In August, 1906, a Bible and prayer conference was held at Pyeng Yang, by the missionaries of that station, for the deepening of their own spiritual life. Dr. Hardie, of Won San, was present and “helped them greatly,” and Mr. Lee writes that there was born in their hearts the desire that God would take complete control of their lives and use them mightily in His service. Immediately after this, at Seoul, during the Annual Meeting of the Presbyterian missionaries, many of them received much blessing and aid in meeting Dr. Howard Agnew Johnson, who had already been greatly used in helping the Seoul missionaries. He went to Pyeng Yang later and stirred up fervent desire in the hearts of native Christians by telling them of the wonderful blessing poured into India, “and from that time natives and missionaries were praying for the blessing, till it came,” says Mr. Lee. To one looking back over the whole history of events, it had already begun. All the previous fall and winter we had seen that something wonderful was happening. A new spirit was abroad. There was a shaking and rustling among the dry bones. Christians were not only praying but working. Even those who had never done much hitherto, would go out into the country and spend several days or even weeks at a time, preaching to unbelievers and teaching Christians, the letters that came from other missions and other stations in all parts of Korea to the capital as booksellers and native helpers sent in their reports, all were of the same nature; “Not enough books, tracts and hymn books for those who want to buy,”—“The Bibles all gone. Unpublished new edition all sold in advance,”—“Churches and chapels crowded,”—“Inquirers multiplying,”—“Numbers of baptized and newly enrolled catechumens far in advance of any previous time,”—“Missionaries over-worked,”—“Hospitals paying their own running expenses better than ever before,”—“Many new groups formed,” till our hearts thrilled and we felt “this is surely the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous.” God was answering the prayers of His people.
In our churches the sight of the increasing crowds every Sunday deeply stirred us. To see the throngs which not only filled to suffocation the little buildings but stood crowding the windows and doors, was to us who had seen the first feeble timid beginnings of a little handful of men and women, beyond power of description, glorious and thrilling. We knew that this eager, anxious throng were there because Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. At every service Christians came to the missionaries bringing those who had made their decision for Christ; from one or two to whole families. Idols were cast away and Christ was chosen. We could hear the Master’s stately steppings and we felt that the place whereon we stood was holy ground.
In Pyeng Yang, fervent prayer was continually offered for a special manifestation of God’s power, by natives and missionaries in special daily meetings as well as in private. Just before Christmas special noon meetings were held by the missionaries for the Men’s Bible Training Class. These men from the country, said by Mr. Swallen, who had charge of the enrolment, to number about one thousand, had come up for the winter Bible class, from many villages and distant districts. Some had walked many miles, most of them bringing their supplies of rice with them. On January 6th, evening meetings for the Class and the people of the city began in the large Central Church which holds about fifteen hundred. As it would have been much too small for an audience of both sexes, it was arranged for the men only to meet in this building and the women were asked to meet separately in four different places, and the schoolboys in the Academy chapel. The Central Church was full of men every night. The meetings grew in power until Saturday, which was best day of the whole week. Sunday evening the expected blessing was withheld, but on Monday night the wonderful manifestation of God’s Presence came.
It was marked, as had been those in Won San and Mokpo, by “a spirit of prayer,” conviction of sin, confession and intercession. Awful and overwhelming conviction of sin was its most marked feature. Men wept, groaned, beat their breasts, falling to the ground and writhing in agony. Mr. Lee, speaking of one of those who confessed said, “In a broken voice he began to pray and such a prayer I never heard before. We had a vision of a human heart laid bare before its God. As he prayed, he wept. In fact he could hardly control himself, and as he wept, the audience wept with him. We all felt as if we were in the presence of the living God.”
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, the same wonderful manifestations, the same overwhelming sense of the immediate presence of the awful glory of God. Mr. Hunt says of them, “Two or three most earnest prayers were followed by such an outpouring of the Spirit as I had never before witnessed—great strong men, half a dozen at a time, pleading for forgiveness and confessing their sins in great agony of spirit. From that day on there was not a day without some new proof of His presence with us individually and collectively. There was public confession of sin that brought agonized groans from the entire congregation. There were private confessions to God which brought strong men to tears. There were similar confessions to men, accompanied by restoration or other real mending of wrong. It was a time of praying such as we had never known before. The prayer meetings were crowded. The meetings held each evening in the big church were crowded, men only being admitted. Whole companies were reduced to tears. In the boys’ schools the work spread and to those at first most sceptical came the most bitter suffering. Between these schools had sprung up some bitter rivalry. By reason of the Spirit’s work among them, love and an earnest spirit of intercession has taken its place.”
On the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the same manifestations of power were felt in the advanced school for girls and women, and at the Central Church Boys’ School, which had been experienced in the men’s meetings. On Thursday the Spirit fell on the primary school for girls. Mrs. Bernheisel went down to the girls’ school in the city and found the Spirit there also; she wrote, “The Spirit of God literally fell on us, and we couldn’t help but weep and confess our sins.” Saturday night the power fell upon the women of the church.
“All through the class, the women had been meeting separately,” says Mr. Lee, “but there had been no special manifestation among them, and it was decided to hold special meetings for them also in the Central Church on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings following. On Saturday night the power was felt and the women agonized over their sins and confessed as the others had done, and on Monday and Tuesday evenings the meetings for women being continued, God’s mighty power continued to be manifested. So great was the strain that one of the women became unconscious.”
Mrs. Baird writes that “it was a matter of regret to all that the Pyeng Yang college and academy was not in session at the time of the gracious visitations described by Mr. Lee. Several of the resident students were led through a very wonderful experience, and on all sides the earnest hope was expressed and the prayer offered that the beginning of the spring term might witness another wonderful manifestation of God’s power and that not one of the students might be left unvisited.” Several days before the opening of the school, “informal prayer meetings, attended as well by several of the Korean members of the school faculty were held in the Principal’s study. One morning, feeling burdened, he sought out his fellow (missionary) worker who had been much exercised in prayer and the two knelt together and prayed for the descent of the Spirit upon the school. It was at that hour that the storm broke in the study. Cries and sobs of anguish filled not only the room but the whole house.”
For two wonderful weeks the work went on among the boys, with whom meetings were held every day at four. “No attempt was made to lead these meetings. Indeed, leadership would have been impossible. All were prostrate on their faces and all alike except those who had already received a blessing were in an agony of repentance. Sometimes they beat their foreheads and heads against the floor, sometimes they literally writhed in anguish,—then when there seemed no more power of resistance left they would spring to their feet and with terrible sobs and crying pour out their confessions. No human power could have dragged these confessions to light.”
At the beginning of the school term the usual curriculum was laid aside, the first week was devoted to Bible study and prayer, reserving the evenings for devotional services with the whole school. On the first evening one young man after another sprang to his feet and testified to a sense of pardon, peace and joy. But these were only a small part of the three hundred young men and boys present, and many remained “cold and lumpish as ice.” The battle was between our God and His forces on one hand and all the hosts of Satan on the other. Students who had received a blessing spent hours of every day in prayer and some spent whole nights on their faces before God.