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Let the nations come!

Onnuri Community Church in Seoul, Korea, gets ready for the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup

The 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup is in June. While the world has been waiting for the largest football-fest ever to begin its flurry of activities, Onnuri Community Church in Seoul, Korea, has also been eagerly anticipating the events.

They await the games with a clear vision: that gospel seeds would be planted in the hearts of the thousands of spectators expected to come.

Located in the heart of Seoul, Korea, the hub of all World Cup host cities, Onnuri Community Church is home to an estimated 25,000 members. It stands as an international and evangelical church with the largest English ministry in north-east Asia. Onnuri Community Church, as well as other integral partnership churches all over Korea and Japan, had a unique burden to spearhead an evangelistic outreach. This enabled the church body to have an opportunity to use the church's resource of English speakers to reach the nations as they come to Korea and Japan.

Mass evangelism

Evangelism teams totalling 350 evangelists, arriving on May 27, are expected to reach cities all over Korea as they are sent to evangelise the fans arriving to watch the historic event. Though the teams will be mostly English-speaking, speakers of other languages will participate, especially Chinese speakers, as more than 100,000 Chinese are expected to attend the tournament. Evangelists will receive three days of training, and will then be sent out in teams to share the good news through activities including worship ministry, music ministry, one-on-one sharing, drama, and acts of service.

In addition, intercession teams will support the evangelism teams in Seoul, being responsible for covering the city in prayer, interceding for the evangelism teams, praying for the people, and engaging in prayer booths. So far, evangelists from all over the world, including Ghana, Korea, China, United States, Canada and Australia, are expected to be involved.

The Evangelism Training Conference is from May 28-30 and will focus on such themes as team building, evangelism approach and strategy, and intercessory prayer training.

One of the keynote speakers is John Dawson, author of Healing America's Wounds, who is known for educating Christians on the need for different racial groups to live in unity. He will share about cross-cultural evangelism and reaching the nations.

The other keynote speaker is Pastor Hah Yong-Jo, head pastor of Onnuri Community Church. He serves as chairman of the board for Tyrannus Ministries International, with publications in both English and Korean.

Bathed in prayer

Prayer is the true foundation for all that will happen in Korea and Japan. Already, a stadium prayer concert for the World Cup has taken place in Seoul, Korea. Churches from all over Korea united together to pray for this magnificent sporting event. A 24-hour prayer room will be used for the duration of the World Cup Games. Phone lines to the prayer room will be open for prayer requests. Intercessors will band together to intercede and pray for the needs as they come. Please join us in our prayer efforts.

Prayer requests for the Korea/Japan World Cup 2002 Outreach:

* Pray for God to raise up workers willing to be sent out to plant seeds of God's love in the thousands of spectators coming to Asia.
* Pray for the spectators and fans coming to the World Cup, that they would come to the event with open and receptive hearts.
* Pray for a powerful presentation and understanding of the gospel for those who will hear it.
* Pray for safety and travelling mercies to and from the events.
* Pray for unity among churches involved in Korea/Japan 2002. Pray for unity in essential doctrine and liberty in non-essential doctrine, as well as a strong unified determination to work as a true body of Christ reaching people together.
* Pray for the leaders, committee members, evangelists, speakers, and volunteers involved in every aspect of the outreach, that they may not be plagued with spiritual battles.

This World Cup, we pray many thousands will go home touched by the love of God. May it compel them to go home and claim their lands for our God, the only one who saves.

Joshua Throneberg