New Korea

My family came back from South Korea and landed on Canadian soil on Thursday, June 7, 2018. We then moved into a new house on the following Saturday.

I met so many great people and so many great things happened in South Korea. There was God's hand over everywhere I was going and every meeting I had with the pastors and missionaries in Korea. I would like to share one of unique experiences I participated back in South Korea.

When I stayed at Jesus Abbey (please read my previous article to learn more about this place), I happened to see a poster promoting a worship/prayer gathering in Paju for 40 days to pray for unification of two Korean nations.

Paju is a very special place, especially for Korean Charismatic Pentecostal Christians. Many of you probably heard the name Rev. David Yonggi Cho, the former pastor of the world's largest church in Yeouido in Seoul. His mother-in-law, Rev. Ja-shil Choi, was praying in what was then Full Gospel Church's cemetery in Paju. I was told that she was praying so loud, pouring her heart out every night, the nearby military base camp was complaining about the noise. Soon, this place became now the world's largest prayer mountain. You will be shocked how large this place is. There are at least five chapels, the largest of which can accommodate 5000 people. There are worship services at least four times a day everyday and there is a shuttle bus going between Full Gospel Church in Seoul and this prayer mountain a number of times a day and each bus is always packed.

A group of people involved in YWAM (I hope I have an opportunity in future to introduce this amazing Christian organization) in 2014 visited N.K. and prayed at the Blue House (the house sitting on the border line between S. and N. Korea). There, they experienced the rushing of the Holy Spirit in that house and heard God telling them to do something odd. They felt that God wanted to gather people on April 29, 2018 to begin forty days of nonstop worship and prayer for 24/7 (Remember, this was 2014).

In obedience, they prepared this, but since 2014 even until the early 2018, two Korea nations were having the worst relationship in recent history. Many believed that another war was imminent. I'm sure many had questioned this God's calling for prayer in 2018, or perhaps wondered if God was calling them to pray because a war could really happen.

Surprisingly, as many of you know through the news, N.K. suddenly changed their attitude and came to the table with S. Korea and United States. Did you know that the presidents of Korean peninsula met on April 27, just two days prior to this forty day of non-stop prayer and worship, and the presidents of US and N.K. met on June 12, just 4 days after this forty day journey? Do you believe these are just coincidents? If you want to learn more about this prayer gathering, visit https://www.newkoreagathering.com/.

I am reminded of Noah's story in Genesis (Gen 6:9-9:17). There is a debate on how long it took for Noah to build the arc. Some say 120 years, some say 100 years, and others say less. One thing that's clear is that it took a really long time, probably at least 50 years. Now, imagine if you were told by God to build an arc, likely on the top of a mountain, for 50+ years, for the possible flood (many Bible scholars believe rain had never happened until the great flood). You are working against every odd in the world's point of view, and yet the Scripture simply says "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him" (Genesis 6:22). I love when the Bible states this kind of remarkable obedience in such a simple, blunt sentence, as if this is such a simple and blunt thing to do (Remember Abraham's obedience to offer his son, Isaac).

This simple act of obedience, however, saved the human race from being wiped off by the great flood. This simple act of obedience, I strongly believed, whether the world may believe it or not, has made a way for two nations on Korean peninsula to start something incredible. And I further argue that this potential opening up of N.K. and unification of Korea in future has an unique divine purpose in God's plan for the final chapter of this human history. I truly believe and anticipate that once N.K. is open, the final chapter will begin to unfold and God's clock will begin to roll towards the end of our time. I'm not saying it is the end. It is the beginning of the last chapter, which will cause many amazing things, positive and negative, rise in the world.

I believe predicting beyond this can be dangerous and somewhat heretical. But, this has served me as an awakening call to be prepared for what's coming. The Lord continues to warn in the Bible that his followers need to be watchful and awake for the end is near. This is in fact an exciting time, because, if you are watchful, you can see God making strong moves here and there. And I believe he is going to make one of a kind powerful move here in London, Canada very soon.

Lastly, I would like to share a video of New Korea gathering.

In Christ,

John Park