“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” —1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (NIV)
Empower Korea 2023 will be a time of seeking the Lord and understanding the story God is writing in Korea. We will also tell other parts of this greater history — of how God has been bringing together His people around the world to bring His love to NK.
LOGISTICS & REGISTRATION
DATES
Empower Korea 2023 begins on Thursday, July 13, 2023. All programming will end on Saturday, July 15, 2023 evening, and participants will check out on Sunday morning.
LOCATION
The conference location will be disclosed to those who are fully registered and vetted. Those traveling internationally should fly into Incheon International Airport (ICN). The location itself is a retreat center outside of Seoul. There will be more detailed information regarding transportation options to the site for registrants.
Conference Fees (in $USD)
REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. NO WALK-IN REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ALLOWED
| Deadline | Adult | College Student | Children (Age 1-3) |
Children (Age 4-High School) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeadlineApril 30 | Adult$170 | College Student$130 | Children (Age 1-3)$30 | Children (Age 4-High School)$60 |
| DeadlineMay 28 | Adult$200 | College Student$160 | Children (Age 1-3)$40 | Children (Age 4-High School)$80 |
| DeadlineJune 25 | Adult$230 | College Student$190 | Children (Age 1-3)$50 | Children (Age 4-High School)$100 |
The fee includes conference admission, three nights lodging and eight meals from Thursday dinner to Sunday breakfast.
The children's registration fee includes child care for ages 1 to 3 and the children's program for ages 4 and up.
The price is the same whether you attend the whole conference or a part of the conference.
CANCELLATION POLICY
If you have to cancel for any reason, please note there will be a 10% processing fee and no refund will be granted after June 10. Please send cancellation requests to empower[at]reah.org.
CONTACT INFO
Please contact empower[at]reah.org for any questions.
THE VISION
Korean history is a few thousand years old — the story of division into North and South is only 70 years old. The story we often hear these days is a political one. But there is another story — a spiritual history over this land and people. As we set our sights on North Korea (NK) engagement, South Korea (SK) is an integral part of that history.
Empower Korea 2023 will be a time of seeking the Lord and understanding the story God is writing in Korea. We will also tell other parts of this greater history — of how God has been bringing together His people around the world to bring His love to NK.
• Do you know how God has been bringing together diaspora Koreans (DKs) and non-Korean believers from around the world who love Korea (Lovers of Korea, or LKs) to engage with the people of NK for over 20 years?
• Do you know that currently some of the biggest movements of people who are praying and preparing for work with North Korea are from places like Brazil and Central Asia?
Since 2017, long-term international workers, especially from the United States, have seen the door into NK gradually closing, and in 2020, the pandemic locked that door shut to the world. It has been a season of waiting and uncertainty, but there is a growing sense of a different season. We are seeing that many of the international workers are now coming to South Korea to seek the Lord and get ready for the next stage. We are also seeing that we cannot move forward fully, as one Body, without the South Korean church. We sense South Korea holds a key piece to this story in this next stage, and Empower Korea 2023 will explore how all our pieces (SK, NK, DK, LK) might better fit and work together in engaging the hearts of North Koreans through the Great Harvest 2027.
EMPOWER KOREA 2023: THE INCUBATOR
Empower Korea 2023 is the first of three conferences of the Great Harvest 2027 — a movement of the global community uniting collaboratively to equip a new generation of leaders to live in incarnational communities and work together for the thriving of North Korean people. The following conferences will be in 2025 and 2027, with 2027 also being the 120th anniversary of the Pyongyang Revival. When the first Christians came to Korea to share the Gospel, they did not pray for a divided Korea. They prayed for the people and the church of Korea to be one in Christ. They moved together not as individual churches or denominations, but as a united Body.
The theme of Empower Korea 2023 is “Many Parts, One Body” based on 1 Cor. 12:12-14. We are inviting you to Empower Korea 2023 to discover your God-given part in the global Body of Christ. Come listen and learn from each other about how God has been moving in our lives. Come to share and pray about how God might be calling you to be a part of this story. This conference aims to be an incubator for nurturing new relationships and ideas as we develop Great Harvest 2027 communities and projects for healing and reconciliation for the long-term.
UNIQUENESS OF EMPOWER KOREA 2023
This is the first Korea-based Empower where we have three major South Korean churches co-hosting the conference, along with 12-15 churches working together to make this event happen. In many ways, the preparation leading up to the conference embodies and lives out our conference theme.
Another key aspect of Empower Korea 2023 is to gather young people and the young-at-heart from Brazil, Canada, Korea, U.S., Europe, and around the world for the equipping and empowering of the next generation to take on the Great Commission, in particular for Korea, north and south.
PLENARY SESSIONS
During plenary session testimonies and teachings, we will explore themes such as:
• Unity in the diverse Body of Christ — how God has been bringing people of different nations, cultures, and experiences to engage with North Korea, and in appreciating the beauty of diversity, also seeing ourselves and our own contribution more clearly.
• The importance and honor of the “weaker, lesser” parts — asking God to challenge our own stereotypes, assumptions, and expectations of others within the Body
• Desiring God’s justice as the Body — how entering into suffering of another, voicing lament, and seeking justice with compassion is a way we love others the way Christ loves us
• No division, but equal concern — repenting of ways we have sown division, and forgiving others that have hurt us. Seeking the Lord and moving in the opposite spirit of love, unity, and reconciliation. Interceding with those suffering, rejoicing with those who rejoice.
WORKSHOPS
Workshops will provide forums for learning and discussion on various topics such as (tentative):
• Testimonies from various ministries engaging NK through sports, entrepreneurship, technology, medicine
• Testimonies of Diaspora Koreans, such as leaving behind the American Dream to pursue God’s Dreams
• NK-related ministries in South Korea
• Living in intentional international communities as a Christian witness
• Different perspectives on North Korea engagement (e.g. European, Canadian, American, etc.)
• Integrating faith and humanitarian aid for North Korea
GOING DEEPER THROUGH DIALOGUE AND PRAYER
We will also have dedicated times of discussions among groups mixed with NKs, SKs, LKs, and DKs to learn about ourselves and each other, build friendships, and find deeper understanding and appreciation for one another as the body of Christ.
We will also spend time in prayer. Scottish evangelist Oswald Chambers famously said, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work…. prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God.” We are praying that Empower prayer groups will spring up around the world to pray for the body of Christ to bring the miracle of redemption to Korea, north and south.