The Calling of Back to Jerusalem Movement

     When Apostle Paul started to spread the Gospel from Jerusalem to the East, the Holy Spirit stopped him and led him to the West.  The trail of the Gospel went to Europe, to America and to Asia.  In 1947, a group of students from the Fengxiang Bible Institute in Shaunxi, China was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Their mission was to take the Gospel pass through the Muslin countries and back to Jerusalem.  They purchased camels and started their journey through the Silk Road to the Middle East.  When they arrived at Xinjiang, the Communists swept to power in 1960 and Christians were forced to go underground, the movement stopped. 

(The first team of back to Jerusalem Movement)   It was not until 1990-2000, the movement restarted.  Many Christians believed that the last baton to take the Gospel back to Jerusalem is for the Chinese.

Back to Jerusalem cross the Middle East countries

        

     As we can see, the map for the 10/40 window which showed the unreached nations surround Jerusalem are Muslin countries.  God has plan for His kingdom and are preparing the Asians to carry it out.  During the ancient days, the “Silk Road” was the important trade path from the East to the West.  But it wasn’t just for trading.  It was God’s plan to open the door for the Gospel from the East to the West as well.  In Muslin countries, people are familiar with the Chinese.  Beside current economy reasons, Chinese did not have much influence to the Muslin countries in the area of political wars even up to now.  Without historical and political conflicts, Chinese has a much better chance to be accepted by Muslin countries than any other races.  Also Muslins are surprised that the Chinese are under Communist reign but at the same time have religious freedom.  As a Chinese Christian, I have no excuse to avoid this assignment and it is an honor for Chinese to respond to the calling. 

        

       One night back in 2005 (when my daughter was about 5 or 6 months old), I was just about to fall into deep sleep, I heard someone was saying in my ears, “No one is praying! No one is praying!” I woke up with my half closed eyes and asked the Lord, “What is it? Let me pray for it.”  Then, I felt the voice said, “No one is praying for Jerusalem!”  My mind was kind of thinking… “It’s impossible… None of the Christians in the whole wide world was praying for Jerusalem!” However; I still knelt down and prayed… Before, I had never prayed for Jerusalem at all… and had no idea what to pray.  So I just prayed whatever I could remember from the Bible until I was really sleepy…. So I asked Jesus, “is it enough? I am really sleepy!” But I felt that He wanted me to stay a little bit longer with Him… so I did. Maybe it was long or short after that, I asked Him again, “I am really tired… sorry… can I go now?” My heart felt how much He wanted to keep me as company that night but I end up falling asleep.  Then right after that the same night I had a dream from the Lord.  At the end of the dream, Jesus called me “Peter! Peter!”  It took me a few years to interpret that dream.  God set up a few divine appointments to allow spiritual leaders to help me to confirm that dream. It was then that I knew, as Peter was called to minister to the Jews (his own people), I am called to minister to the Chinese (my own people).  Now, God brought us here to be equipped.  The year we arrived Kansas City, there was a Call to All in IHOPKC about the Back to Jerusalem Movement.  That was the first time I heard about the movement and I felt I needed to be part of this movement.   

        

        My personal thinking of taking the Gospel Back to Jerusalem Movement should include all the nations in Asia: Korea, Japan, China, India and Russia etc.  Now, the Muslin countries are occupied by Samsung and Apple in the smart phone market.  This is telling me there are so many kind of opportunities to reach these people and not just in the old way.  More than that, I feel God wants us to do it together instead of just a certain nation.  There is a saying: Back to Jerusalem is kind of like a gun facing the West.  Korea is the base of the gun, Japan is the trigger of the gun and China are the bullets.  No matter which part of the gun, without one another, nothing will work.  Right now, in the phrase of IHOPU training, we started interceding for those unreached nations and raising the next generation to prepare them for the age to come.  I feel strongly that unless I become a torch myself, I couldn’t burn long and shine far for His glory. 

          

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