All-Night Prayer Vigils Held for North Korea
Hours after hours, small groups and individuals took turn to pray for North Korean refugees, jailed humanitarian workers and repatriated North Koreans in an all night prayer vigil from Friday to Saturday morning.
WASHINGTON – Hours after hours, small groups and individuals took turn to pray for North Korean refugees, jailed humanitarian workers and repatriated North Koreans in an all night prayer vigil from Friday to Saturday morning.
As one of the last events during the North Korea Freedom Week, the prayer vigil was held in three locations across the United States at different times on Apr. 28-29. In Washington, D.C., a prayer vigil was held in front of the People’s Republic of China’s embassy from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.; in Los Angeles from 7 to 9 p.m. on Apr. 28 at the Chinese Consulate; and in Houston prayers were also held in front of the Chinese Consulate on Apr. 29 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Rev. Max Parsons of Hana International Mission shared at the Washington gathering about his personal experience coming to faith in a country with severe persecution and the importance of prayer for persecuted Christians.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“I’m from a country in Asia, Sri Lanka, where there is a lot of violence. In the earliest years of my conversion I was an eyewitness to some of the things that went on,” said Parsons. “In 1972, I watched many nights of children, who were not even dead, put on tires, kerosene poured on them and burned - most of them were alive while being burned. Some of these memories still haunt me today.
“In my new Christian experience I wondered, ‘Where is God?’ ‘If there is a God, why are these things happening?’ But then I began to realize that there is a God and He is not somewhere else but He is right there,” he added.
Other speakers at the Washington gathering included Suzanne Scholte, president of Defense Forum Foundation; Sin U Nam, Vice Chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition; the Rev. Heemoon Lee of Hana Church; and North Korean defectors.
“The Kingdom of God is distinct and you and I this evening represent the Kingdom of God,” said Parsons. “We need to know this evening that when we pray something has to happen. When we pray collectively, the heavens must respond because we are touching the character of God. He won’t sit still. He has to respond and something has to happen.”
