Past Highlights

HOW WE HAVE SERVED SINCE 2004

Past Highlights

Reah has been blessed to serve and encounter thousands of people since 2004. The categories below illustrate some of the main ways that Reah has worked and the timeline below highlights significant efforts from each year.

Categories:

  • Empower Conference – This conference gathers hundreds of people to explore how God is working in our lives and in the DPRK.
  • Empower Retreat – These retreats bring together short term teams with fieldworkers to identify practical ways in which people could get involved through prayer, service, and finance.
  • Leadership Retreat – Retreat for Reah’s staff, volunteers, and other leaders.
  • Fieldworkers Retreat – Retreat for practitioners who are working in the field
  • Short Term Trips – Trips range from two weeks to a couple of months for teams of approximately 10 people each. The focus of each trip ranges from vision casting to providing assistance to a field organization in a specific skill set.
  • Matching People to Opportunities – Helping people to find long term opportunities to work with practitioners engaged with the DPRK.
  • Starting City Teams – City teams help to bring together people who want to pray for the DPRK and want to be aware of opportunities for giving to and serving activities on the field.
  • Matching and Facilitating Donations – Reah matches people who want to donate to practitioners who have needs, as well as assist in the donation process.
  • Organizational Change – Significant changes and shifts in organizational foundation or structure.

Timeline:


2025

2024
  • 3rd Formations cohort class
  • Feb. 2024 — Reah Community Retreat in Lindale, Texas
  • Feb./Mar. 2024 — Empower Retreat in Seoul, Korea with young adult volunteers
  • July 2024 — “Third Culture Kids” (TCK) retreat in Lindale, TX. Retreat for adult TCKs to begin to explore and process their overseas experiences and its impacts on their lives/relationships.
  • Sept. 2024 — Formations practicum takes place in conjunction with Lausanne 4 conference in Seoul, Korea
  • Empower Zoom Webinars — Season 3 begins for the 2024-2025 year

2023
  • River of Ahava Practicum in Korea with 30 Fellows, mentors, and volunteers from eight different nations hosted by English Leadership Ministry (ELM), Heart for NK, World Learning Tree (WLT), and Reah International.
  • Empower Korea 2023: Many Parts, One Body. First fully bilingual conference in Seoul, Korea, co-hosted by three South Korean churches: Hallelujah Community Church, Manna Church, Namseoul Church. In July 2023, over 450 delegates from 25 different countries attended the first of three conferences to be held in South Korea.

2022

2021
  • 2nd “Empower Con” Online Conference: “Follow Me”
  • Empower Zoom Webinars — Season 1 begins Feb. 2021, and Reah holds 7 webinars during the first year. Subject matter experts and practitioners are invited as guest speakers for close-up looks and deeper explorations on issues related to engaging the people of the DPRK (a.k.a. North Korea or NK).
  • 1st Formations cohort class: 2021-2022

2020
  • First “Empower Con” Online Conference: “Embodying Shalom.”

2019
  • Empower Church Forum at Brentwood Baptist church in Nashville, TN, to unite church pastors/leaders, donors and influencers to create a plan to prepare the next generation of professional leaders for North Korea engagement.

2018
  • Co-sponsored the Kairos Summit 2018 in Seoul, Korea, a gathering to connect like-minded leaders in preparation for the unification of the two Koreas.
  • Co-organized the Insight Forum with Soongsil University in Seoul, Korea to gather 70 Korean diaspora pastors from such countries/regions as Central Asia, China, Japan, Oceania, and North & South America to create a covenant related to Korean unification and missions.
  • Hosted “Prayer Wall,” a three month, multi-ethnic and interchurch gathering for the Korean peninsula.
  • Hosted the Lausanne NK Consultation in Seoul, Korea to produce videos for the Lausanne Global Classroom.

2017
  • Hosted NK Field Workers’ Retreat in Sydney, Australia.
  • Empower Sydney Conference in Australia.
  • Hosted the Lausanne NK Consultation in Seoul, Korea to produce articles for publication in Mission Frontiers and IBMR.

2016
  • Co-sponsored the second NK Lausanne Consultation held in Pasadena, California with 70 leaders from Brazil, Canada, China, North and South Korea, and the United States.
  • Held Leadership retreat in Los Angeles, California. There were 20 city team leaders representing 8 cities across North America and Seoul, Korea.
  • Reah leadership relocates to Seoul, Korea.

2015
  • Third Culture Kids (TCK) Retreat held at Muskoka, Canada with students from Boston, Regina, New York, and Toronto during their winter break.
  • One Christ One Body Campaign carried out in New York, Los Angeles, Maryland, Toronto, and San Francisco.

2014
  • Fieldworkers Retreat: Held a retreat in Jeju Island with 40+ field workers and family members.
  • Leadership Trip: After attending an international conference and a retreat, 18 Chinese students visited 8 Christian CEOs at their respective work places to learn leadership lessons.
  • Empower Seoul: In collaboration with English ministries and Korean churches, Reah gathered 400 Christians interested or engaged in North Korea. This was the first collaboration with Korean-speaking churches.

2012
  • Leadership Retreat: Held retreat in Los Angeles, California. There were 11 people in attendance and the theme was on spiritual and practical formation.

2011
  • Leadership Retreat: Organized a retreat in Washington, DC. There were approximately 65 people in attendance and the theme was “Intimacy with God and Others.” Guest speakers included: Shelly Hundley, Vice-President of Curriculum and Teaching at International House of Prayer; Sarah Sun Kim, Executive Vice President at IHOP University; Lisa Gibson, Executive Director of Peace and Prosperity Alliance.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized three short term trips to Yanji, China and Rason, DPRK.
  • Organizational Change: Reah’s Executive Director moved to Yanji, China.

2010
  • Empower Conference: Held conference in Seattle, Washington. There were approximately 250 people in attendance and the theme was “Prepare the Church to See, to Care, to Act.” Guest speakers include: Dr. Bong Rin Ro, President of Hawaii Theological Seminary; Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at The Asia Foundation; David Ross, Director of Center for a New Korea; James Kim, President of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST); Dr. Steven Garber, Founder and Principal of The Washington Institute; and Yonah Martin, Senator from British Columbia, Canada.
  • Short Term Trip: Organized one short term trip to Yanji, China.
  • City Teams: Reah Seattle and Reah Seoul City Teams are established.

2009
  • Leadership Retreat: Organized a leadership retreat for Reah city teams in New York. Approximately 60 people were in attendance.
  • City Team: Reah Los Angeles City Team was established.
  • Matching People to Opportunities: Three people were matched with business opportunities in NE China and North Korea.

2008
  • Empower Conference: The first international Empower Conference was held in Seoul, Korea. There were approximately 580 attendees representing 16 different countries and the theme was “One in Humility.” Guest speakers included: David Kim, Pastor at Hallelujah Church; Chul Shin Lee, Pastor at Young Nak Presbyterian Church; Dr. Chong Soon Park, President of the Korea World Mission Association; Ian Prescott, International Director of Field Development at OMF International; Kay Rader, Commissioner at the Salvation Army.
  • Fieldworker’s Retreat: Organized a field retreat in Thailand for practitioners involved in North Korea work and there were approximately 40 attendants.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized one short term trip to Pyongyang, in which team members volunteered to teach English with PCERC.
  • Matching People to Opportunities: One person was matched with an NGO to distribute and monitor food aid across North Korea for USAID and another two people were matched with a business and an educational project in North Korea and NE China.
  • City Team: Reah Toronto City Team was established.
  • Matching and Facilitating Donations to Projects: Facilitated donations of more than $300,000 to various humanitarian aid projects.

2007
  • Empower Conference: Held the conference in Wheaton, Illinois. There were approximately 400 people in attendance and the theme was on “Remembering the Past and Committing the Future.” Some guest speakers included: Dr. Samuel Moffett, Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary; Dick Schultz, former Executive Director of the US Olympic Committee; Michael Chang, Senior Pastor of Calvary English Chapel; Dr. Chan Choi, the first post-Korean War Christian international worker from S. Korea; Peter Cha, Professor at Trinity International University; Ben Torrey, Director of the Fourth River Project.
  • Empower Retreat: Near Yanji, China and approximately 80 people were in attendance.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized eight short term trips to Northeast China, two of which also went to Rason, DPRK.
  • Matching People to Opportunities: Two people were matched with a school based in Yanji, China.
  • City Team: Reah New York City team is established.

2006
  • Empower Conference: Held the Empower Conference in Idyllwild, California. There were approximately 280 people in attendance and the conference theme was “Connectivate.” Some guest speakers included: James Kim, President of Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST); Heidi Linton, Executive Director of Christian Friends of Korea; Thomas J. Penland, Headmaster at Taejon Christian International School.
  • Empower Retreat: Held near Yanji, China and there were approximately 60 people in attendance.
  • Matching People to Opportunities: Two people were matched with an economic development project in Rajin, North Korea.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized six short term trips to Yanji and Tumen, China, one of which also when to Rason, DPRK. Each trip had a different focus, including volunteering at the Tumen Vocational School, providing medical assistance, and teaching at YUST.

2005
  • Empower (Formerly Love NK) Conference: Held the Love NK Conference in Idyllwild, California. There were approximately 100 people in attendance and the conference theme was on the five core values of Reah.
  • Empower Retreat: Held near Yanji, China and there were nearly 40 people in attendance.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized four short term trips to Yanji, China, one of which also went to Rason, DPRK. The focus of the trips was to help team members explore and identify their visions for how to engage with the DPRK.
  • Matching and Facilitating Donations to Projects: Raised funds for a Plastics Factory Project for North Korea.
  • Organizational Change: Incorporated Reah in California as a 501c(3) non-profit organization.

2004
  • Empower Retreat: Held the first Empower Retreat near Yanji, China with approximately 25 people in attendance.
  • Short Term Trips: Organized two short term trips to Yanji and Tumen, China for team members to volunteer at Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST) and Tumen Intervocational School.
  • Matching People to Opportunities: Matched and placed two people to start a recycling factory for North Korea based in Tumen, China.
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