The Kowloon Walled City was a place in Hong Kong that China said was theirs and Hong Kong said was theirs but because of the legal conflict, neither had much control over the place. It became a place where gangsters, drug addiction, prostitution and gambling were a normal part of life. In 1966 in this neglected place, a lady named Jackie Pullinger started reaching out to the people. Twenty-some years later when we first came to Hong Kong, the work was already well established. Part of what I did working in that ministry was to go to the Walled City at least once a week to pray with drug addicts and also to help teach English.
The Walled City had a very special place in the midst of all the darkness there that was a church for people of the Walled City. The name of the church was "The Well" and one of my memories was of a waterfall from a broken drain pipe that fell into a large drain just outside the door. A tarp was hung over the doorway so the water wouldn't splash on anyone, but once you got inside the presence of God was awesome. Drug addicts were being prayed for by workers or ex-drug-users. There were times that people were set free from demons or received the Holy Spirit but the best part was the worship in Cantonese. The guys had a lot of joy and really could make a joyful noise to the Lord.
Just last weekend I went to a Jubilee celebration at the place where the Walled City used to be. Now it is a park called the Walled City Park. The night we were there, I think there were around thousand people. It was good to see some of the guys that I used to work with. The main reason to get together was to have an extended time of worship and prayer. As we were worshiping there were times when we would pray for the sick. As we were praying for the sick, skilled musicians would play instruments right next to those who were sick and receiving prayer. People were receiving healing in the two hours we were there.
If you want to know more about Jackie Pullinger's work, she has several books including: "Chasing the Dragon" and "Crack in the Wall."
