Open Hands ministry, the ministry with which Open Heart is partnering with for the Water Together Concert, has been providing water purifier bags to people in underdeveloped regions with a lack of access to clean water, including in Indonesia and the Philippines.
One Heart Ministry, one of the most active cultural ministries in the Los Angeles area, will be hosting the "Water Together Concert," or WTcon for short, alongside Korean Christian media, Oriental Mission Church (OMC), Abundant Life Korean Church, New Life Oasis Church, and other churches on March 28.
"Last October, I heard about the work that Open Hands ministry in South Korea does in various regions of the world in which many people face very harsh circumstances," said Pastor Peter Park, the president of One Heart ministry.
"I heard from Myung-Hee Cho, the president of Open Hands, that they install specially designed water purifiers called "water bags' in various regions in Southeast Asia. We also had the chance to discuss how to help those in the developing countries, mission fields, the "global village,' who are suffering due to dirty water," Park said. "But my heart really broke as a Christian when I learned that, though regions without clean water have been reaping the benefits of clean water well projects by big churches and non-profits, none of those benefits have been going back to the outcasts of society and the children in the developing countries."
"Those in the red-light districts near the developed cities in Indonesia, the impoverished children that are forced out from even underneath construction bridges, and the children in the public cemeteries of the Philippines are examples of the various people in the global village that are in desperate need of these water purifiers," Park continued. "Through WTcon, we want to spread awareness of the importance and necessity of this ministry, and also bring practical benefits to the people in need." Park and the other organizers asked for support from the church, and have been promoting the event by creating a campaign song and actively promoting through social media.
The entirety of the profits earned from this concert will be sent to help Indian tribes in the region of Chaco in Paraguay. This region is dry, and even when a well is dug up, the water that comes from the well is salty. Hence, the people gather rainwater to use for drinking water. Installing one water purifier is $25, so the price for one concert ticket will be $35. One Heart also takes monthly support of $20, which is used to exchange the filters in the water purifiers.
Peter Park (right) and Rachel Kim (left) explain the purpose for the upcoming Water Together Concernt (WTcon) which will be taking place on March 28 at Oriental Mission Church.
Rachel Kim, one of the staff in One Heart, said the concert will feature leaders well-known in both the U.S. and in South Korea, including Kang Chan, a well-known Christian artist in Korea, and AMP Movement, a Christian hip hop group. Pastor Jon Choi, the senior pastor of Global Harvest Church in Dallas and a board member of Jesus Awakening Movement in America (JAMA), will be speaking at the event.
"World missions, from the first step of directly sharing the gospel, to the second step of doing missions through culture, is rapidly advancing today," said Pastor Jin Bae from New Life Oasis Church. "We can see evidence of that not only in Korea, but even in the fact that groups like Hillsong and Hosanna Music are expanding in underdeveloped areas. I'm hoping to see more cultural aspects being incorporated into mission work in the future."
"The concert will not only be an opportunity for young people to help those in need, but it'll also be a time of healing and blessing for them as well," Bae said.
According to Park, WTcon will become an annual event in the spring beginning with this year, and starting next year, the organizers are planning to change the name to "World Together' and introduce new and diverse ways to help the families in the global village.
The concert will be taking place at Oriental Mission Church at 6:30 PM on March 28. For more information, visit www.wtconcert.com.
