PRESENT
2025
Reah 20th Anniversary
Incorporated in 2005, Reah International celebrates 20 years of empowering the Body of Christ for NK engagement
Oct. 1-3, 2025
Empower Korea 2025
Empower Korea 2025: “Jesus — Our Reconciliation and Peace” (recap video)
Empower 2025 brought together nearly 375 Christians representing six continents, 20 nations and 80 churches/organizations interested in NK engagement
June 2025
Reah Community Retreat
In June, 27 adults and 23 children gathered for a Reah community retreat by the Jersey Shore. It was a time to catch up with old friends and make new ones as we reflected on God's faithfulness and our friendships that have sustained us for the past 20 years.
Jan-Oct 2025
Empower Zoom — Season 3
Empower ZOOM Webinars — Season 3 started in January 2025. Over the span of seven webinars, we had a total attendance of 166 people.
2024
- Jan. 2024 — 3rd Formations cohort class began
- Feb. 2024 — Reah Community Retreat in Lindale, Texas (above photo)
- Feb./Mar. 2024 — Empower Retreat in Seoul, Korea with young adults from the 3 main co-hosting churches of Empower 2023
- July 2024 — “Third Culture Kids” (TCK) retreat in Lindale, Texas. Retreat for adult TCKs to begin to explore and process their overseas experiences and its impacts on their lives/relationships.
- Sept. 2024 — Formations practicum took place in conjunction with Lausanne 4 Congress in Seoul, Korea
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 and NamSeoul Church. In July 2023, over 450 delegates from 25 countries attended the first of three conferences to be held in South Korea (above photo).
2022
- Empower Portland: Breaking Ground | Ground Breaking. Co-hosted with Village Church in Beaverton, Ore., on July 28 to 30, 2022 (above photo)
- 2nd Formations cohort class: 2022-2023
- Empower Zoom Webinars — Season 2 (2022-2023) began in Oct. 2022 for eight webinars
2021
- 2nd “Empower Con” Online Conference: “Follow Me” (above photo)
- Empower Zoom Webinars — Season 1 began Feb. 2021 and Reah held seven webinars during the first year. Subject matter experts and practitioners were 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
- The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to pivot conference plans from in-person to online. Reah held its first “Empower Con” Online Conference with the theme, “Embodying Shalom”
2019
- Empower Church Forum at Brentwood Baptist church in Nashville, Tenn., 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 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, multiethnic and interchurch gathering for the Korean Peninsula (above photo)
- 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 (above photo)
- 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, Calif., with 70 leaders from Brazil, Canada, China, North and South Korea, and the United States
- Held leadership retreat in Los Angeles, Calif. There were 20 city team leaders representing eight cities across North America and Seoul, Korea. Guest Speakers: Baxter and Margie Swenson (above photo)
- 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 more than 40 field workers and family members
- Leadership Trip: After attending an international conference and a retreat, 18 Chinese students visited eight Christian CEOs at their respective workplaces to learn leadership lessons as part of 2nd YUST Leadership Program
- 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 (above photo)
2013
- Fieldworkers Retreat: Reah hosted a team from New Philly who led worship and ran the childcare program during the fieldworkers retreat in an NE Asia country
- Leadership Program: Reah runs 1st year of the YUST Leadership Program in the summer (above photo); students visit South Korea to meet with Christian business leaders
- Leadership Retreat: Reah prayer group/city team leaders meet in the Bay Area in July
- Reah was a partner in the Engage DPRK Mapping Initiative which is launched in October; it is the first-ever public interactive map of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that shows where foreign organizations have been working in the country
- United Prayer & Fasting newsletters launched
2012
- Leadership Retreat: Held retreat in Los Angeles, Calif. There were 11 people in attendance and the theme was on spiritual and practical formation.
2011
- Leadership Retreat: With B2gether, organized a retreat in Washington, D.C. 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 international gathering in Seattle, Wash. There were approximately 250 people in attendance and the theme was “Prepare the Church to See, to Care, to Act.” Guest speakers included 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
- Reah Toronto Empower Forum held in Jan. 2010 to raise awareness and mobilize in Toronto, Canada (above photo)
- Short-Term Trip: Organized one short-term trip to Yanji, China
- City Teams: Reah Seattle and Reah Seoul City Teams 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 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
- Fieldworkers’ Retreat: Organized a field retreat in Thailand for practitioners involved in North Korea work — 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 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, Ill. There were approximately 400 people in attendance and the theme was on “Remembering the Past and Committing the Future.” 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, with approximately 80 people attending
- 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 established
2006
- Empower Conference: Held the Empower Conference in Idyllwild, Calif. There were approximately 280 people in attendance and the conference theme was “Connectivate.” 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, with 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 went 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 (f/k/a Love NK) Conference: Held the Love NK Conference in Idyllwild, Calif. There were approximately 100 people in attendance and the conference theme was on the five core values of Reah
- Field Retreat: Held near Yanji, China, with 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 501(c)(3) nonprofit
IN THE BEGINNING