1.Why this song, “Joy to the World.”?  

It was just the 7th of November, 2016. Why did all singers on the stage lead us to sing this song, ‘Joy to the World’?  

I came to Jerusalem to attend the ‘Global Gathering’, which was held between November 7-11, 2016. There were more than 3000 Christians from all over the world.  

On the first day, the meeting started at 18.30 pm. People were worshiping and dancers were dancing on the stage. A large number of participants from China were dancing and singing worship songs in the area near the stage. After 2 hours of workship, Dr.David Demian, appeared on the stage. He said a prayer and invited some people to come up. They were doing something, such as talking, shaking hands, hugging, and praying, etc., the details of which I will talk more later.  

After a while Dr. Demian announced that Tabitha, the lead singer, had something to say.  

Tabitha walked from one side of the stage, where the band was standing, to stand near David in the middle. Then she said, “I just saw a vision, the heaven was opening and a host of angles were descending and they were singing joyfully along with a multitude of people on earth.”  

A verse in Luke came up to me. It was about when the angels came to proclaim the birth of Jesus Christ. “This is the time of great joy. Come, let us sing this song together.” Then she started to sing ‘Joy to the World’. The whole congregation sang the song repeatedly for 5-6 times. I was amazed, “It is not Christmas yet. Why do we sing ‘Joy to the World’?”  

Christmas is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The story of Jesus’ birth was told more than two thousand years ago in the Book of Luke:  

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  

And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.  

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, 

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”    

That Thabita saw the angels meant that tonight some “good news” happened. This ‘good news” will “cause great joy for all the people”. Will this be the start of the real “peace to those on whom his favor rests”?  

2. “Christmas comes early this year!” 

We came back to the hotel at about 11pm. The next morning I had to get up very early, get dressed, had breakfast, and hurried to the bus that was waiting to take us to the venue, Pais Arena, in the city of Jerusalem.  

The meeting started at 9 am. We worshipped with songs for more than one hour. This meeting was different from other meetings that I used to attend. It was just a gathering of Christians, without sermons. There were no pastors to come up on the stage and preach. Are you surprised? (That’s why they call it “Gathering’.)  

After we sang for more than one hour Dr.David came up on the stage with a Chinese interpreter. He then invited Dean Fujishima to come up and “tell us something”. Dean is a senior leader of a church in Hawaii. Dean took a microphone and said that before he came to the gathering, he had attended a meeting of pastors in the U.S. In that meeting Bill Johnson, a senior pastor of Bethel Church in California said in a prophetic way that, “Christmas comes early this year.” Dean also told us that on November 6, while he was traveling to Jerusalem, his friend in Florida, Kathie Walters, who has a gift of prophecy, emailed him, saying, “I don’t understand what I am saying, but Christmas is tomorrow.”  

When I heard what Dean said, I knew instantly that what happened last night was something extraordinary. It was not a usual incident. And maybe this was why I had a very strong intention to come to this gathering. In fact my objective of coming to Jerusalem was to witness a very important moment in history. But what happened last night was much, much greater.  

It was not only history.  

It is the joy of heaven!  

And it will completely change the world!  

3.The Reconciliation of the two Brothers  

What happened on the night of November 7th, 2016, and what Dean said, is something that I must reflect on more deeply, not letting all these things pass through and let it go as in other gatherings I used to attend. After most gatherings there was nothing left, only some sweets and souvenirs my wife bought.  

After a long reflection of what happened, I began to understand. It was like putting all the jigsaw pieces together. Now I can see the whole picture!  

What has caused great joy, so great that a host of angels came and sang just like on the night Jesus was born? The answer is the reconciliation of the two Brothers! In other words the Kingdom of God has arrived!  

The two Brothers that I am speaking about were Ishmael and Isaac (and nowadays their descendants). Most of you probably know the story. But what do Isaac and Ishmael have to do with us, and with ‘Joy to the World’?  

Ishmael was the ancestor of Arabs and Isaac was the ancestor of the Jews. 

God promised Abraham a son through whom He would make a great nation and redeem the earth.  

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 NASB)  

And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:3-5 NASB)  

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:15-16 NASB)  

But what had Abraham and Sarah already done before Isaac was born?

Sarah, lamenting her barrenness, told Abraham to go in to her maid, Hagar, and conceive by her. Perhaps because he doubted, perhaps he became impatient, Abraham, after listening to the voice of God for so many years, took things into his own hands and listened to the voice of his wife.  

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. (Genesis 16:1-2 NASB)  

This child was Ishmael, through whom came the nations of the Arab peoples and, eventually, Islam and the greater Islamic world.  

Hagar conceived Ishmael and, immediately after this, she began to despise Sarah. Sarah, also, despised Hagar because she had conceived a child. After this, Sarah treated her so badly that Hagar attempted to flee. This enmity between Hagar and Sarah because of Abraham’s very bad decision is the beginning of all the enmity that exists to this day between their descendants.  

Fourteen years after the birth of Ishmael, Isaac was born fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham through Sarah. Ishmael begins mocking Isaac’s birth so Sarah told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” (Genesis 21:10)  

Abraham was greatly troubled by this but God told him not to worry and to do what Sarah said. God reminded him the promise was to be through Isaac (Genesis 21:12). Ishmael was not to be heir with Isaac, however, out of His mercy, God also promised to make Ishmael a great nation because he was a son of Abraham. And it is from this nation that Islam eventually came.  

Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” The angel of the Lord said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. “He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.” (Genesis 16:10-12) 3 

And of the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.” (Genesis 21:13) 

What do you think took place in this little boy Ishmael when he was out in the desert with his mother? Of course, brokenness, woundedness, and rejection. These has been passed on for thousands of years. It can be considered the worst breakup of the family, the deepest resentment and hatred in the history of mankind. (Resentment that occurred between nations, be it between Chinese and Japanese, Japanese and Korean etc. just occurred only hundred years ago.) So if both brothers reconcile, the deepest wound of the history will be healed and the Kingdom of God can really be established on earth.  

Why do I believe that the reconciliation is the precondition for the Kingdom of God in this world? It is in my experience when I lead people to accept the Holy Spirit. Almost all people who can not receive the Holy Spirit are those with bitterness against someone and they did not want to forgive. Some even said to me, “Let me hate this one person, just one!” or “Can’t I not forgive? I want to receive the Holy Spirit but I do not want to forgive.” I said, “No! You need to get rid of all hatred and bitterness.”  

So if the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is possible only when the bitterness has been removed from the person’s life, how much more with the incoming of the Kingdom of God in this world!  

The precondition should be the same.  

There have been attempts to facilitate the reconciliation between the Arabs and the Jews before in almost all gatherings that I attended, such as the World Gathering in Munich in October 2015. But the reconciliation that we consider a spiritual breakthrough happened in April 2016 at the Chaweng Buri Resort on Koh Samui (Samui Island), Thailand. This reconciliation was deepened and witnessed once more by more than 3000 people from around the world at this gathering in Jerusalem on November 7th, 2016.  

This reconciliation must be very important as many miracles happened on that day. First, at the leaders’ gathering in Koh Samui, the blood moon appeared. Second , the prophecy of Bill Johnson that Christmas would come early. Third, Kathie Walters’ prophecy that Christmas would come on November 7. And fourth, the vision that Tabitha received and her leading us to sing ‘Joy to the world’.  

Tabitha told me later that she saw open heaven and angels came down with cheers and joy, joining a multitude of people in the world, not just those in Pias Arena. Then the song ‘Joy to the World’ popped up in her head so she led us to sing this song, which surprised the congregation.  

Let us reflect on the reconciliation between the two brothers. Is it an extraordinary event that both heaven and earth have to join in celebration? There must be something ‘bigger’ behind this. And it cannot be anything else except for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  

4. Let’s go to Koh Samui!  

Now let me tell you what happened at Chaweng Buri Resort on Koh Samui.  

Before the gathering in Jerusalem in November 2016, there was a leaders’ meeting at Chaweng Buri Resort on Koh Samui, in April 2016. It was unthinkable that Dr. David would choose my resort as a venue for this meeting. But after much thought I can see that the Lord has planned it long, long time ago. At this point I would like you to hear from my wife, Dr. Umaporn. This is the story told by her. 

 *************************************************************** 

 “……In June 2013, while I was praying at home, I heard a still small voice saying, “I want you to take Ben (my son) to Homecoming in Hong Kong.” I thought it must be the Lord so I said to Him, “Lord, the event has already passed.” I thought that everything has already finished and I was not interested in going to Hong Kong. I have been to several Christian meetings and moreover, have been to Hong Kong many times.  

But in the following few days I heard the voice about 5-6 times until I finally prayed that “Lord, if you want me to go, I will look into it. But I am sure the event has already passed. But it was not! So in July 2013, I was attending the Homecoming gathering in Hong Kong with Ben!  

In the second day of the gathering I heard the still small voice again, “I want you to arrange a Homecoming in Thailand.” At first I thought it was myself speaking (like self-talk) or some kind of auditory hallucination. But then I heard the same sentence again and again. So clear that finally I had to take this voice seriously. Then I prayed, “Lord, how can I arrange this kind of meeting. It is huge and I am not good at organizing things.” But I still kept hearing it.  

I needed to tell someone. It was too much for me. Actually, the thought of arranging such a meeting was too big for me and I did not know what to do. 

The third day I ran into Janice, a Singaporean friend. I had not met her for more than 7 years. I told her about the voice. As soon as I finished my story, Janice burst into tears. She said, “I have been praying for Thailand for so many years. Thailand needs this. I have been involved with this gathering for many years. You need to tell Dr.David Damien. I will see if he has time to meet with you.”  

However, we did not meet as Dr.David was caught up with so many things.  

In August 2013, I attended an international meeting in Singapore. When Janice knew about this, she was excited as Dr. David was in Singapore during that time. She arranged for us to meet in a coffee shop. I told David about what I heard from God. He seemed nonchalant. I asked him what I should do. He said, “Just pray and seek God’s will.” I thought maybe Thailand was not ‘on the list’. After all, we are a small country with Christian population of less than 1%.  

Later on, I told Pastor Kang Seng about God’s voice. He tried to arrange a meeting for Thai pastors and invited me to share my experience about Homecoming and what I have heard from God.  

In January 2016, Pastor Kang Seng organized an international conference, ‘Revive Asia’. In a special lunch meeting we met Pastor Gideon Chiu and Dr.David Demian. My husband joyfully greeted Pastor Gideon. He said, “When will you visit us at our resort?” Papa Gideon exclaimed, “Oh! I just talked to David. We are looking for a place for the next meeting. Where is your resort?”  

Then he went to talk to David. After a while David came to me and asked more information about the resort. He said he was looking at one place in another country. But Koh Samui might be a good option and he would let us know of his decision.  

When I was alone at the table, I prayed to the Lord and wept. “Lord, now I know why you said’ “Chaweng Buri is mine. You will not sell it.” You would like to keep this land for this meeting, right?”  

I was so overwhelmed. In the recent years my husband’s family have been trying to sell this resort. But the Lord is using this place for Himself. It is such a privilege. He has a plan and He told me about His plan long time ago. He told me just the first half of the plan. For the second half, I need to trust Him. And today the second half was revealed!  

To tell you the truth, I did not think that David would be serious about holding a gathering in Koh Samui. Coming to Samui is not easy. You must fly and the flight is not cheap. I also remember his nonchalant face while we met in Singapore. But to my surprise I got his email one day. He said his team decided to come to Samui…..”.  

                    ************************************* 

Finally ‘3G Summit’, a homecoming of international leaders took place at Chaweng Buri Resort, Koh Samui, Thailand.  

5. At breakthrough on Koh Samui  

In April 2016 the leaders' meeting started. There was a spiritual breakthrough. A re-conciliation of the two brothers started from there and this great event was deepened and announced before the eyes of more than 3000 people in Jerusalem on the night of November 7th, 2016.  

It is unbelievable that the 3-G Summit would take place at my family' s resort. It is just a small resort, but God doesn't forget small things.  

The meeting was held in our brand-new meeting room. It was just constructed in February, 2 months before the meeting.  

That week was the hottest week of the year in Thailand and the meeting room was too small and packed for 150 people. On the second day we had to move to the dining room which is an open area and is bigger.  

Some visions  

Some leaders received visions and some ‘extraordinary’ things happened in the 3-G Summit. Here is what I have heard or seen for myself.  

1. There was a blood moon every night during the meeting.  

2. On the first day of the meeting Andrew Ho, a leader from Hong Kong, shared his vision with the participants. In the vision he saw a small elephant tied with a rope to a tree. This elephant could walk just around the tree as far as the length of the rope. Later on it became a huge elephant. The tree now looked very small compared with the size of the grown elephant. Actually the elephant could pull out the tree from the ground and walk freely. But he kept on walking around the tree as he used to. The interpretation of this vision is that we are now like big elephant so do not just stay in the same old place and do the same old thing. As for me I took this vision very seriously. Later in our Sunday meeting with the staff at the resort we concluded that this vision was meant for us. The Lord wants us to change our attitude. We are not small elephant any more. We are big elephant and we can do big things and we need to start now. This is the reason why I wrote this memoir. (I have never written anything before!) I took this vision as mine and I started to act upon it. I believe that the Lord is telling me that I need to be brave and do new things.  

3. On one morning in the meeting Dean Fujishima came out to the stage and read from Isaiah chapter 6:  

Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"…  

He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 9He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'…  

When he finished reading, my wife Dr.Umaporn, walked from outside the meeting room, with a tray of charcoal. She put the tray near the front of the stage. David took the microphone and said, " This is the prophecy from the Lord. He confirms His words for us." My wife looked surprised as she did not understand what happened. She was busy with the housekeeper, trying to find something to freshen the stuffy air in the meeting room. At first she planned to use an aroma burner, but later she decided to use charcoal. That was why she walked into the meeting room with charcoal. My understanding is that the Lord would like the leaders in the 3G Summit to go out and tell other people about what happened here. Even though the Bible said that people would hear but would not understand. But I think that people in these days are different from people in the days of the Bible. Now we have the Holy Spirit and we can ask Him to give us wisdom and understanding.  

Among events that took place at this meeting I think the most important was the reconciliation between the Arabs and the Jews. I was not in the meeting at that time because I was running around, checking if the cooling system was working properly or not (it was extremely hot on that day). Andrew told me later about what happened. The most important part was when an Arab woman (represented Hagar) asked to hold a Jewish child (Isaac)and invite the Jewish mother (Sarah) to come to the dining table, saying that there was enough room for everyone. The Holy Spirit came and people spoke in tongues. This happened in the afternoon of the last day.  

Andrew said to me that because of this reconciliation, Chaweng Buri Resort, a small place, will be remembered as a place of spiritual breakthrough.  

6. When our Father rejoices  

During the 3G Summit I did not sit in all sessions as there were so many things I had to take care of, to make sure that the meeting ran smoothly. However, there is something I would like to share. On the first day at dinner in King Prawn Restaurant Dr. David asked me to pray for food. I gave the microphone to my wife so she could pray instead of me as her English is more fluent. But suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon me and I started to speak in tongues. David then hold the microphone in front of my mouth. In that moment I felt that God was so joyful and happy. I have never felt that way before. I asked him, “Why are You so joyful? Why are You so happy?” He laughed. Then I said, “OK, I understand.” I was surprised at what I said. What did I understand? In my head I was just thinking, “I have to take care of God’s guests as best as I can. Today God’s children from all around the world, the chosen ones from among a lot of people gathered in my place. I am God’s housekeeper. I will have to do my duty as best as I can.”  

Many participants said that the resort was beautiful and very comfortable. I said to them that I was just doing my job. I am His housekeeper. They would respond, “You are so humble.” Actually I am not a humble person. I just want to do my best. God has asked me to steward His property and I will do my best. I believe that all jobs, big or small, are respectable. The only thing that is unrespectable is the people who do not do their job well and lack responsibility. 

And this leads to the last thing that I said in the meeting. That is, I believe that the Lord wants us to do small things also. Many high-rank Christians may be willing to do ‘big’ thing. They can die for God. People will talk about them, about their sacrifice. But for small things people may not do it because it is not big and no one knows. But I feel that the Lord also wants us to do small work too. When I said this in the meeting room I also felt that these leaders were so important and much loved by God.  

When I told a Malaysian Prophet about what my wife heard from the Lord. He said,”You can have homecoming at your resort.” I laughed and told him that, “Homecoming is a very big event. Thousands of people attend. My resort is small. Travelling here is difficult and the plane ticket is expensive. It is impossible.”  

When the 3G Summit was over, my wife told to me that, the Lord told her that His request that she arrange the homecoming in Thailand was fulfilled. Her job was complete. It then dawned on me that this is the homecoming of God in Thailand, not the homecoming for Thailand. God’s chosen people came together to witness the reconciliation of the two brothers and to rejoice with the Father. 

Summary  

On November 8th, 2016 Pastor Dean Fujishima from Hawaii talked about the prophecy of Bill Johnson and Kathie Walters. My hypothesis is that something has happened, something as great as the birth of Jesus Christ, something that can fill the whole world with joy. And that is the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus proclaimed this coming on the first day He started His ministry. The reconciliation has destroyed the bitterness that once was an obstacle for the establishment of the Kingdom in this world. When the Arabs and the Jews came together as one, it opened the door for the Kingdom.  

Malachi chapter 4 which is the last chapter of the Old Testament says:  

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”  

The children that turn to the Father are Ishmael’s and Isaac’s descendants, the Arabs and the Jews.  

On November 7th, 2016, a reconciliation was witnessed by more than 3000 people from around the world. After more than 2000 years what Jesus proclaimed is now fulfilled.  

The only thing that is left is that you and I, each of us have to turn back to our Father and that is, to welcome the Holy Spirit, to cherish His presence and to let Him take control of our lives. Only in that way we will become the true children who really turn to the Father. 

THE END


Joy to the World was written in 1719 and based on Psalm 98 by Isaac Watts (1674-1748). The original theme of this song was the second coming of the Lord. You may read the story behind this song in http://agodlyheritage.org/story-behind-the-song-joy-to-the-world