Celebration of love and tears 2019 ‘Celebration For the Nations’ in Japan

From July 21st to August 5th, One Voice went to the Celebration For the Nations held in Japan and for a team outreach. It has been a great opportunity to learn how to embrace one’s enemy with the love of Christ which is beyond any thought or emotion of an individual and to bless the land of Japan with the love of Christ. 

Celebration of love and tears 2019 ‘Celebration For the Nations’ in Japan

In the beginning of this year, while we were serving the Celebration For the Nations in Seoul, Korea,we got the news that this summer, it is also going to be held in Japan. For two nights and three days,we asked God and He told us to go and participate. After such a long waiting, the gate was finally opened.

To worship in a such a country which in the past tried to annihilate Korea by wiping out intrinsic culture and language of our own and to bless them was truly meaningful. Of course it was not easy to embrace that kind of heart. However, through the worships during the period of preparation, God spoke to our team to humbly serve and bless them. Because Japan and Korea were connected with such wounds and pains, stepping forward to the place of serving and blessing was only possible through the love of the Cross shown by Jesus Christ.

Beginning from July 24th, for 5 days we worshiped in Yamato, Yokohama, and Tokyo for the recovery and revival of Japan and praised our Lord, the King of all Nations. A total of 16 multinational worship teams consisted of students and group of workers from Korea, Japan, and China served in the Celebration. Also over 200 worshipers from Korea participated in the Celebration to worship together with Japanese people with one voice, with one heart, and in one Spirit.

Right at the moment when the relationship between two nations is not the best, God sent numbers of worshipers to the land of Japan to enjoy the true unity in the truth. It was a part of God’s unimaginable providence and amazing plan.

Through these days, One Voice served three times of worship. With all of our strength, we declared that God would reign over this land as a King. With the proclamation from the Psalms, “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in”, we started off with Pan-nol-ee. We poured our very best and with everything worshiped Him and blessed them in obedience to God speaking to serve and bless them with our own culture.

God has never given up on them, even now He is still holding them tight and saying that He loves them. There was no one who could ever say that “I will not love them and be hostile to them’ in front of His great love. With His heart, we held onto the love of Christ to continue worshiping as we kept fighting against the chaotic minds.

Lots of tear was shed in this Celebration For the Nations. God surely has been longing for this time for Korea and Japan to be united as one in forgiveness and reconciliation and His heart was poured to each and everyone in the presence. The united worship of Korea, China, and Japan overcoming all of historical agonies between three different countries was very significant and pleasing to God. Also the
worship was not limited among the three nations only, but we shouted out the name of Christ for the revival and recovery of all nations.

In every worship service, there was a Japanese young brother praising the Lord holding Korean flag in his hands. Beside him, there was a Chinese brother holding Japanese flag, and a Korean brother waving Chinese flag. That was such a prophetic proclamation of faith for the forgiveness and reconciliation in the future when Korea, China, and Japan would serve all nations as a one in unity.The worship seeking the Kingdom of God and dreaming of a revival all over the world, that truly was an amazing proclamation in faith, not just a single-session celebration.

“The agony of a Nation, and Unending Love” Site Prayers and Church Ministry

Finishing participation in the Celebration For the Nations, we traveled to Ikebuku region. We had our luggage unpacked and spent a day-off before starting a second half of the schedule.

On the first day, the team visited Yaskuni Shrine and the historic site of Ichigaya prison. The Spirit tablets of Class-A War Criminals from the WWII are enshrined in Yskuni Shrine and they are worshiped as idols. This government managed place was such a huge spiritual stronghold where the god of wars was worshiped. Shrines are symbolic places indicating Japanese Animism(a belief of existence of a spirit in every object). From the entrance gate of the Shrine, we were able to witness people bowing and worshiping empty and meaningless gods.

30 minutes away from the Yaskuni by the public transportation, there was a historic site of Ichigaya Prison. Transformed now into a playground, it is the place where a Korean patriotic martyr Bong-chang Lee and Yeol Park were tortured in jail. As if they were covering up their fault in the past, the site was gone and nothing was to be found as a proof. It was very contrasting from what we had seen from the Yaskuni Shrine.

There was a memorial monument erected by some Japanese lawyers with willingness and repenting heart for the independence fighters of the country. In front of that, we could feel such a sorrow which can not be expressed by any words. We could only tear up before the painful history of our nation and all the sacrifice which Korea was established upon. Despite the agony we own from the past, we decided to turn away from the hostility and rage. Rather we chose to bless and pray for the land and the people of Japan with the love of Christ. We prayed as a ‘wounded healer’ for the Kingdom of God would be brought into this land.

On the following days, the team made a visit to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building’s observatory, streets of orgy in Shinjuku, and also to Meiji Shrine to get better understanding of culture and life of Japan and to pray for them.

Site prayer ministry was very difficult due to the weather condition of Tokyo. Our energy was frayed so fast by high temperature which was above 30 degrees average, and 90% of humidity. For 9-months-old Junwoo, it was hard to fight the heat, we had to manage our timetable to avoid the worst time of the day.

Last Friday and Sunday before coming back to Jeju, we did our ministry in Tokyo John Church. This church functions as an united body consisted of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and English worship departments. On Friday Night Prayer meeting, we had a time of encouragement and comfort for the Korean brothers and sisters who recently decided to settle in Japan only because they love the land and people of Japan.

On Sunday evening, we served in a Japanese worship. The church invited many unbelievers by advertising concert worship of Korean culture.

Even though there was not a remarkably active response from the people, we could definitely discovered the anticipation and welcoming through their eyes and faces, and recognize them as a family in the Kingdom of God. During the last song of the worship service, there was something shaky. It felt like an earthquake. With barely no experience of earthquakes, we were very frightened at the moment. When we gazed at the people of the church wondering whether we should leave the building, we could only find people not even blinking, considering it as just a daily routine.

Just like what is shared from above, God disclosed His heart for unity, bless, love, and serving through the worshipers even at the times of difficulties and conflicts between two nations. The Celebration For Nations will be held once again next year with the accordance of the dates for the Tokyo Olympics.

Worshipers dreaming of the Kingdom of God may step into where the darkness dwells to share the gospel of love and fill it up with the light of glory by proclaiming the glory of God. We fully trust that this two weeks of journey have been time we were able to declare the glory of our Lord over the land of Japan and to open the gate which would bring the reconciliation of broken relationships and the new things and works of God. We joyfully anticipate that the generations of new wine-skins for new wine will be continuously stood by the prayers. (by Junho Kim/One Voice)

^{**Celebration For Nations: an International Festival of Worship. began with a sharing of a vision of aWelsh Missionary (Num 21:16-17), a gathering of worshippers in Wales from the nations touched bythe 1904 Welsh Revival, to reopen the wells dug by our forefathers, and find new ones for our time.World-widely gathered worship teams worshipped together from the year of 2007 in Wales(2007~2013), in Korea (2014-2015), in Israel (2016-2017), and in Japan this year.}