Report: Celebration for the Nations Summer 2015
We had a glorious time worshipping the Lord and calling on His name for the reunification of Korea this August.
We met in the Methodist University in Seoul. It was wonderful to see some of the students with us and also to welcome the Dean and other leaders. They have been inspired by Celebration for the Nations and will incorporate
12 hours of worship into their annual ministers' conference this year. Revival Korea and some of the other members of the family of Celebration worship teams will help them.
Jehovah Rapha!
The name of God that was with me and at least two other leaders very strongly through this time was Jehovah Rapha, The Lord our Healer, or literally I AM HEALING.
Since last year we have been crying out for a generation to rise in the spirit and power of Elijah. A generation that will prepare the way for the Second Coming of Jesus, as John the Baptist, in that spirit and power of Elijah, prepared the way for His first coming.
When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal, the word of God tells us that he 'repaired' the altar of the Lord. That word in Hebrew is rapha. He healed that altar. It was a great statement of faith in a divided nation. Elijah was declaring that there would be one nation under God. He took 12 stones representing all the 12 Tribes of Israel, North and South and healed them, repaired them into one altar.
In our generation we are doing the same thing. On the 70th anniversary of the end of Japanese occupation in Korea and the beginning of the divide between the two nations, we joined in worship. There were were refugees from North Korea, many South Koreans as well as some from Africa, other parts of Asia, Europe and North America. We worshipped, offering our bodies as living sacrifices, living stones. We worshipped Jehovah Rapha, the only one who is able to heal the divide, because He has already paid for it in His own torn body on the Cross.
The Indonesian team summed up in a simple but powerfully anointed song what we are offering our lives to Jesus for:
People need the Lord
Everyday they pass me by
I can see it in their eyes
Empty people filled with care
Headed who knows where
On they go through private pain
Living fear to fear
Laughter hides their silent cries
Only Jesus hears
People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door
People need the Lord, people need the Lord
When will we realize people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right
What could be too great a cost
For sharing life with one who's lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear
They must hear the words of life
Only we can share
People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door
People need the Lord, people need the Lord
When will we realize that we must give our lives?
For people need the Lord, people need the Lord
Songwriters
Gregory Allan Nelson;Phillip McHugh
In North and South Korea, and throughout the nations, that is the truth! We are praying for reunification for a broken nation; the answer is the same as for a broken heart. People need the Lord. They can only see Him through us, His body, serving, caring, going.
Evangelism
In Celebration for the Nations we have always tried to take our worship onto the streets. Somehow, as we worship, people are drawn. Worship brings the presence of the Lord, and people are hungry for Him. This year on the streets of Seoul, several found their Saviour. We also sent teams out to Japan (very significant as they were the occupying power until 70 years ago), Turkey and Israel. I hope you will hear about Japan and Turkey through others. I will share about Israel at the end of this report.
Drought
While in Korea we heard that there was a severe drought in the North affecting the crops and therefore causing more suffering to an already under-nourished people. In fact even in the South the rainfall had been very scarce.
The first downpour came in the South just before our first leaders' preparation meeting. On the final day of the Celebration, 70 years to the day when Korea was freed from Japanese occupation, we held 12 hours of worship. At the end of that day we felt that, like Elijah, we needed to pray for the rain to come to the North. Elijah did not stop until he had his answer.
A great force of prayer rose up from among us as we committed ourselves to keep on praying for the physical and the spiritual rain over One Korea. We prayed particularly for a breaking of the drought over the North. We felt the Lord say that it would be a sign of His coming in revival power.
The very next day it rained with such force in Seoul that the car I was in had to slow to a near stop on the way to the airport! It rained and rained. We found when we looked online that it was also raining in Pyongyang!
It has continued to rain as we continue to pray. The rain needs to go right up into the very Northern provinces of North Korea, and it will as we pray! We have the spirit and power of Elijah, not because of our righteousness, but because of Jesus' cleansing blood.
It is interesting that within a few days of the Celebration tensions rose between North and South Korea, and they were for a short while on a war footing. We are in a spiritual battle, and our Enemy will not give in easily. We must keep praying, keep worshipping the One they need!
Finance Testimony
At the beginning of the Celebration this year we still needed the equivalent of £20,000 to pay all the bills. I was asked to 'do' the offerings. When I came off the stage having asked people to give, I felt very uncomfortable. When we met together as leaders the next day I realised why. I was looking to the people to provide what we needed, rather than the Lord.
The next night the Lord asked me to publicly repent publicly of not trusting Him, and of putting a burden on the people. We took another offering, but I asked only those who had a real conviction to give. After that the only offering we took was for the work in North Korea. We did make baskets available for anyone who wanted to give.
Until the last day we still needed money, but we had a joy in our hearts that the Lord would work. Somebody came on that day and gave an offering that covered everything else that we needed! How wonderful the Lord is. He works even when we are so weak!
Future
We will continue Celebration for the Nations in Korea in some form, because we know that we have not finished what the Lord is asking of us yet. However, next year we are also going to Israel. The Lord is clearly leading and confirming this, in what we realise is a Jubilee Year in Israel.
The first gifts specifically for Celebration Israel have come from our brothers and sisters in the worship team from Uganda!
Israel Trip
Our mandate was to prepare the way for next year's Celebration in worship and prayer and in practical relationships.
The Lord has lead us to Mount Carmel to Kehilat HaCarmel, a congregation that I have known for 25 years. Check out the links below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w78zYtk2fJU Sarah Libberman's invitation to Celebration for the Nations. Sarah is a worship leader on Mt Carmel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h35GsY5SvhE Sermon of Senior Pastor David Davies while we were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AFTmoDvDN0 Korean Blessing song sung over the congregation on Carmel.
We will now be able to pray for a generation to rise in the spirit and power of Elijah on Mount Carmel!
When we were there an American team from Burn 24/7 was visiting too. They are doing 24/7 worship events all over the world. One of their leaders had a dream before he came. When he entered the Sanctuary on the top of Mount Carmel, he recognised the place in his dream. In the dream he saw water rising from the ground. He knew nothing of our vision in Celebration to sing so that the wells would spring up! He said that he knew that this water was the water of healing!
Let healing flow!
We worshipped and prayed with Jews, Arabs and other Gentiles. It was sweet to be on that mountain praying for reconciliation and reunification for yet another divided nation. From the mountain top on a clear day you can see across the to Galilee and even into Lebanon and Syria.
The location is challenging.....the very highest point on Mount Carmel! There is a small Druze town there. The Druze are a breakaway sect of Islam, and there are only a few believers among them. There are a few 'Christian' Arabs scattered among them. Through a precious Egyptian sister who is part of the Nations team, we were privileged to meet the first couple to come to faith in that town. They are now helping us to find accommodation for people in homes and small guest houses!
A lovely Korean couple are also helping us. They are used to dealing with tour groups and live in the area too.
We spent three nights in Jerusalem in a wonderful Korean house of prayer. By unplanned, but divine appointment, we met Hayam (Life), a Messianic Believer. Part of what he does is train people in how to speak to Jewish people about their Messiah. That night on Ben Yehuda (a main shopping street in the new city) we worshipped, and scores of people stood for ages and listened with rapt attention. However, when we offered beautiful literature to take home with them, only a few would take it. Most, as Hayam warned us, were afraid to take any Messianic literature into their homes. They felt they could bring a curse on themselves and their families.
Lord, give us wisdom as we worship you! Show us how to speak for you! Show us how to demonstrate your love and your grace and your longing for all of your people, Israel!
Start to prepare for Celebration now!
1) Block out the dates: 31 July – 6 August!
2) Worship the Lord. Keep loving Him.
3) Pray! Ask for the Lord's word, His promises over this our 10th Celebration for the Nations.
4) Proclaim! This is the literal year of Jubilee! We are in one of those 50th years that Leviticus 25 talks of. It started this September. Jesus proclaimed the Jubilee promise from Isaiah 61 when He started His ministry. He is the Jubilee. The Jubilee is debts forgiven, slaves set free, inheritance restored!
5) Give. I am 'putting out the basket' not demanding, but if you would like to be a part of helping the Celebration physically happen through your finance, this is how to do it....
Cheques made out to Celebration for the Nations.
Direct debit or gifts into this bank account:
Sort Code 55-70-37
Account number 81093918
NatWest Bank, 40 Market Street, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 1AD
We are having difficulties doing mass mailing at the moment due to some ongoing battles between hotmail and gmail, which may yet escalate. Please bear with us. We will try to do most things through the website www.celebrationforthenations.org or Facebook: Celebration for the Nations.
Every blessing,
Gail
