Military service and another prayer mountain

    Today my hosts took me to a service marking the anniversary of the end of the Korean War for those in military service. Every young man in South Korea is called to do military service; most of them are about 21 years old when they are called up. They usually serve for just over two years. Although South Korea is not at war there is always the threat that North Korea could invade the country, and so the country is ready with young men on military service. This is an important part of Korean culture especially for the men. My hosts have been part of a church that supports events and services that are about sharing Jesus' love with these young men. The service we attended was at a prayer mountain.

    We arrived early and I looked around the prayer mountain site. The site is North of Seoul and is the largest and most famous prayer mountain established by Yonggi Cho of the Full Gospel church ( the biggest church in the world). It has a big auditorium, and my hosts say that during the 70's and 80's people came for events and they couldn't all sit but they would bring blankets to sit on and the services were relayed onto screens in the chapels. People would stay over night and sleep in heir cars as there was nowhere to sleep. People still flood here to pray and fast. There are small huts (a bit smaller than a beach hut) where you can pray. As I walked past today there were people praying, as they prayed they cried, and some were wailing. They were on their kneels fervently praying. I can now see why people say the heart of the Korean faith is based on prayer.

  After being quite amazed at what I was seeing, we then sat down for the service. I expected a formal  service, like you would have in the UK, but this was lively and energetic. To help you get the size and the feel of the service. Here is a picture.

The afternoon service was quite different from previous years. To help you get a perspective on this. The morning service was about an hour and half, the afternoon service was two hours, and the evening service was three hours. A lot of services! The afternoon service was more like a concert. Some famous Korean Christian artists sang, there was some messages from all kinds of people including MP's and famous singers sharing with them how important their faith was to them, and some who accepted Jesus when they were in the military. A special moment for me was when we all sang 'How great thou art' the energy and volume was quite spectacular. I felt I was at some big youth rally and now can imagine what some of the Billy Graham crusades must have felt like.