought it anyway as it was a very pretty butterfly design with the words, God is Love. It was only back on the bus it struck me, that's the very message I just shared with the Missy guide. Obviously God picked it out for her, not me. Talk about divine appointments....
I will probably never go back to Korea again, since I am saving up for Jerusalem now. But this one trip alone has changed my worship and prayer life forever; I have received so so much. And the fruits are immediately evident...the very next morning back at work, as I led in our regular morning worship/prayer before the start of the day's routine, the presence of God came down into our midst .....Hallelujah.......the Korean 'fire' had swept in..... praise God, for to Him belong all the glory and honor.
"For this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him".....1 John 5:14-15
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