What a privilege it was to
attend the World Methodist Council meeting in Seoul and to hear about what God
is doing in and through the Methodist Church as well as learn about concerns
for prayer. The World Methodist Council
comprises 425 members representing almost 80 million members in over 130
countries and it is a real honour for me to be a part of this on behalf of the
Methodist Church in Britain.
It was also good to learn
about the particular issues facing the church in South Korea and hear about
their earnest prayer for the reunification of North and South Korea. I was honoured to attend an early morning
prayer meeting with 5000 local believers, as the culmination of 40 days of
prayer for the reestablishment of the church in North Korea. I learned that there used to be a flourishing
church in North Korea as described on this notice board outside the church
where we were meeting.
As I arrived for the early
morning meeting, many had already gathered and were silently and fervently
praying. Each person had brought their
Bible with them, some of which were very well worn and clearly loved, and many
took notes as the Pastor preached. The commitment, fervour and spiritual hunger
of the Korean Christians was a challenge to me and something from which we in
the UK can learn so much. We gave thanks
to God that although just a year ago the nation was on the verge of war, today
the prayers of many have been answered as reunification seems a step closer.
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| Prayer wall in the entrance to the church |
It was also an experience to
share in worship on a grand scale on the Sunday morning, complete with
orchestra and full robed choir. Kwanglim
Methodist Church has around 85,000 members who meet at various times and places
during a usual Sunday. It was amazing to
experience church on a large scale like this, though I have to say, not
something I would want to do every week!
The sheer organisation of getting communion to over 5000 people at a
time, taking up the offering and getting people in and out was awe inspiring!
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| The President and Vice President of the World Methodist Council leading prayers. |
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| There were banks of cameras everywhere! |
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| The very professional choir. |
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| The team collecting the offering - with military precision! |
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| Lovely Mataiva from New Zealand who has a remarkable testimony of how Jesus has brought her healing from cancer. |
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| We had to sit in special pews! |
On the Sunday evening we were
invited to take part in an open air peace prayer service, again praying for the
church in North Korea. It was a blessing
to stand with the people of the church in South Korea to pray for the breaking
down of the barrier that divides their nation, and in many cases, their
families.
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| Gathering for open air prayer meeting |
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| Korea's Methodist head office |
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| Statue of the king who introduced the Korean language |
One of the highlights for me
was sharing a meal with some of the Korean women from the World Federation of
Methodist and Uniting Church women, along with other leaders from the UK and
USA. We were treated to a traditional
Korean meal eaten with chopsticks of course.
I have decided that this is a brilliant diet plan as I just couldn’t eat
very much at all! Clearly I need more
practice!
It was a real honour to
receive the generous hospitality of our Korean brothers and sisters and I am so
grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the wider world church through the
WMC and I am so grateful to everyone back home for your prayerful support as I
travelled.
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| Library in a shopping mall - it reminded me of the library in Beauty and the Beast! |
