We have continued to 'sing to the wells' of God's purposes to spring up in Wales, in Korea and in the nations. Thank you to all those who joined with us, whether in person, in prayer or in giving of skills, strength, time or money.

"The time has come, the Kingdom of God is here!"

Our goal is to seek and stay in the Presence of the King. In doing that, he is showing us his Kingdom, and his longing to see it manifest on earth as it is in heaven. The three weeks of Celebration Summer were a wonderful time glorifying our King and making him known.

Worship is our priority, for our King is worthy of all honour and glory.

I think nearly everyone involved stepped past fear barriers and attempted new things for the Lord. He honoured our faith, and people were touched in the streets by his love and power. Some of them came into the church and joined the meetings in the evenings as a result. It was beautiful to watch groups of Korean young people engage gangs of Welsh young people and pray for them. Some of these 'tough' youngsters were in tears as they were touched, probably for the first time, by the love of Christ.

We planned a smaller, but longer Celebration this year, and had about 150 from Korea for the opening week, over 80 of whom stayed on for the whole time. It was great to have a small but faithful African contingent, one couple coming for their honeymoon! The Welsh and English came along, particularly in the evenings, though to our shame we could not match the Korean numbers.

Opening Week

We had the blessing of being in Greenfield Baptist Church, right in the centre of Llanelli. The church itself is celebrating its 150 year anniversary this year, and saw the Celebration as part of that. Its location meant that people came to see what was going on, particularly in the evenings.

The Lord spoke into many lives through the ministry team who were often operating in the prophetic, with words of wisdom and knowledge that amazed people.

Jesus also graciously healed people, some specifically of long-standing stomach disorders. Many, whether believers or not, also received emotional healing through touches of his love and power.

Picking up the litter

One of the things we felt we should do as a prophetic sign was litter picking. One Korean lady pastor from America saw a vision of this before she came, and was so encouraged to see it outworked even though we had had no communication about it.

Interestingly, so many of the people that we spoke to on the streets felt that they were worthless. One lady, struggling with drug addiction (as many here are) even said that her life was 'rubbish'.

Jesus comes to pick up the rubbish, the litter of our lives, and to recycle us, to transform us into something beautiful for him. It was so moving to see people begin to understand how very precious they really are. Tragic too, to see some walk away, having been touched by God's love, but unable to accept that it is real and lasting. These are hurting, lost people who still need our prayer and practical love.

Teams also went into Care Homes, where elderly people are cared for when relatives are not able to do so. Many people in these homes also feel that they are the left-overs of society, and that no one has interest in them now. The teams came back full of joy at how the elderly people had responded to the singing, the love and the gospel message, some giving their hearts to Jesus.

Praise in the Park
A couple of weeks before the Celebration, one of the leaders had a conviction that one of the evening meetings should be outside. Amazingly all the arrangements came together for us to meet in People's Park in Llanelli. S4C, the Welsh national TV, arranged to film and broadcast this. However, a few days before we were due to meet, we were informed that because of a trade union strike, the gates would be locked and the power would be switched off.

The leaders all felt that the Lord had ordained this time, so we continued to advertise it, and trusted that the King of Kings would open the gates wide for us. He did! Many young people heard the gospel that night. Some folk gave their hearts to the Lord. S4C did a very positive report on a news programme the following evening.

Living sacrifices
Several of the messages were challenges for us to give our lives, even to death, for the sake of Jesus and his Kingdom. It was wonderful to see the aisles of the church crammed to overflowing with people responding with tears to this call. This included some Welsh young people. Offering our lives as living sacrifices is our true spiritual worship. O Lord, may we continue to live in this way.

North Dock days

The second part of the Celebration this year was based at the World Horizons Centre, North Dock, in Llanelli. We continued to worship, and the Lord led us into prayer, particularly for North Korea. In one meeting a married couple of Horizons missionaries were present who have been in Japan for 13 years. They have adopted two boys, one of whom is half Japanese, half Korean. Someone in the meeting felt that we should have a time of repentance for the idolatry that began in Pyongyang in 1938 when church leaders agreed, under threat from Japan, to worship the sun god alongside Jesus. One church leader who had refused to compromise was martyred. As he died he prophesied that the glory of the Lord was leaving Pyongyang. Exactly ten years later to the day of his death, the wall went up between what became North and South Korea. Another ten years to the day, all the Christians were told to deny Christ or leave North Korea. Many in the Celebration meeting were in tears as the Lord gave us the spirit of repentance.

The missionaries to Japan were then asked to come forward so that Korea could bless Japan. In tears the wife said that Japan did not deserve the blessing of Korea, but desperately needed it, as there had never been a significant move of God there. As we were blessing Japan someone was reading from Daniel 9:2.

'Daniel understood...that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years' Suddenly we became aware that it was 70 years since the idolatry started, and the glory of the Lord had departed. We started crying to the Lord for the desolation of North Korea to come to an end and for the Lord again to restore the land. It is hard to describe the sense of destiny that we felt in that meeting. May the Lord continue to lead us in this spirit of prayer and repentance.

Healing

After some teaching on healing we put the principles we had been taught into practice. It was wonderful to hear shouts of joy from all around the room as people received their healing. Great too to hear shouts of amazement, as those who had never realised that the Lord could use them in such a way, found out that he had!

Placements
Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Southall (London), Llanelli, Bridgend, Newport and Birmingham. Teams of between 6 and 17 went to all these places to put into practice what we had been learning about worship and the King and his Kingdom.

There were testimonies of joy (and some hardship), including one group who, feeling despondent, had gone back to the church hall where they were staying, only to have a Pakistani Muslim man come in and ask how he could become a Christian! The Lord inspired some very creative evangelism, including Turkish Restaurant Evangelism in Berlin!

London

We gathered in London for the final four days. We concentrated our worship evangelism in Trafalgar Square. Again it was the seeming 'rubbish' of this world, the homeless and destitute who responded to our message. The Lord is restoring David's fallen tent (more of this later) and David's army started in a cave with;

'All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented' (1Samuel 22:2)

One evening we gathered with many Korean believers from all over London, in New Malden to worship and pray. Again there was a call for the devotion of our lives to Jesus, no matter what the cost. Possibly up to a couple of hundred responded with tears and cries.

The final evening we gathered with the international community in Brixton, London. The Lord again poured out a spirit of prayer and supplication for a move of his Spirit. He also gave us such a joy as we worshipped him, that it was hard to stop dancing, even when we were exhausted. The Korean pastor there, who works alongside a British pastor, gave one of the homeless people we had been sharing with a new start, by opening his home. This young man from Romania was already a believer, but now has a father to disciple him. The pastor told us that if we come back next year he will hire the town hall for us!

Restoring David's fallen tent

At the end of the Opening Week we were seeking the Lord for his way forward for the future. Some of the leaders met into the night as they waited for transport that would return a number of them to Korea. The next day they came with a conviction that we needed to continue the Celebration, probably for the next five years, making seven years in total. The Lord had spoken to them that he was restoring David's fallen tent, and that we should go back to the Festival Fields next year, and hire the tent again; our own tabernacle.

At first it was hard for those of us based in Llanelli to receive. Only those who've done it, can know how much work, prayer and energy are involved, to say nothing of the finance. We felt so weak, and we know that we cannot do this on our own. The first big Celebration took three years to prepare, we have less than a year for this one!

However, when we had wrestled down our 'flesh' we began to feel a witness about it. This was strengthened on the Monday afterwards when KOH HyungWon spoke on worship. We hope to get this message on the website soon. I will just highlight a few of the things he said:

* We need to take back worship for the Lord. The Muslims gather in Mecca, the Hindus have Diwali. We need to restore the worship festivals that the Lord has ordained. As we worship, the Lord is enthroned. As he is enthroned, other powers fall.

* We anoint Jesus with our Celebration, as Mary anointed him. The Celebration is a 'dinner given in Jesus' honour'. He receives our anointing even though we are sinful, as likewise he received the anointing of the sinful woman in Luke 7.

* Mary chose the most important thing, which was intimacy with Jesus. If we prioritise this intimate worship, it will not be taken from us. If our life is not in worship, then we lose his manifest presence.

* King David was a worshipper, so that was why his life was anointed. He learnt to sing in the dark places. When we worship, as David worshipped, the Lord will restore his Kingdom, as he did for David.

* Two UKs, United Kingdom, and United Korea worshipping together to heal the land.

* We can evangelise based on a programme, or from a place of power (as we were beginning to see in the Celebration), or from his Presence, as they did on the day of Pentecost. Worship will keep us in the Presence of the Lord. The Lord is restoring this tabernacle of worship. From that place we can reach the nations.

So, subject to confirmation from the Lord in the shape of people we need to come into place to make things happen, and agreement with local church leaders, we are going forward next year. Put the dates in your diary, 18th July - 1st August 2009, with the opportunity to take part in mission trips in the UK and elsewhere after that.

1. 18th - 24th July: will be on the Festival Fields where we hope for 1000 or more people as there were in 2007.
2. 25th July - 1st August: training in the mornings and worship at nights in preparation for mission trips. There will be roughly 150 places on this.
3. August 1st +: Mission Trips



* Finance:
The 2007 Celebration for the Nations cost a total of about £100,000. You can see the accounts by going to the website and looking under news. We would like to provide better tents for sleeping and better food in 2009, so that will cost more! If we tried to pass on all this cost to those who come it would mean that some would not be able to. Please pray with us for the Lord's way of provision. Together we have wonderful testimonies of how he has provided until now, and we can trust him for the future.

* Administration:
We also need key people in Llanelli to help administrate the Celebration. They need to have good English and a heart of worship, and be trusting the Lord for their own support. Pray that the Lord will provide a key administrator, and then others to help. If you feel you may be part of the answer, please contact us!

The Lord is restoring David's fallen tent. His worship will extend from shore to shore. Celebration for the Nations is a part of this. As we sing, the wells are unblocked, and the water of life is flowing through us and from us to the nations.

Yours in the celebration of the victory that Jesus Christ has already won, and the determination to make that victory known,

Gail and the Celebration Team