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"Since the economic crisis, prayer mountains have never been busier."

In recent years, the economy of Asia has been a speeding train, moving full-steam ahead toward modernization. I travel across Asia three months out of the year, and everywhere I go one scene stands out: tall building cranes dotting the skyline. They have become the hallmark of a continent on the move. Everywhere, high-rise apartment buildings are going up next to thatched-roof huts. Businesses are spreading their wings to new and bigger facilities.

The church in Asia has been aboard this speeding train. Especially in countries like South Korea, known as "the Tiger" of Asia, economic prosperity has brought astonishing amounts of material wealth to the church. The faithful keep the coffers full. One very wealthy businessman in Seoul gives up to half of his wealth to the church. I know of an elder who, when his church was embarking on a building program, sold his house and gave the money to the building project.

And the church has something to show for it. At least, outwardly. Churches have not only put up large, impressive sanctuaries, they have purchased whole mountains on which to build discipleship training centers and facilities where people come, day and night, to pray. The South Korean churches, which number among the largest in the world, often build and run their own schools. Recently, churches have even begun to purchase land for cemeteries—something new for the Asian church.

But now Asia's speeding train has entered a dark tunnel, and many see no light at the end. Long to be remembered as the year of economic bailouts, 1998 finds the East deep in the throes of economic depression. Countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia are reeling daily from the devaluation of their currency, nose-diving stock prices, ever-increasing commodity hikes, and growing unemployment. South Korea alone is faced with at least $150 billion in foreign debt. According to a recent article in the Korean Daily Business Newspaper, one billion people in Asia are presently unemployed.

In North Korea, where I grew up, and in South Korea, where I presently live, one is quickly reminded of the early 1950s when our country was still smouldering from the Korean War. Since then, we have known amazing growth and prosperity, but many of us have not forgotten a past when one had to scratch and claw for the next meal. While we are not facing anything like the devastation of war, Asians are clearly shaken—and the church along with it. Amidst this economic gloom, the church is stopping to take stock, to ask itself some tough questions.

The mood, especially in South Korea, has turned toward repentance. Listen in on almost any Sunday morning Protestant worship service in the urban areas—where the effects on the church of secularism and materialism are most keenly felt—and you will most likely hear prayers of confession, confession of arrogance and of indifference toward God in the face of affluence. Prayer mountains have never been busier. People are there to plead with God for healing, both spiritual and financial healing. While I have not noticed a particular increase in church attendance since the economic crisis hit South Korea, I have noticed a new fervency in prayer. Churches were calling for special all-night prayer sessions, and attendance in early-morning prayer meetings is on the increase.

It is not altogether surprising that the Asian church is turning toward repentance in the face of economic crisis. In Asian countries of great affluence, such as South Korea, "Prosperity Theology" has long been taught from the pulpits. At its core is this reasoning: The more you give to God, the more he will bless. Forget him, and hard times are bound to come. In South Korea, such thinking reflects a strong shamanistic influence.

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November 16 1998, Vol. 42, No. 13