KANNAPOLIS — A team of prayer ambassadors from Seoul, South Korea, will arrive in Kannapolis on May 14. The team is one of 21 such teams that will travel to various cities all across the U.S. to pray for the nation.

Dr. Nam Soo Choi is the pastor of the Kwang Myong Presbyterian Church in the northern province of Seoul, Korea. His congregation sponsors the World School of Prayer which is sending the prayer teams to America for the third consecutive year. To date, the teams have traveled to more than 100 nations to pray.

When the prayer team arrives, it will hold prayer services in the morning, afternoon and evening in various churches from Concord, Kannapolis and China Grove. The team’s prayer style, called the Korean method, is bold and passionate.

Nearly 20 area churches are participating in the week of prayer for our city. Each of the evening prayer services from May 15-19 will be held at Brookdale Baptist Church, 2511 South Ridge Avenue, Kannapolis. 

The services Wednesday – Saturday will begin at 7 p.m., with the Sunday, May 19, service beginning at 6 p.m.

The Korean Prayer Team will also be presenting a certificate of appreciation to Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant and other city leaders on May 16 at 9 a.m. at Kannapolis City Hall. 

“America has been so kind to Korea,” Choi said. “It sent its military and as a result, we were liberated. It sent its preachers — Billy Graham and Bill Bright, and as a result we emerged as a Christian nation with some of the world’s largest churches. Our economy exploded with the blessing of God, rising from an impoverished, war-torn nation, to the 10th most robust economy in the world. God blessed America, and through America, God has blessed South Korea. We have a debt to pay America — and the greatest gift we can give is prayer.”

Dr. P. Douglas Small, the USA coordinator of the prayer effort and the president of Project Pray, headquartered in Kannapolis, said of the missionary prayer teams: “They do not come to preach or teach, to sight-see or vacation. They come to pray….These are the grandchildren and children of those impacted by the crusade ministry of Dr. Billy Graham 50 years ago in Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Graham’s largest-ever crusade reached over three million people; 1.3 million in one service alone. Local estimates say that nearly 100,000 people gave their lives to Christ as a result of the visit.” 

Leaders from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association welcomed Pastor Choi and members of the Korean Prayer Teams recently at the Billy Kim Center at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.