Worldwide Prayer Meeting

Aug 27, 2024 | by Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee

Korea Territory

Bukhansan National Park Seoul

Praise God for this day! It is full of promise and opportunity, challenge and service. If you are a child of God, you can be assured that it is a day of purpose and meaning. May God help you find it early on and help you tackle whatever lies ahead.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I bring all that I am to You. My body, mind, emotions. You know my fears, my questions, my doubts, my hopes and my dreams. Help me to see what You want for me in the things before me because sometimes it can be so confusing. Sometimes there are two ways that look right and sometimes there are two ways that look bad. I really need Your help. I want to follow Your steps and do what You want because that is right. Help my heart be aligned with You. Help me to be more faithful in reading Your Word since You have spelled out so much of what You want for Your children right there. Help me to be with fellow believers who love You and who I can share with in prayer. But sometimes I still am not sure. So please give me faith that You will show me and when You do, help me to trust and obey. I want to truly say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I want nothing else.” I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Background of the Korea Territory

There are three countries in the Korea Territory: South Korea, Mongolia, and Cambodia.

South Korea: Korea’s history stretches back across millennia. Because of its location, it has been invaded repeatedly. After the Japanese occupied it from 1910-1945, it was then divided by foreign engineering, followed by terrible suffering inflicted by the Korean War from 1950-1953. These have greatly shaped the attitudes and politics to the present day for Koreans. South Korea was led by a strong military-civilian government from 1950-1987, while North Korea remained, as it does to the present, under a strict one-person communist dictatorship. Public unrest in 1987 in South Korea led to a multi-party democracy.

South Korea emerged from a desperately poor nation in 1953, into the 12th largest economy in the world based on rapid industrialization and modernization. Although the country has few natural resources, it has an export-oriented economy fueled by technological innovation backed by a highly educated workforce.

There is complete freedom of religion in South Korea. Although it was once a Buddhist country, Christianity is now the leading religion, followed by those claiming to be non-religious and Buddhist. Christianity in South Korea is particularly vibrant, founded on sound doctrine, sustained by frequent revivals and founded on a strong prayer movement that is foundational across denominational lines. The Korean church is fully committed to worldwide missions that has made Korea the second-largest mission-sending nation on earth. Yet, the younger generation seems to be less committed, and some stagnation seems to be setting in. There is evidence of spiritual pride and divisions that is lessening the impact that the church might have. The gains that were seen in reaching people for Christ have been leveling off despite efforts being made to continue evangelism.

Mongolia: A unified nation since 1206, under Genghis Khan, Mongolia became the greatest land empire in the world stretching from China and Korea to Central Europe. However, it was under foreign domination from 1368-1911, when it gained some independence. In 1921, with Russian support it installed a Marxist government that was finally replaced with a democratic one in 1990.

Mongolia traditionally had a pastoral and agricultural economy, but it is mining that is the primary source of income now. Livestock, especially cashmere, and tourism are becoming more important. But the shift from a Marxist to a market-driven economy has been difficult and many have emigrated to seek employment abroad.

Buddhism, Shamanism and Islam are recognized as Mongolia’s main religions, but religious freedoms are given to all people. There is limited government interference in Christian work.

Although the number of Christians in Mongolia is still relatively small, there has been phenomenal growth, nonetheless. In 1989, there were only four Christian churches in the country – today Christians number over 55,000! The growth rate is nearly 8% per year. What is most holding the growth back is the lack of Christian personnel (pastors, teachers), materials, and support in Mongolian languages.

Cambodia: Cambodia presents a stark contrast to South Korea. Also an ancient country, it is a ceremonial monarchy of a once powerful kingdom that reigned from the first through the fourteenth centuries. In modern times, it has been a pawn in regional conflicts such as the Viet Nam War and then suffered horribly from the extremes of the Marxist Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. During that time almost all military, civil servants, doctors, educated and wealthy people were killed, and the nation was turned into a vast labor camp. The Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate religion and so martyred nearly all the Christians as well as 90% of Buddhist monks. In 1979, the Vietnamese army invaded and overthrew the Khmer Rouge, but a civil war followed between four competing parties until 1993 when democracy was finally established through international intervention.

Highly dependent on foreign aid, the country remains one of the poorest in the world, although that is improving. Primary sources of income include agriculture, garment manufacturing and tourism. There is also promise with offshore gas and oil deposits.

Buddhism is the national religion but since 1990 Christians have been allowed to worship openly. With this, there was an unexpected and Spirit-led burst of growth of Christians from the few thousand who had survived Khmer Rouge to nearly 4% of the population today, with a growth rate of almost 9% per year.

The Salvation Army: Responding to the requests of Korean students studying in Japan in 1907, the Founder dispatched Commissioner George Scott Railton to survey prospects on the Korean peninsula. As a result, in October 1908 Colonel and Mrs. Robert Hoggard arrived with a group of officers to open fire in Seoul. During the Korean War, one Korean officer and corps sergeant-major were martyred, five Salvationists were believed martyred and their names registered as martyrs of the Korean church.

Outreach work in Mongolia officially commenced on October 13, 2008, and in the Kingdom of Cambodia on November 22, 2012.

Facts, Stats and Leadership of

the Korea Territory

• Total population to fish and disciple: 70,929,098
• 500 officers, 11 auxiliary-captains, 15 envoys, 17 cadets, 2,151 employees
• 316 retired officers
• 210 corps, 13 outposts and societies
• 45,644senior soldiers
• 3,970 adherents
• 6,464 junior soldiers

Leadership

Commissioner Chang, Man-hee - Territorial Commander

Commissioner Chang, Stephanie - Territorial President of Women's Ministries

Colonel Kim, Byung-yoon - Chief Secretary

Colonel Cha, Soon-sam - Territorial Secretary of Women's Ministries

Prayer Requests for

the Korea Territory

• We pray for the deeper spiritual growth of all officers and soldiers according to Territorial Theme of “Go Deeper” in 2024.
  
  Help us to experience God in our lives every day through obedience to the Word, faith in action, and serve others.
  
  
• Pray for our leadership change.

We pray for leadership team that can lead deeper changes according to the demands of the times.

• Pray for using our resources.
   

We pray for the sustainability of The Salvation Army through securing resources, through appropriate property development and transparent and smooth management of finances.
 

• Pray for Cambodia
   

We pray for the deeper spiritual growth of local Cambodian officers and soldiers. We pray for the Officers’ Capacity Building Training in September and the “Officers’ Brengle Seminar” in November.
 

We pray that we can work in Cambodia under the name of The Salvation Army rather than a local NGO.
 

We pray for the human resources and material resources for self-support of The Salvation Army work in Cambodia.

USA Southern Territory

Prayer Requests

• Major Todd Hawks, Community Relations & Development Secretary, CRD
• Information Technology
• Joshua Kaimenyi, Accounts Payable Accountant, Finance
• Justin Goff, Senior Investment Analyst, Office of Investments
• Christopher Pluchino, Regional Operations Manager, ARC Command
• Major Carey Richmond, Director of Personnel/Health & Wellness Officer, Evangeline Booth College
• Cadet Michelle Osbourn
• Colonel James Betts, National Chief Secretary, NHQ
• Lt. Colonels Kent & Melody Davis, officers, employees and volunteers of the Florida Division
• Correctional Services

Something to Consider

The Stake Mistake

         In an issue of Leadership magazine, a writer related a conversation with an animal trainer.  “How is it,” he asked while pointing to a baby elephant, “that you can stake down a 10-ton elephant with the same size stake you use for the little fellow?” The trainer answered that they began using the stakes when the elephants were young. The baby elephants tug and pull and try every way they know to get loose but find that they cannot. From then on, the elephant remembers that escape from the stake is futile and so they never try.

         In a similar way, people are “staked down” too often with the lies they believe about themselves.  These powerful thoughts are what define who they are and the actions they take.

There are some who believe that they are perpetual victims. They were treated badly perhaps abused horribly, and so they see the world as a threatening place. They feel that there are always people who fail to understand them completely, to consider what they have been through to appreciate why they are limited in what they can do. Though their abusers have long since lost all real power over them, they continue to live under their control, caring about a ball and chain.

         Others are dominated by the thoughts of others. They dress as they think others might have them look, they say what they think others might want to hear or they try to be seen with those whose presence will enhance their image. Before entering a conversation, they gauge which way the wind is blowing so they might speak aright. This is a common and expected behavior of a young teen but not of an adult. Image is substance to these, and that image must be as perfect as earth can allow. At all costs the image will be preserved.

         There are others whose dominating thought is to find a place in the sun. Theirs is a constant search for the perfect circumstances, the ideal place, the situation that best suits their needs. Because of their determination they often find themselves at or near those places that they desire but they inevitably find that someone else occupies a higher lane, a more secure place. And so there never is anything of contentment but instead of gnawing feeling that there is that something more somewhere else.

         These thoughts, and others like them, become the stakes that bind people to one place. They play like background music and under gird the actions of a life. Like the poor elephants, people bound in this way find that though they might walk much, they are only making circles. Sadly too, many Christians are tied down like their unsaved counterparts in the world.

         What is the answer? The New Testament tells us of that little man from Tarsus who ends his brilliant career of world evangelism by facing the evil Nero. While waiting to have their fate decided by a man who lit his garden at night with the burned bodies of Christians, Paul wrote a little letter to his dear friends in Philippi.  What does he tell them?  “… brethren, whatever things are true… noble…just…pure…lovely…of good report…meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8 NKJV).

         Dr. Henry Brandt shares that modern psychology helps people come to terms with their world but Christ, helps people transform their world.  And with that Christ can transform our thoughts.

         What is the dominating thought in your life? Are you consumed with how terribly you have been treated? Are you concerned about what others might think? Are you looking for that better place? Or have you heard Paul’s whisper from his chains, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5)?

Benediction

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you. Amen. (Philippians 4:8,9)