[Malawi] The Meeting of the President of Malawi and Pastor Ock Soo Park for Youth Education

The President promises to support all IYF activities in Malawi
The Youth Minister of Malawi who attended the Korea World Culture Camp and received salvation completely opened his heart towards the IYF. He delivered the personal letter that Pastor Ock Soo Park had written to the President along with an introduction of what he had done in Korea. The Minister suggested to the President that he meet with Pastor Ock Soo Park and meeting plans began to be arranged as he accepted the proposal.

God allowed for the perfect date for the meeting amidst a busy schedule and the President accepted it despite the short notice. We were not given an exact time for the meeting due to matters of security of the President. Yet, he was considerate enough to even provide for a letter with the confirmed time and date – July 28^th, 2pm at the State House located in Lilongwe, Malawi. This was a meeting that was prepared by God from the beginning .

At 8:30 am on July 28^th, Pastor Ock Soo Park who arrived at the Kamuzu International Airport headed towards the first event venue, the Police Headquarters.

The MOU with the Police Agency was signed last March after the Commissioner listened to the mind lecture given by Pastor Ock Soo Park at the Malawi Camp. He expressed the need for all the police officers of Malawi to listen to the mind lecture and held the signing ceremony in the presence of the Commissioner, two Deputy-Commissioners, and about 100 other high-ranking officials during Pastor Ock Soo Park’s visit in July.

The contents of the MOU included that the IYF freely give mind lectures to the Police Agency, Police College, Police Technical School etc. all institutions of the police for the next 5 years. The purpose lies in implanting the right mind in the minds of the young police. Before the ceremony, there was a duet from the Gracias Choir’s Jin Young Park and Hye Mi Choi. As they sang in the local language, the participants were immersed into the music.

After Pastor Ock Soo Park gave a mind lecture, he headed towards the Ministry of Education and had a meeting with 15 top working-level staff. Through the story of the Prodigal Son, he spoke about the flow of the heart and emphasized the need for the mind education. The Minister and staff who listened to this message carried out discussions regarding the adoption of the mind education as a formal curriculum.

Despite the busy schedule, Pastor Ock Soo Park and his company moved to the land at Lilongwe and met with the saints. Although the time was short, we could hear about the heart of God that protects the churches with the gospel with peace and joy.

At 1:30 pm, the Pastor and his company travelled to the Presidential Palace. The meeting with the President was held with the Minister of Education, Minister of Culture and Sports, the First Lady and permanent deputy-ministers of each department.

President Mutharika gave a welcoming speech and explained the current situation of Malawi saying, “54%of the entire population of Malawi is youth below 18. This means that the society is in difficulty economically. This is because although youths can be excellent resource to a nation when well-disciplined, they can fall into bad deeds when undisciplined.”

Following the President’s speech, Pastor Ock Soo Park congratulated him on having been appointed as UN Youth Champion and mentioned that his consideration for the youth was on the same page as the IYF.

The Minister of Youth requested to sign an MOU with the IYF and the President approved of it on the site. Moreover, Pastor Ock Soo Park requested to be allowed teachers’ mind education, establishment of mind department and development of mind lecturers through the mind education major. To this request, the President approved and instructed the Youth Minister to do as requested, immediately. The meeting that was scheduled to last 30 minutes lasted an hour and a half and executive discussions were held. No other nation president has ever allotted this amount of time.
Lastly, the Gracias Choir performed a song and the President was delighted. After the commemorative photo, he requested that they perform again for the reporters. The President presented the gift he had prepared for Pastor Ock Soo Park saying, “Please visit the Presidential Palace whenever you visit Malawi. We are always open to you.”

As Pastor Ock Soo Park left the Presidential Palace, he said, “It’s like a dream. How could we have done such a thing? It seems as though only 1 hour has passed today but so much time has already passed” as he headed for Kenya.
It was the moment we saw the fruit of God born through the Korean Culture Camp and ministers’ forum. We are extremely hopeful of the wonderful works of God in the future.