Pentecostal
100 Anniversary
Osaka, Japan (September 11~12, 2001)
The 100th Pentecostal Anniversary was
celebrated in Osaka, Japan for two days beginning
September 11, 2001, under the leadership of the anniversary
congress chairperson, Rev. Sugimoto Shunsuke, and
under the sponsorship of DCEM (David Cho Evangelistic
Mission). Dr. Cho was invited to preach for both days.
He stressed the importance of working with the Holy
Spirit for the revival of the Japanese churches. About
7,000 people gathered at the Osaka International Conventional
Center (OICC) for two days. The theme of the rallies
was, "Come from the four winds, O breath¡± (Ezekiel
37:9, NIV).
Dr. Cho emphasized that we should accept the Holy
Spirit as a partner for the revival of the Japanese
churches. He continually stressed that Christians
saved from sin, the curse and suffering, should
be led by the Holy Spirit. On the second day of
the rally, September 12, after the terrorist attack
in the United States he preached that we should
love one another with upright faith. Then this kind
of terrible event will not happen again on the earth.
He also said that professing the wrong kind of faith
is the cause of this disaster. The only way to overcome
the crisis is love each other with God¡¯s love. After
his sermon, people stood up and repented of their
sins for not showing love to one another, and they
also prayed for America.
Two hours before the rally, people lined up to
go into the OICC. Mr. Keichi from Yamagata province
excitingly said he has been reading Dr. Cho's books
since 10 years ago. He said that he drove for 12
hours from his place to Osaka to listen to the well-known
Holy Spirit movement preacher. After the rally a
young man said, ¡°It was easy to listening to the
preaching and it was my first time to experience
the leading of the Holy Spirit so vividly.¡±
The executive director of the 100th Pentecostal
Anniversary Congress Committee, Rev. Murakami Yoshinobu,
mentioned that the Japanese churches have been greatly
influenced by Dr. Cho and therefore Dr. Cho was
invited to be the main speaker. He said that they
expect to have a revival in the Japanese churches
because of these rallies.The rallies commemorated
some of the first people to receive the Holy Spirit
at a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas USA in early
January 1901. Japan also wants to receive the Holy
Spirit, so they held the 100th Pentecostal Anniversary
in Osaka. About 100 Pentecostal churches throughout
Japan joined in the rallies in Osaka.