(Photo : Christianity Daily) (From left to right: Davis Hill, Ron Oakley, Sung Kyu Park, Ki Dong Kim, Paul Han, Ezra Kang, David Andrade, Ramon Arroyo, Steve Davis) Organizers and participants of the upcoming "Heal Our Land" prayer gathering hosted a press conference on November 2 explaining the purpose behind the event.
Korean church leaders are preparing to host a multi-ethnic prayer movement that will be taking place on November 29 from 4:30 to 8:30 PM at the Anaheim Convention Center called "Heal Our Land: Prayer for America's Revival and Restoration."
The upcoming prayer gathering is similar to previous prayer gatherings called "A Line in the Sand" that occurred twice on November 11 in 2011 and 2014. The goal behind "Heal Our Land" is essentially the same: to intercede for the U.S. together with members of various ethnic communities in Southern California. However, unlike "A Line in the Sand," which was spearheaded by individuals -- David Andrade and Michael Petro -- this upcoming prayer meeting is led by a group of Korean church leaders of various major organizations and councils in the Korean Christian community, including the Korean Christian Council in America, Jesus Awakening Movement for America (JAMA), the Council of Korean Churches in Orange County, Korea Campus Crusade for Christ USA, and Fresh Seed -- all of which are co-sponsoring the event.
Additionally, whereas "A Line in the Sand" was an all-day event that apportioned 30-minute to an hour time blocks to leaders of specific ethnic communities, "Heal Our Land" is four hours long and time frames are organized mainly by prayer topic rather than ethnic community. Several leaders of different ethnic groups will be leading each prayer topic for three to four minutes each. Leaders will be encouraged to pray in their native tongue, and translation from each language to English, and vice versa, will be available via a conference call service during the event.
Leaders of the Arab, Russian, Vietnamese, Hispanic, and African American Christian communities have been invited to join and lead prayers, organizers of "Heal Our Land" said on Monday. However, specific plans on which leaders and churches will be participating have not yet been solidified, they added.
Though prayer meetings have taken place previously on behalf of America, this year is an especially pivotal time to pray because of the events that have happened thus far this year -- the legalization of same-sex marriage, and cases of Christians facing lawsuits -- and of the elections that are upcoming in 2016, said Reverend Ezra Kang, the president of JAMA and one of the directors for Heal Our Land.
"God's up to something big, and it's up to us to pray. This could be the church's finest hour, and it should be," said Reverend Steve Davis of Redeemed and Delivered Ministries in the San Gabriel Valley. "A movement always beings with prayer, and then obedience."
"I'm humbled by the passion and zeal [of the Korean church leaders]," said Reverend Davis Hill of Fire House of Prayer. "We want to join you, I'm inviting my friends to come, and I believe a new Jesus movement is coming to California and the nation."
Organizers hope to have some 30 to 40 leaders of different ethnic communities lead prayer topics during the event. Issues such as revival in the U.S., family values, purity within the church, domestic violence, human rights, homelessness, and navigating culture will be among the topics that will be discussed and prayed over.
Meanwhile, a group of some 20 individuals have been meeting every Monday to plan and intercede on behalf of the upcoming prayer gathering. Some Korean church leaders have also started a 40-day fast leading up to the event.