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Japanese
Ask Singaporean's Forgiveness
on the 55th Anniversary
of Takeover
-
Repentance Prayer by Japanese - 15
Feb 1998
-
- I had the privilege of
attending the Sunday morning service at Faith Community
- Baptist Church in Singapore at which a number of Japanese stood on
the platform
- and asked forgiveness of the
Singaporeans for the atrocities their people committed
- when they invaded Singapore
and ruled the nation during WWII.
-
- This was of particular
interest to me as my Father-in-law served as a POW under the
- Japanese, for about six months
at Changi Prison, then several years in the Japanese
- coal mines. He didn't think he'd ever come out alive. Most of his
friends didn't.
-
- I couldn't help but weep as I
listened to this prayer of apology.
-
- Heavenly Father, You are the Almighty, and You are the
one who controls
- history. "This is the day that the Lord has made." --
we confess this fact
- now. We acknowledge that You have great pains for this
day. Fulfil Your
- will through these prayers. May Your will be done here
on earth as it is in
- heaven.
-
- Jesus, the Son, we thank you form our hearts for the
redemption of Your cross.
-
- We pray, lifting up the victory of the resurrection. We
pray that we are
- one through being members of Jesus Christ. We praise
Your Name, Jesus, from
- our hearts.
-
- You are the One who doesn't change yesterday or today,
and we believe that
- today You are able to remove the curses that are placed
in the depths of
- history. We leave now into Your hands the curse that
was placed here on
- this land by us, the Japanese, on this day in 1942.
Lord, please forgive
- us. We, the Japanese, stood on the zenith of pride,
trying to control Asia
- and this nation of Singapore, oppressing and violating
by military might
- and the sword.
-
- More than anything, however, we relied on evil powers
and spirits, calling
- evil spirits to this place, and placing a sword here.
From the fact that
- loyalty was sworn to the emperor, the name of the
emperor was placed here.
- The name of Amaterasu was placed here, based on
the lies of mythology. We
- confess this sin before You, and ask for Your
forgiveness.
-
- We pray now standing on the authority of the Name of
Jesus. We remove and
- break the curse of death and the control of the sword
that were laced here
- by us Japanese on this day in 1943. In the authority of
the Name of Jesus,
- we abolish the vow of loyalty to the emperor and the
evil spirits that work
- behind him. In the Name of Jesus, we remove the names
that were placed on
- this land -- the name of the emperor, and the name
called Amaterasu, a name
- made from the lies of mythology. All of the curses that
were placed on this
- land, on the economy, on the education, on the politics
-- we remove them,
- and we pray blessing on Singapore in the Name of Jesus
Christ. We pray
- blessing on the Chinese Singaporeans, on the Malay
Singaporeans, on the
- Indian Singaporeans. We pray blessing on all of the
churches that are a
- part of the body of Christ in Singapore. We ask that
the blessing that You
- give to this land also be given to the nation of Japan.
Please have mercy
- on Japan and the church of Japan.
-
- We pray in the Name of Jesus, giving all of the glory
to the Lord.
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