As the 64th annual National Day of Prayer (NDOP), which will be held on May 7 this year, is approaching, Korean churches in the Orange County area have decided to observe the day collectively, and to host an event in which Korean churches could participate in the NDOP together once again as they had been doing so each year. The event will take place at Grace Ministries International, located in Fullerton, CA, starting at 7:30 PM.
The event is co-hosted by several Korean church associations and ministries, including the Orange County Korean Christian Association, Mizpah Prayer Movement, Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, Fire Crusade, Jesus Awakening Movement for America/All Nations, the Korean Christian Council in America, and the Orange County Council of Korean Churches.
(From left to right: Reverend Ki-Dong Kim, Reverend Ki-Hong Han, and Reverend Ezra Kang) Korean church leaders in the Orange County area will be observing the National Day of Prayer (May 7) together at Grace Ministries International.
"We hope and pray that it will be a time in which we can pray fervently before our God," said Reverend Ki-Hong Han, the president of the Korean Christian Council in America.
"This is the time to seize revival," said Reverend Ezra Kang, the president of Jesus Awakening Movement for America/All Nations (JAMA). Kang noted that since Korean churches have been participating in the Line in the Sand prayer meetings that have been occurring for several years on November 11, a "prayer fire" has been spreading throughout the Korean churches in the country, and noted that prayer meetings have been starting in Seattle and Maryland. In Maryland in particular, prayer meetings led by Korean churches have been focused on interceding for the First Lady of Maryland, Yumi Hogan, who is also the first Korean American First Lady in the U.S.
Similarly, organizers hope to invite political leaders to the May 7 event, and plan to have a portion of the prayer meeting allotted to interceding on behalf of governmental leaders.
The prayer event will also feature topics of intercession including education, families, revival, repentance, church, culture, world missions, and Korea.
Korean American church leaders will also be leading prayer topics at the event, including Steve Choi, the lead pastor of Crossway Church; Jeff Yoo, the high school pastor of the Church of Southland; Grace Kang, an alumnus of Global Leadership Development Institute (GLDI), a spiritual training program of JAMA; and William Chung, the youth pastor of Thanksgiving Church.
The NDOP is an annual, national observance that has been taking place since 1952 on the first Thursday of May. The theme for this year's NDOP is, "Lord, Hear Our Cry," based on 1 Kings 8:28, in which King Solomon prays, "Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day."
In particular, governmental and church leaders will be gathering at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, at which, for the first time, a Korean church leader--Reverend Ki-Hong Han--has been invited to join. According to Reverend Joshua Kang, the KM Young Adults Ministry Director of JAMA, Han was invited to join the meeting at the Cannon House by John Bornschein, the Vice Chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, after Bornschein heard about the enthusiastic participation of Korean churches in the Line in the Sand prayer meetings.
