7PM - ANOINTING FOR COUPLES

Some members caught up with their rest in the morning. Others like myself couldn't sleep. I really felt refreshed and energized instead after the watch, so I went to spend some time praying in the grotto. It was a supernatural feeling. Logically, I should be tired. But I felt energized and could go on without sleep even into the next morning. It was like a mountain-top feeling to me.

After dinner, we gathered for a debrief of our morning watch. Everyone looked so excited. Many shared about their own personal experience and impressions they had.

Jessica shared that the Lord impressed upon her to run like running to the finishing line in the spiritual realm, during the early morning watch. That was why she ran. Gek confirmed that as she shared earlier the Lord wants us to be like what Paul said to "throw away every hindrances.". She also felt that it is not going to be an easy walk for us, but to really run the race.

Chin Siong shared that like many others, he had ever been assigned to watch a cemetary in his army days. It was always a spooky experience because of the many reported spiritual encounters. But the experience was not like that at the Holy Hill. He also felt the Lord affirming him "He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world."

Sylvia also felt that we needed to deal with the spirit of Fear in our midst. Pastor Daniel agreed and said that we should have a ministry time to cast out the spirit of fear. Pastor and Gek prayed for the leaders first. Some members also came forward later to be prayed for.

A Special Ministry Time for the Couples

Afterwards Pastor Daniel distributed an article on the spiritual role of husband and wife. Gek shared that the Lord impressed upon her to have a ministry time at the end, especially for the couples. She felt that the Lord wanted the wives to pray for the husbands, just as Pastor Cho's mother in-law Hallelujah Mama played a key role in praying for and encouraging his ministry.

Day 4, Wednesday - WATCH OF THE LORD

We assembled at 3am at House of Love, for our ascend up the Holy Hill. It was freezing in the early morning in the first week of spring. The last I checked the temperature was in the range of -3 degrees C. We had many layers on from head to toe. Equiped with all essential winter items including hat, eyeglasses, scarf, thermals, gloves, boots, heat patch, we finally set off. Some of us bought sleeping bags from the Prayer Mountain minimart which came in quite useful later.

With our torchlights we ascended the Holy Hill. We assembled at Hallelujah Mama's tomb site. The empty patch suits us nicely. We began to pray in the Spirit. We could still feel the chilling cold in all our warm clothings, but the prayers lifted our spirit. After a while our bodies got used to the the chilling temperature, The worship and prayers also got us warmed up. We prayed on for at least 20 minutes.

As she was praying Gek told the Lord ,"Lord, I want to feel how you felt at Gethsemane." She felt the Lord impress upon her to quickly gather everyone, and saying to us, "I will manifest myself." So she gathered everyone and shared this. Soon everyone gathered around continued to pray.

By this time the chilling cold was beginning to get into some of us, but amazingly everyone continued to tarry and pray in the freezing cold.

Jessica felt the Lord telling her to "run to the finish line". So she started to run.

Grace shared that the Lord gave her the verse Phil 4:13, "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Some felt that the darkness was all around, more than just the physical darkness of the wee morning hours.

When it was nearing 6am, there was some trace of light in the horizon where the mountains are. Some of us knew this sign very well, especially those who are acquanted with early morning prayer sessions. Sunrise is coming very soon.

At this point, Gek said that we should pray for the G12. Grace also gave the word from Joshua 1, about the two and a half tribes crossing Jordan to help the other brothers to conquer their enemies.

In just a short moment, we witnessed the sun rising up from behind the mountains. It was a spectacular and exhilarating sight. The whole land just turned into complete brightness in just a matter of minutes. In such a short time, darkness is completely gone. We now have the bright early morning sunshine. The chilling cold is gone too. We could feel it slowly getting warmer. We burst into the worship song "Arise Shine" spontaneously.

We continued with a short time of worship. Above in the sky, 3 helicopters just flew pass us, reminiscent of angels. We went back to our rooms to rest. We could also see some special clouds in the sky, which resembled five fingers of a palm.

EVENING - VICTORY RUN

BOTH BLESSING AND CURSE WERE WITH JESUS AT THE CROSS.
CURSE SAID TO HIM, "AREN'T YOU THE SAVIOUR? SAVE YOURSELF AND US!"
BLESSING SAID TO HIM, "JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM."
JESUS ANSWERED HIM, "TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE."

LUKE 23


After the debrief, some of the ladies suggested that we visit the Victory Road.

At the Victory Road, Gek remembered during the G12 Conference, the Lord showed her a vision of her ladies walking in one line, standing next to each other, with their legs tied to each other's, walking in one accord.

The group decided to run down Victory Road instead. They started running. In the midst, Gek said to one of the ladies, "Throw down your bag. We can't let the burden hinder you." Later Gek shared that she felt the Lord saying we run the race (not walking), we have no time, and must put away all things that hinder us. The Lord is waiting at the finish line.

After the Victory Road, we toured the new conference and sports hall which was just next to Victory Road. We then went back for an early rest, to be ready for the 3am watch early the next morning.

Day 3, Tuesday - Revelation of the Cross

Morning was the usual grotto time. However, we did not anticipate the big one waiting for us in the 2pm debriefing afterwards.


2PM - REVELATION OF THE CROSS

Jessica started the session sharing about how she cried and cried the night before during prayer at the sanctuary. When she was small, whenever she heard that someone is sick, she would feel for that person and cry. But everytime she cried, there was no tear. Pastor affirmed her that this is the Intercessor gifting. He also shared that to be ministers for God, we must have the heart of compassion. Many of us do not have compassion, and therefore we can't cry.

Gek also shared that we must be broken, and feel God's heart of compassion. If you truely have the love of God in your heart, you will surely be able to cry and pray for the loss. Imagine your son being kidnapped and thrown into a dungeon and imprisoned, you will cry for him. She also shared that when she was in the grotto this morning, the Lord show her that we need to have the Revelation of the Cross. Pastor and Gek then asked Chee Kong to share about his morning grotto experience:

(Chee Kong was now going to share about his mighty Revelation of the Cross he received in the morning grotto. Actually at this point, Pastor and Gek still did not know about the details of his revelation yet)

This is how his mighty revelation go: In the morning Chee Kong and Jean went to the grotto together. Chee Kong asked the Lord to show him the Revelation of the Cross. The Lord answered his prayer and brought him to the crucifixion scene, and allowed him to look through Jesus' eyes from the cross.

He saw thick black clouds engulfing the sky as depicted in the bible. Upon closer look, these clouds were actally legions and legions of demons just pounding on the Lord Jesus. He also saw at the other corner, legions of angels were ready for war, all waiting for the Lord to just issue the command and will come down to do battle and would rescue Him immediately. However, as He looked at the crowd, He saw our faces, the faces of our loved ones and our friends. And at that instant, He said, "I cannot, because I saw your faces. Because of you, I must hang on."

At this point, Chee Kong broke down and cry. Soon everyone was on the floor kneeling and crying. At that point, God really showed us the compassion of the Lord. For some of us, we would not cry normally, but at that moment, God showed us His compassion for the lost, and everyone was crying.

Pastor and Gek led us to repent of our heart of stone. We needed to receive the compassion of the Lord. And on that day the Lord transformed the heart of stone, and gave us His heart of compassion.

PM - FROM GROTTO TO GETHSEMANE

8PM - HALLELUJAH MAMA GRAVE SITE

After dinner, we came across KS, Angie and Wai Yee excitedly on their way somewhere. Aparently a Singaporean friend who had been here told them that they should visit the grave of Pastor Choi Jashil, the mother in-law of Pastor Cho Yonggi, more affectionately known by the Koreans as "Hallelujah Mama", located at the Holy Hill. This is a small area somewhere on the left side, half way up the hill. They went there immediately and found the grave. There was a very nice corner with an empty patch big enough to accomodate the team. Some people were praying there, so they decided to let Pastor know and come back again later at night.

NIGHT - LEADERS CHECKED OUT HALLELUJAH MAMA SITE

Pastor decided to lead the cell leaders to visit the Hallelujah Mama site together. We found the site vacant, and spent the time praying and seeking the Lord. Afterwards, in sharing, some felt that we needed to invite the group to come back here the next night to pray and to observe the Watch of the Lord, as in the Garden of Gethsemane. They also sensed that the most painful moment in Jesus' life was at the Garden of Gethsemane, not the cross itself. It was there that He faced the agony of choosing to obey the Father and go the way of the cross. It was there that His sweat became blood, and He cried out to the Father, "may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." Some felt that it was there that He really died.

In Matthew 26 Jesus told His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” But He came back 3 times and found them sleeping instead. We felt that we needed to tarry the hour that Jesus asked, and the disciples failed. We had to come back the next night and do the watch. It was later decided to be 3am, where we would wait and pray to day break.

Day 2, Monday - Call to Walk by the Spirit

"TO MOVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL, YOU MUST FIRST RENEW YOUR MIND.
YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR THINKING, FROM LOGIC TO SPIRIT."

The first morning in Prayer Mountain started with early morning prayers by many in the grottos. I will attempt to share as many of the revelations they received as I possibly can. It means I will have to come back and update this and several other days' posts as and when they come in.

As the day unfolds, it was slowly becoming clear that the Lord was leading us to the main theme, the new truth that He wanted to teach us in this trip: to learn to walk by the Spirit. To do that we would all have to learn to cross the line: from moving in the flesh, to moving in the spirit; from doing what is natural to us, to doing what is supernatural; from walking by sight, to walking by faith.

The interesting thing is that this has been what the Lord has impressed upon my heart as I came on this trip. What we also found out was that on the wall of some of our dormitory rooms, there was a calender printed by Yoido Full Gospel Church. The painting printed on this month's (March) calendar was a painting depicting Jesus' first miracle: Turning Water into Wine.


2PM - WORSHIP & DEBRIEF

After the morning, the Lord prompted Gek to ask pastor to ask for permission to use the conference hall at the House of Love where we were staying. During the previous trip we were told that it will cost $300 per session to use the hall, so we did not rent it. Not having much hope on getting it, pastor asked the caretaker at the main lobby, and much to our surprise, he granted us the permission to use the hall totally free of charge! Not only that, everyday a different caretaker would be on duty, and not one of them stopped us from using the hall. So we were practically using the hall every afternoon for worship and debriefing and ministry.


MIRACLE HEALING ON FRANKIE

Frankie our main guitarist and worship leader came on the trip with an injured hand. His left palm was swollen and could not grip the guitar chords properly. So he was stuggling painfully, and could not play the guitar and was really down. Pastor and Gek prayed for him after lunch before we started the session. As he prayed for Frankie, pastor felt the Lord wanted to release Psalm 144 to him. Without knowing the content, he opened the bible and read it to Frankie.

Psalm 144:1
"Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."

Psaml 144:9
"I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,"


Gek also continued to pray for Frankie. In the midst of all these, Frankie felt the warmth going up his arm. They all saw the swelling on Frankie's hand reducing immediately, right before their eyes. It shrank to the point of a normal size palm and fingers. Frankie was healed and was able to play the guitar immediately. He went on the play the guitar for our first worship session in Prayer Mountain.


DEBRIEF

During the debrief and sharing after worship, the members shared about their inidividual grotto experience. Gek shared that she sensed the Lord is showing her Jesus Turning Water into Wine. She felt that the Lord wants to take what is natural and turn into supernatural. What is ordinary into extra-ordinary. For that to happen, the Lord is calling us His disciples to begin to move in the Spirit, and no longer to move in the flesh. We need to walk by faith, and no longer by sight (what we see and hear happening around us).

8PM - CONSECRATION AT HOLY HILL

Our first activity at prayer mountain started after dinner with our night climb up the "Holy Hill".

This is actually a cemetery on the hill next to the main entrance, where some well respected pastors are burried. You will not feel spooky at all in this cemetery, even in the darkness of night. The place feels exactly like a Holy Hill, a feeling of peace engulfed this place.

As you begin your climb, you may not see clearly in the dark, but you will hear voices of people praying around you. Some prayed aloud as a group. Some came individually, and just sat there and prayed through the night. It was an awesome feeling.

The activity wasn't really planned at first. Pastor and Gek led the team on an orientation walk after dinner. As they reached the main sanctuary, they saw the familiar big picture of Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea. Suddenly the Lord impressed upon Gek that Pastor is Moses, leading his people "over-sea" to God's holy mountain (Sinai). She felt the Lord telling her to "quickly align the people to go to the top of the Holy Hill".

At the Hill Gek told the people to look at the several red crosses of the church buildings in the distant. "Let God speak to you. He wants to reveal to you about His love. He wants to show some of you the Revelation of the Cross." (As we would come to know later on the next day, the important part this powerful Revelation of Cross play in this trip)

Gek released the word, "We need to repent and confess our sins, and be cleansed by the Lord. God wants to consecrate us as one united body." We began to pray and repent of our sins.

Then we worshiped the Lord with the song "It's Your Blood (that cleanses me)" and another Chinese song "Your Love is Unchanging (Ni Ai Yong Bu Bian)". At the end of the worship we burst into prayers.

I was standing in the last row. As we continued praying, the prayers of all the people bacame more intense and in unison. That's when I felt that a 'presence' suddenly engulf us. Not long later there was a wind that started to blow. It lasted for about 5 minutes and was no more. This was very unusual as the air had been still the whole night, and continued to be still after that. I know spirit sometimes takes the form of wind.


"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came...and filled the whole house..." Acts 2:2

ANOTHER "TOMB" GROTTO

Picture of another "Tomb" Grotto by the hillside.

"TOMB" GROTTO

This is the "Tomb" grotto, the most humble look of all, but also the most "anointed" one, as you would hear many testify. Don't be deceived by its look, it is actually very clean inside, lined with wooden floor board and interior walls. It is not heated though.

PRAYER GROTTOS

There are several types of prayer grottos. Some are like small huts, some are bigger grottos complete with floor heater to keep yourself warm during cold winter (you need a passport to get a key to access one). Some are built into the side of a hill (we jokingly call that the "tomb" grotto).

Once you are inside a grotto and close the door, you could then focus and pray for an hour. During my early morning grotto times, I have heard prayers that lasted whole morning. When I went for lunch and came back, the person was still praying and it continued on for the whole day. During the whole time, the person was crying out aloud and pleading to the Lord. I was deeply moved by the intensity and the persistent long prayer.


"During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission."
Hebrews 5:7

4 PM - ARRIVAL AT PRAYER MOUNTAIN

"I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill."
Psalm 3:4

After lunch, we arrived at Choi Jashil Fasting & Prayer Mountain at around 4pm. The site is on the top of the hill, and at the highest point you can see North Korea in the distant.

At the main sanctuary (the white and green auditorium building above), several worship services are conducted daily from 5am onwards. People come from all over Korea to pray here. They pray all day in the prayer grottoes. Many of them also bring along their sleeping bags. At night they lay them along the floor of the main sanctuary and spend the night in prayer or just sleep there when they are tired.

2ND KEY - PRAYER

"PRAYER IS AS IMPORTANT AS SLEEPING, EATING AND BREATHING."

"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OUR LIVES IS PRAYER."

Pastor Cho started his ministry in a used tent bought from the US Marine. He pitched it in one of the poorest areas in Seoul.

"I remember so well actually living in my tent, spending my nights in prayer. During our cold Korean winters, I would cover myself with blankets and spend many hours in prayer, lying near my pulpit. Soon, other members of my small congregation began to join me in prayer. In a short period of time, more than fifty people were gathering to spend entire nights in prayer."

"I spend a great deal of my prayer life praying in my spiritual language...in my personal prayer time I use my spiritual language a great deal."

"We have learned not only to pray, but we have learned how to live our lives in prayer. Jesus commanded us to pray WITHOUT CEASING."

Pastor Cho also taught the importance of praying long, persistent prayers. He taught that we must pray through the issue:

"If you just pray casually, then after a little while you become tired and can't think of anything else to pray about."

Pastor Cho also emphasized the importance of praying for at least one hour:

"We should pray at least one hour...The least time of prayer that you need to pray in order to conquer the devil is to pray for one hour...When I have prayed for one hour, something "clicks", and I break the barrier and enter into the spiritual realm."

"For one hour I am fighting in my spirit. I try to concentrate, but my flesh fights me. The devil fights me. So, I have to fight back. After one hour I feel something click and feel so powerful in my praying. This always happens after one hour of praying."

"Everyday we need to pray more than one hour...Make definite times of prayer...I make it a point to pray 3 times a day...When I go out on evangelistic tours, then I always spend the afternoon in prayer. After lunch I do not have any engagement, I stay in my hotel and pray three to five hours. So when people ask me why I pray so much, I respond in this way. I PRAY BECAUSE GOD WANTS ME TO."


3RD KEY - SEEKING GOD'S FACE

The churches in Korea began to earnestly seek God's face.

"Not only in our church, but in most churches in Korea, our prayer time begins at 5am. We regularly pray for one or two hours."

"We are seeing approximately 10,000 converts joining our church every month. Would you not call that a real revival? How have we maintained such an unusual growth in our local church? The real answer is prayer. Every Friday night we have an all-night prayer meeting. We literally don't have enough room for all the people who want to come and pray."

Even as public prayer developed, he did not lessen his own private seeking:

"Sometimes I would go to a mountain to pray, sometimes to a valley. I searched everywhere to find God..."

He began to receive answers. God began to speak to him.

4TH KEY - TURNING FROM WICKED WAYS

Pastor Cho knew he is not perfect. However, he honestly faced his own shortcomings in the early days of his ministry. God responded with the miraculous.

"I learnt to become more sensitive to repentance in those days."

"If I make a mistake, I confess that mistake before the congregation. I never cover up an error I might have made...When I first started confessing before my people, I died inside. My natural thinking told me that my people would no longer respect me...But after many years of telling my people the truth, their love for me is stronger than ever."

"In the beginning of my ministry...while I preached I stuttered and stammered, and many in the congregation fell asleep...I wanted to resign from my church. I wondered if God had truly called me into the ministry...the evening service was even worse...I was rapidly growing to hate myself...I wrapped myself in a blanket, sat in the chilling tent church, and prayed. Feeling deeply depressed, it seemed to me that even my prayers could do not good."

"Suddenly I heard a sound. A young crippled man with badly injured knees came crawling to where I sat..."I came to be healed." I could not even preach a decent sermon. How could I pray for someone in his condition?...so severe was the injury to his knees I questioned whether Christ Himself could heal them. "God why did You send this man to my church? You know I can't help him. You must supply faith to me, I would rather just here and die."

"Suddenly I could sense God's Holy Spirit come upon me in a special way...When I helped the young man up his legs still dangled. But my faith was strong. Taking firm hold of him, I commanded, "In the anme of Jesus, walk!" I then gave him a slight shove, and closed my eyes. I was afraid to see what would happen. Soon I heard a noise. When I opened my eyes I saw that young man, full of healthy vitality, running around the whole area..." News of such miracles soon spread and more people are attracted to his little church.

Author's note:

In my observation, it seemed that many anointed ministers of God in Korea possess the same trait: they are sometimes quick to make mistakes at first, even faithlessness. But they are open to let God deal with them quickly and use them as instruments, and the result is always supernatural and miracles. A lesson or example for us?

Day 1, Sunday - Arrival at Seoul

7 AM - AIRPORT

As we took off from Singapore the night before, this would soon prove to be an eventful trip right from Day 1.

After a smooth overnight flight which was a non event, we were greeted with a big surprise when we found ourselves to be the last couple standing at the conveyor belt, still waiting for our second luggage. It never turned up (until the next day, Monday midnight).

I really felt that there was something spiritual to it, as exactly 12 years ago I took the same flight to Seoul on the same airline, and that exact same piece of luggage also did not arrived on the same flight. Maybe God was trying to tell me something ... that He had had this planned out for me, that this was going to be a very special trip for me. And it would soon prove to be.



9 AM - YOIDO FULL GOSPEL CHURCH

The first thing we did was to attend the 9am Sunday Service at Yoido Full Gospel Church, pastored by Dr. David Cho Yonggi. This is the largest church in the world, with 800,000 members. We sat at the foreigners' section, with translation headsets on. Pastor Cho acknowledged visitors from several countries around the world, and somehow this trip, he specifically mentioned visitors from Singapore! He knew we were there!

Pastor Cho preached an anointed sermon, calling us to be under the yoke of Jesus. His yoke is easy, and light, as compared to the yoke of this world. To do that we need to be humble, and let our lives be filled with the word of God. Satan will temp us with the same things he tempted the Lord - money, honour, authority, material things etc. We must not give in to the temptation. We must carry the yoke as our Lord did. We must watch out for GREED, and to do that we must remain humble. We must not crave for sinful men's praises.

Look at Jesus, He died on the cross, naked and humiliated. He was rejected by the world, suffered much pain and blood. He had the command of angels who would rescue Him at his word. He could have anything He wanted, but did not choose to do as He liked. Instead He CHOSE the path of humiliation and suffering, for our sake. By His OBEDIENCE to the Father, we are saved from hell. He committed EVERYTHING to God, and His last words are, "Father, into your hand I commit my spirit".

In these last days, God is building His Kingdom. He chooses the humble, and not men of capability. We must commit everything to God. When we are able to do that, God will work mightily in our lives. Do not carry the yoke of the world any longer. You cannot carry your burdens on your own. Call out to Jesus to help you. When you are able to do that, you will indeed find that His yolk is easy, and His burden is light.


HOW TO FIND GOD?
WE CAN NEVER APPROACH GOD FROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH. WE MUST COME TO GOD WITH HUMILITY. 2 CHRON 7:14 SAYS:
"IF MY PEOPLE, WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND." (4 keys for seeking God)


11 AM - FOREIGNERS BRIEFING

All foreign visitors are treated with this very special and anointed briefing after the Sunday service. You will catch a very special spirit from this briefing.

We were given a very good brief on the history of Yoido Full Gospel Church. But the most important questions we try to get answers for are: How did the revival in Korea happen? What triggered and maintained the church growth over a span of 45 years? To this, the briefing pastor (more affectionately known as Pastor "Dunnit") explained:

When Pastor Cho Yonggi began his ministry in 1958..."I used all kinds of gimmicks to bring in new members. They did not work. For the first six months I did not lead even one soul to Jesus Christ."

"In less than three months my sermons ran out, and after three months I had nothing to preach...I almost felt I was not called into the ministry."

Thus God began to show Pastor Cho the first of the 4 keys for seeking God. The HUMBLING process became critical. He told God, "Yonggi Cho is a nobody."

1ST KEY - HUMBLE OF SELF

Eight times he decided to quit the ministry but was talked out of leaving by his mentor Jashil Choi (also his mother in-law, who played a very critical role in his ministry, the prayer mountain is named after her).

"When I entered the ministry, in my heart there was a hidden goal to become a famous and successful preacher...God had to destroy all that; otherwise the church would have been my work, not HIS."

"It has become clear to me that an arrogant man pays a very high price - a hardened heart is very hard to break...it took ten years to break 'the Great Cho'."

As did the mother in-law, he soon turned to the second key, PRAYER.

For more info, you can also visit www.fgtv.com