The National Council of Churches Korea is sharing with the churches of the World the prayer and worship resources for the 8.15 Sunday Prayer Worship for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula.
The prayer will be held on 13 August—the Sunday before Liberation Day, the annual Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula is observed on the Sunday before 15 August every year. 15 August, celebrated as Liberation Day in both North and South Korea, marks the date in 1945 when the day that signifies Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial oppression but it was also the day when the peninsula was divided into two countries.
During the WCC 10th General Assembly in Busan 2013 the delegates passed a resolution that the churches of the world will annually observe each Sunday prior to August 15 as a “Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.”
Let us pray for peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula at this time with the following prayer:
Loving God,
In this 70th year of the armistice system, South Korea and North Korea (North and South) are still hostile to each other, and there remains an invisible latch locking the door of our minds greater than the visible barbed wire that cuts across the gap between the divisions of our nation. The spring wind that had been blowing on the Korean Peninsula for a while has disappeared and now it is only a land filled with cold air. The danger of war is growing, and the great power nations are doing as they are wish, regardless of what the people of this land think. How long, O Lord? How long do we have to live in pain? How long do we have to live with both this longing for each other and this hatred? God, let our nation become one bound by the band of love.
God of Hope,
Help us, nevertheless, to not give up even the smallest seeds of peace and reunification that remain in us. Let those who confess God as the Prince of Peace sprout the seeds of hope with all their strength, their will, and their sincerity. Let the people take up their cross upon their shoulders and climb the hill of reconciliation and peace. When you call on me for the peace of this land, let me answer, ‘Here I am, Lord.’
God of Faith, God of Integrity,
With our faith we confess that God ‘shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ (Micah 4:3 NRSV) Let the energy of war disappear from this land, and let the future of our nation be determined by the strength and wisdom of our nation. Let South Korea and North Korea (North and South) join hands again for co-existence, co-prosperity, reconciliation and reunification.
God of Justice and Life,
The arms race in Northeast Asia is reaching its peak, and the DMZ, which should be a symbol of peace, is turning into a ‘line’ that solidifies the confrontational structure of the New Cold War. Also our neighboring country, Japan, is dumping contaminated nuclear waste water into the ocean, threatening the lives of not only other neighboring countries but also global citizens. God, give us the wisdom to stop these actions that endanger the whole planet. For this, let the South and the North, the North and the South speak with one voice and become a united country that contributes to world peace beyond the Korean Peninsula.
We pray in the name of God who leads us to life through justice and peace. Amen.
The whole liturgy can be downloaded as pdf-file at the end of this Blog.
