Witness

“Do you want to visit the martyrs’ memorial? It’s on the way back.”

It was our day off in the middle of a two-week school we were running for a House of Prayer in Oita. We had just spent an afternoon being tourists in an idyllic Japanese village nestled in the foothills of Mount Yufu. Our spirits were high; I was looking forward to jumping into week two of the school, expecting the Lord to move powerfully.

What I did not expect was this detour: we pulled on to a dirt road, and walked along a path by the side of a hill overlooking a valley. I thought we were headed to a museum; this definitely did not look like it. We climbed up a flight of stairs and found ourselves standing in the middle of a shady cemetery: the martyrs’ memorial.

“…since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…”

In life, there is a reverence demanded when standing in the presence of people of honor. It suddenly occurred to me that we were surrounded by a company men and women who not only deserved respect, but upon completion of their race on this side of eternity, like Stephen, saw “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”.

Immediately my mind went to a passage in Revelation 6:

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

“We will be a witness to the ends of the Earth…”

The word “witness” in Greek is martys, which describes “those who after his example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death”. While not every believer is appointed to undergo a violent death, we are called to die daily (Matt. 16:24-26). The standard after which we are to model our witness is Jesus, the Faithful Witness, who was steadfast in His testimony, even unto death.

During a worship time at this school that was focused on Acts 1:8, my friend Jonathan Ogden sang a spontaneous chorus. The room responded by erupting in worship as for a moment we were no longer standing on the carpeted floor of the church, but on the sea of glass before the throne of God with the myriads of angels and saints, no longer singing our song, but joining in theirs:

Let every tribe, every tongue lift their voices as one, singing “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Encounters like these, and the ones we had throughout the duration of those two weeks, are precious and worthy of remembrance. How Jonathan and I built our own “martyrs’ memorial” would eventually be in the form of two songs: “Witness” (recently released) and “How Long” (coincidentally the same question I have regarding its release). [Update July 28, 2023: after a long time, How Long is finally released!]

“There’s a new song rising from the ends of the earth, and in the darkest places we declare your worth.”

Several weeks later, I found myself in a small town in Germany in planning meetings for Revive Europe, a conference scheduled for the end of 2019 seeking to bring together university students from across Europe to contend for revival of hearts, universities and the continent. Again, the primary scriptural focus of this gathering was rooted in Acts 1-5, around being witnesses for God.

“Could you write a theme song for Revive?”

“Well, a friend and I wrote a song a couple of weeks ago…”

And that was the first time I would sing “Witness” (for an audience other than Jesus) which then became the unofficial theme song for Revive Europe.

Revive Europe: December 31, 2019

It’s the final night of Revive Europe. For the past five days, about 4000 young people from 68 nations have been crying out for revival in their nations and universities. We were invited to lead nine worship sessions, but after two I had all but lost my voice. I struggled to sing a complete set and was deeply grateful to my co-leaders, Abbie Simmons (US), Suvi-Tuulia Kulmala (Finland), and Salvatore Gangi (Germany) for shouldering the burden.

But here we were at our last session of 2019, needing to sing our “theme song”. Miraculously, the Lord restored my voice, and the moment we sang the first line, it felt as if Europe was leading the song, not us. There was something about the experience of hearing 4000 European voices crying out, “We will go in Your name for Your glory and Your fame, singing: worthy is the Lamb,” that I will remember until the day I will sing it to the Lamb, face to face. Surely, this was the sound of revival breaking out.

Almost exactly a month later, Germany would confirm its first Covid-19 case; the outbreak would spread throughout Europe, and a global pandemic would be declared.

Amid the crisis, I was reminded of this passage from Luke 22:31-32:

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Peter was about to enter into the dark night of his soul, thrice denying His Lord and friend, spiraling to rock bottom. But before even the first rooster crow, Jesus in His kindness had already told Peter: “I have prayed for you.” It was the very intercession of the Eternal Intercessor that sustained Peter through the crisis, restoring him so that he was finally able to strengthen his brothers.

I think about the prayers that were uttered at Revive Europe, the collective sound of a continent’s yearning that rose to heaven: “We’re longing for the day every nation will proclaim that You are God / until we see You face to face, until You establish rule and reign, we will say…”. And I can’t help but wonder if we are walking through the dark night towards the break of dawn, the very answer to our hearts’ cries for revival, when Europe will turn again and strengthen their brothers, when many in the nations will arise to be faithful witnesses unto His coming.

“Standing on the sea of glass
Before the throne, before the Lamb
Hear creation crying: Worthy
You were faithful unto death,
You have loved us to the end
Hear Your people singing: worthy”

Maranatha.