HUNDREDS of pilgrims are to descend to Hampshire for a national event.

Next week will mark the beginning of the national UK Prayer Mission, which will see more than 250 Korean Christians stopping in Hampshire and several other places across the country.

From June 27, they will stay with host churches in Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Hythe and Ringwood.

LEAF, the local evangelical alliance across the forest, will co-ordinate the two New Forest teams.

A spokesperson for LEAF said: “The Koreans are descendant Christians from missionaries the UK sent over in the mid 1850s. Today’s pilgrims are returning to the UK as they see from afar that we need their assistance in these uncertain times.

“These folk are utterly committed to prayer – are gifted with it – and when you are with them, and hear them pray, there suddenly becomes a thin veil between heaven and earth.

“We are blessed and excited that they want to come and stand with us again for the third year in a row.”

The teams will spend time in overnight prayers for their host churches from midnight to 5am.

They will also visit other local churches during the day to pray for their leaders and congregations and will be saying special prayers for the safety and security of the British communities.

The event comes after many churches across the country are encouraging worshippers to come together and pray for the community.

The Archbishop of Canterbury called for a new wave of global prayer through his Thy Kingdom Come initiative and Pope Francis has also issued a similar call.

Now pilgrims and Christians will gather together to pray.

As part of the national UK Prayer Mission they will also meet up for an evening of celebration through music and song at the 1000 seater Life Centre in Bournemouth on June 29.

The event called, Fanning Revival into Flame, is backed by Wessex Filling Station and the Korean Prayer and is the first meeting along the south coast which aims to bring together the local churches and the pilgrims of the UK Prayer Mission.