Che Ahn: TheCall Revolution
Time For Extraordinary Prayer
Che believes it is time for the church to rise up and pray. "After the Sept. 11 tragedies, it's not just time to pray but to pray and persevere," says Che. "What the enemy meant for evil, God can use for good." God can use this time for worldwide revival. There is a prayer movement taking place and Christians need to take advantage of this opportunity.
Recently in Boston, Mass., TheCall in New England event went on as it had been planned prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. Che says thousands are taking their relationship with God seriously. "We saw 50,000 kids in New England and over 400,000 in DC pray." TheCall will also be in New York City in June 2002, an event which was also planned prior to Sept. 11.
In times of crisis, Che says we need to come together in corporate prayer with repentance and humility. "That's what the Bible says in
," says Che. Turn to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. "It is crucial that we meet the conditions as they are stated in the Bible in order to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit," states Che.The local churches need to pray extraordinary prayers for extraordinary times like this. Che says there are three things a local church can do:
1. Hold early morning prayer meetings.
2. Hold all night prayer meetings (many black churches are growing as a result of all-night prayer vigils).
3. Take part in seasons of praying and fasting 21 or 40 days.
Being Changed
Che knows the results of the power of a changed life. When Che was a child, his father, a Baptist pastor from South Korea, punished him after he brought home mediocre grades. Soon Che rebelled, turning to a life of drugs and alcohol. When Che came to Christ at the age of 17 at a rock concert, he tried to work through the pain from those turbulent years.
In 1994, after sinking into depression and resigning as a pastor, Che attended the Vineyard's annual conference. He was cynical as he witnessed manifestations of the Holy Spirit. (This was the beginning of the movement where showings of God's presence occurred such as shaking, trembling, laughing, and weeping). Che thought people were responding as part of a mass hysteria until the Holy Spirit swept over the section Che was sitting in. He found himself unable to stop laughing!
It was here that the Holy Spirit showed him the bitterness in his heart from feeling rejected by his father. He felt invigorated and later realized his depression had lifted.
The result of this experience was immediate fruit in Che's life -- he was excited about ministry again and he was in love with Jesus! In 1996, when Che developed the courage to ask his father for forgiveness for the pain he caused, his father asked for forgiveness also.
