🙏 2017 Prayer Mission in Luton (1/2)

From Monday, June 26th to Sunday, July 2nd in Luton, United Kingdom

[이 글의 한글 버전은 다음에 있습니다]

Introduction
I participated as an interpreter in the 6th UK Prayer Mission in 2017 and decided to write my reflections. Just a month or two before, I had no knowledge about this kind of ministry and faced some difficult decisions before I could commit fully. Back in April, I had taken a three-week vacation for my parents who were visiting from Paraguay, I didn’t have many annual leaves left. It was not easy to take another week-long A/L to participate in a prayer mission, considering the limited time we had left to spend together as a family.

However, the biggest reason I wanted to participate in this prayer mission was to revive my faith as it was during my youth. Living and working in the UK, building a family, I found it difficult to maintain a life of faith that does not compromise with the world. I wanted to recover that godly, passion-filled faith and life of pure prayer during my University days. I wanted to use this time of focussed intercession for the UK to press the reset button in my walk with God. Looking back now, I am so thankful to God that He granted more than all that I wished for in my heart.

Week Itinerary
On Monday evening, I went to the Heathrow Airport and met with Rev. Kim Nam-jin, who is in charge of the Prayer Mission UK, and also Pastor Joe Pienaar, the senior pastor of St. Hugh’s Church in Luton, who had come to pick up the intercessor team at the airport. Shortly afterwards, we greeted the team of nine prayer warriors arriving from Korea, led by Pastor Kim Moon-su, and we boarded the 16-passenger minibus rented by Pastor Joe and soon arrived at St. Hugh’s Church in Luton. This would be the building where we would sleep and live and pray for the next week. Upon arrival, we first entered the sanctuary and prayed, committing the upcoming week to God and also for the protection of our families that we have left behind, before settling in for the first night.

From Tuesday onwards, we would visit various places around Luton in the morning to attend special prayer meetings organised by various churches in Luton with the help of Pastor Joe. These special prayer meetings would proceed as follows: the British organisers would first share their ongoing ministry and their specific prayer requests; next, Pastor Kim Moon-su and Pastor Han Sang-gyu would lead a time of corporate prayer with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These were the venues/locations we visited on each day: On Tuesday, various Christian charity organisations operating in Luton; On Wednesday, an inter-denominational prayer meeting for the many nations of Luton; On Thursday, an inter-denominational prayer meeting for church leaders in Luton; On Friday, a morning prayer meeting for the Luton Evangelism and Healing team, followed by an evening prayer meeting for youth ministry in Luton town centre. On Saturday we went out on street evangelism, and Sunday involved attending the morning worship service at St Hugh’s, and in the same venue we had the final evening intercessory worship service that was open to all the churches in Luton.

From Tuesday onwards, the team’s top priority in the schedule was holding nightly prayer sessions, which started at 10 PM and continued until 2 AM (these are referred to as “pulpit prayers”). We originally planned to rest on Saturday night, but in the evening, the Holy Spirit moved all of us, reminding us that more prayer was needed. So, at 10 PM, we all gathered at the sanctuary as on other days and knelt down. Although our bodies were tired (we were initially planning to pray only until midnight that day), our prayers continued until the break of dawn at 5 AM. There was some intense spiritual warfare throughout the night, but from 4 AM onwards, we all experienced the joy of God granting us the victory. The sharing and de-briefing from 5AM was a truly blessed time full of joy and blessings for one another.

Introduction to Luton
When you hear ‘Luton’, it’s not an area of positive association in the UK. It’s considered one of the poorest areas in the UK, and that image is not helped with the primarily association of Luton Airport and cheap airlines. Furthermore, in recent years, due to a significant increase in the immigrant population, Luton is known for having over 25% Muslim population. Additionally, what we learned while praying is that there is not a single outstanding secondary school in Luton. Until 1966, Luton Grammar School was considered a top-notch school in the UK, producing many leaders, but it has now ceased to exist (being turned into other schools). This has led to a situation where well-educated professionals who come to Luton often move to neighbouring towns like Harpenden to find good education for their children, perpetuating a cycle where highly skilled professionals do not stay in Luton.

However, there is hope in this place. In 2014, a Korean prayer mission team came to Luton (also staying at St. Hugh’s Church) for a week, shedding many tears of intercession during the week. After they returned, God began to work. Dark spiritual forces that had been over the entire area began to be lifted, and various large and small investment projects started, leading to the redevelopment of the poorer areas of Luton. For example, in 2015, a development initiative (thinkluton.co.uk) was established, bringing in an initial investment of £1.5 billion to the area. Also, St. Hugh’s Church, which hosted the first prayer mission team, had about 100 members at the time but has since grown to become a thriving church with over 250 members.

The most encouraging thing for me was that people we met throughout the week all testifying to us that everything began to change after the prayer team visit in 2014. They not only recognised the importance of prayer but also earnestly desired for more. I still remember the words of Urika, a lady we who organised one of the prayer meetings: “Because prayer is the most important ministry!”

Spiritual Warfare
During the week of prayer, there were attacks from the enemy. During nightly pulpit prayers, the church doors were usually locked for security reasons. However, on Wednesday night, some of the St Hugh’s congregation wanted to join, so we kept the doors open from 10 PM to 12 AM. During that time, a young lady who was apparently demonised entered the church and started acting strangely. Fortunately, one of our team members, Mrs. Kim, was already aware of this situation and immediately began intercessory prayer at the back of the church to confront the demons. In the midst of the situation, I tried to approach the young lady several times, but she kept avoiding me around the church pews and eventually rushed out of the church. The next morning we found out that she had left some strange objects behind on the church floor. They were small, black, irregularly shaped wooden balls about 3mm in diameter, each piece being slightly different in shape. I had never seen these before, and it was clear that someone had hand-crafted these for a specific purpose, likely to cast curses on whoever came in contact. While praying, we cleared the entire floor and meticulously searched and collected all of these pieces; all in all we ended up filling an empty water bottle about one-eighth full with them.

We later learned from pastor Joe that this demonised lady, Estelle, had a history of disturbing Sunday worship services and sometimes even threatened violence towards Pastor Joe. Due to her disruptive behavior, the police had been called several times. Another shocking revelation was that the area of Luton, especially in the neighbourhood where St. Hugh’s Church is located, has a long historical connection to witchcraft and the occult. The spiritual attacks continued during the week we were there. Towards the end of our last night of prayer there, in the early hours of Sunday morning, we discovered that some demons hiding among the praise and worship flags that were kept behind the church sanctuary. The discovery occurred during our protection prayers for Pienaar family; one of our senior members, Mrs. Jung, was able to see the senior demon responsible for the past spiritual attacks. Having never seen a demon before in her life, Mrs. Jung was overcome with fear and had great difficulty in breathing. Recognising this as a spiritual attack, we all gathered around Mrs. Jung, engaged in concerted spiritual warfare, and soon Mrs. Jung regained her composure. We collectively marched around the church, singing songs of praise, and praying aloud in tongues. During this procession, Mrs. Jung again saw the demon hiding among the flags. Without hesitation, our pastors immediately stepped forward and, one by one, snapped the flags with his foot, expelling the demon in Jesus’ Name. When all the flags were broken, many members of the team reported that the sense of discomfort and blockages that had persisted until that moment was completely cleared.

Praying through the Word
Serving as an interpreter for the week, I had this one desire: that I would not just be an interpreter, but become a fully-fledged member of the prayer team. I really hoped that I would not hinder the prayer ministry of these people due to my spiritual immaturity, and that they would accept me as an intercessor just like them. God answered this prayer of mine.

For the past two months, serving as a youth group leader at my church in Ealing, I had memorised about 5-6 Bible passages (all related to spirituality) together with the youth group. I was incredibly grateful to be able to meditate on these passages and and to pray through them throughout the week of prayer. I always felt a sense of great power when I turned God’s promises into intercessory prayers. On the first day of the vigil, the verses I held onto was Isaiah 40:31: “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” The reason I turned to this passage as that, to be frank, I found the long prayer sessions really difficult. While others in the team seemed to be gaining more and more strength as they ramped up their fervour in prayer, I found myself constantly glancing at my wristwatch, being amazed at how slowly the time seemed to be passing. I cried out to God: “Father, why am I not being renewed in strength like an eagle, even though I am waiting on You? You promised that those who wait on You will renew their strength: would you give me this new strength now!”

The next day, I felt like God was telling me thus: “My child, last night when you were praying, you did not soar like an eagle but instead you were flapping your wings like a dove. You tried to do it with your own strength, which is why you got tired. From tonight, spread out your wings like an eagle and ride on the thermal of My love.” I was reminded of Galatians 4:6: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”

There was also another desire/prayer that I had from the first day. It was the fulfilment of God’s promise in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will show you great and hidden things that you have not known.” I grabbed onto this promise and prayed to God, “Father, this morning we met this Iranian Christian woman Hamina who told us of the amazing visions she saw while praying. Would You show me the visions where the heavens are open and there are gold rings over us, where Your right hand comes to anoint us, and where You fill our quivers with arrows through angels. You have promised in Jeremiah 33:3!” Even though I earnestly prayed this prayer throughout the entire week, I did not receive such visions. But one thing I am certain of is that during that week, I clearly saw the reality of spiritual warfare with my own eyes, and I could also understand a little more of God’s heart for the Luton area and for the United Kingdom. Hallelujah!