First Prayer Walk in Korea

Before I tell you about my first prayer walk experience here, I should briefly tell the back story. I few weeks ago I attended a retreat through a church I started attending. I had no idea what to expect of this retreat, but I went with an open mind and an open heart. Little did I know I was about to go through an intense 20 or so hours. The retreat was titled "Changed Hearts = Changed World" and the speaker was Eddie Byun who is a pastor at a different ministry in Seoul. He feels he has been called to help raise awareness and be an abolitionist on the issue of human trafficking in Seoul and around the world. I had no idea of the severity of this issue! It's always been something I knew happened, but not in my country or not in my neighborhood. That weekend God opened my eyes and put this issue on my heart! He told us that South Korean women are now the #1 trafficked women into the US. The things he said blew my mind, not just about what's happening on the streets of Seoul, but in Europe, Cambodia, Thailand, the States and all over the world. It had never been explained to me in such an intense way. But it broke my heart! And I felt that God was calling me to do something about it. Pastor Eddie gave us suggestions, the first being, pray. And so I did and He answered.

Today I experienced something that I don't think I've ever experienced before. Last week I happened to check our church's website because of something my small group leader said to me. As I was looking through the announcements I saw they were having a prayer walk today in the area of Seoul called Gangnam. Gangnam is where our church is located. It's also the area where prostitution and trafficking occurs. I instantly felt God telling me to go. I listened to a message from Upper Room a few months ago that I was reminded of during the retreat and at that moment. Kurt asked in that message for us to think about what you can't stand, what makes you furious to hear happens in this world. Then he encouraged us to listen to that and do something about it because God is looking for one of His people to act. I realized last week that this was my opportunity. This was a start for me to take what He put on my heart and do something about it. So I prayed more about it and decided to turn down my Halloween plans and head to Gangnam.

Well God was right as usual :) I've never felt before the clear distinct line of where an evil presence is. Today I felt that. And it was intense. First, I met some really cool people, we prayed and headed out to the streets in small groups. I was with two other women. It took me a few minutes to focus and let the Holy Spirit fill me, but soon God was taking over every step we took. After about 30 minutes into our prayer walking I noticed both of the girls stop and pray over a Thai Massage place. We were pretty spread out, but focused on the same place. I didn't realize what was happening though and continued to pray and walk past them. Then I saw two men ahead of me that were just stopped in the middle of the street looking at me as I was praying. They turned to go, but then looked back again this time I could tell at all three of us. A few minutes later, the three of us re-grouped and one the girls asked me if I saw that. I was like, saw what? She told me that those two men were about to go into the Thai Massage place, but saw us, realized who we were and what we were doing, and walked away. Wow, the power of prayer!

Not even three minutes later both of the women were again stopped, in front of this girl's club or something. I was still in a daze of what I had just realized happened, but continued to pray next to them. I was standing in a really awkward place, but didn't really care. Two girls then came out from this club (keep in mind this is about 1 in the afternoon) and one of them got into this car, but the whole process (of getting into the car) took longer than necessary and the cars behind them were getting impatient. The other girl stood there, a little wobbly and looked up at me. I smiled as I prayed for her, but her eyes were sad. I'm not sure if she was on drugs or had been drinking, but she didn't seem very stable and I could tell something wasn't right. A black car pulled up, she slowly almost reluctantly walked toward the car and opened the back door. But before she got in, she looked back at me in a half smile and I could feel the pain in her eyes. So scared and helpless. It felt like a scene from a movie. After the car drove off, one of the girls I was with told me that's how it works. The girls finish their job and their pimp comes by, usually in a black car, to take them back. This immediate wave of emotion came over me and I thought I was going to collapse, but I just kept breathing, praying for this girl. I turned the corner and had to stop for a minute. I thought to myself, did that really just happen? Was that real? Did I see that correctly? At that moment I started to feel an evil presence. We continued to pray and walk, but I couldn't stop thinking about that girl. I still can't stop thinking about that girl. I wanted to just grab her and hug her and take her home! As we got closer to the main street I could feel that evil presence start to dissipate and once again felt comfortable, secure, normal. Those girls must feel that evil presence everyday, all day, all night. They can't leave...I want justice! It makes me furious!

Looking back now, I wish I would've taken down the plate # so I could call someone. It just happened so fast, just a moment, in a daze, I didn't know how to react. I know that God used me today. I know that He wanted me to experience this today. I just don't know what to do now... I'm not sure why I'm writing this here, but I feel that it's time people are aware! It's time to pray! It's time to do something about it! Slavery still exists in this world! What are we gonna do about it?

Here's the website for Hope Be Restored. It's the ministry that Pastor Eddie told us about at the retreat. Please check it out. http://www.hopeberestored.org/

~Krista~