Amazing news from HORA Ministries

“Every month, 150,000 people gather in their respective churches to learn the Word of redemptive history.
They are practically like our own saints.”

These were the words of Rev. Samuel Kim (Senior Pastor of Zion Church, Singapore) during his mission report on the third day of the 2023 Summer Conference (Aug. 2, Wed). Since the History of Redemption series authored by Rev. Abraham Park began to be published in 2007, seminars have been held worldwide. However, concerns about post-seminar follow-up have deepened because, although the audience is amazed by the power of the Word and receives a lot of grace, it must not stop there. The challenge remains to have them continue to receive the word of redemptive history as well as read the History of Redemption series themselves.

Thus, the mission report on August 2nd was a moment of awakening and awe, as if my eyes were opened and my ears were unblocked. It struck me anew that this kind of history is unfolding and the Father’s plan surpasses our imagination. Many saints were moved to tears, and some couldn’t sleep that night due to the overwhelming emotions. What exactly is happening?

HORA 120 Project

Ironically, the turning point for HORA Ministries’ revolutionary shift in its mission’s strategy was triggered by COVID-19. As it became more difficult to host large-scale seminars during the pandemic, there was no choice but to consider different approaches. After more than a year of prayer and contemplation, a new method emerged-video lectures of redemptive history. The plan was to spread the History of Redemption series through 10 video lectures for each of the twelve volumes (from vol.1 to vol.11a and 11b) amounting to a total of 120 lectures. Accordingly, they decided to produce 120 video lectures using past sermons and seminar lectures by ministers from Pyungkang Cheil Church and branch churches and dub them into 21 languages. 120 lectures are a three-year program. HORA Ministries renamed this initiative the “HORA120 Project.”

This is where the amazing part begins. Until now, video-based missions typically involved either uploading lectures to YouTube for users to watch at their convenience or lecturing live on platforms such as Zoom or YouTube at a fixed time. Although this was the mainstream approach, the essence of church and worship (the gathering and fellowship of the saints) was lost. It was also difficult to know the viewers’ reactions. Above all, it was challenging to maintain a consistent program and a cohesive organization since the viewers were scattered in their respective places.

Subsequently, HORA Ministries and Zion Church in Singapore directed their attention to the “dependent churches,” which comprise 60% of churches worldwide. Post COVID-19, many ministers of dependent churches who had participated in the redemptive history seminars reached out to HORA Ministries. They expressed, “Our congregation cannot gather due to COVID-19, and we are unable to receive any support. We are now forced to close the church and end our ministry.” It was an extremely unfortunate situation. Dependent churches are in need of financial and educational support, and they are relatively more eager for the Word, humbling themselves before the Word.

HORA Ministries devised a model for the saints of dependent churches in Africa and Southeast Asia to gather at their respective churches every month to listen to 120 lectures of redemptive history “for three hours a month over a span of three years.” Ministers and saints who had heard the word of redemptive history even once couldn’t help but be captivated by the power of the Word, and there was no reason for them to turn down the opportunity to gather every month and hear the Word under the support of HORA Ministries. Moreover, the History of Redemption series had already become highly regarded and widely known to many ministers in Southeast Asia and Africa through its seminars that were continuously held for more than a decade.

The regional coordinators will go to all the regions of the earth!

Finally, in 2020, HORA Ministries began its missions through video lectures of redemptive history. There are designated HORA representatives for each country in a total of 35 countries. They are all active local ministers, and under them are regional coordinators for every country.

There are seven countries that have more than 50 regional coordinators. In Africa, there are 79 regional coordinators in Malawi, 77 in Nigeria, 67 in Sierra Leone, 64 in Cameroon, and 53 in Ghana. In Asia, there are 55 in Myanmar, and 50 in Nepal. These coordinators oversee 20–30 churches in their respective regions.

The regional coordinators download the lectures provided by HORA Ministries onto a laptop and prepare equipment for video projection. Then, they set a time and date with the ministers of the churches in that region. Once the saints are gathered, they bring the equipment and laptop to the church and screen the video lectures. Each church follows this process, gathering once a month for three hours (three lectures) to study redemptive history. After three years, they are able to complete a total of 120 lectures. The regional coordinators take videos and photos of the Bible studies, and submit reports to HORA Ministries.

“150,000 people? We couldn’t believe it either.”

In 2020, 1000 saints from dependent churches in Africa and Asia began Bible studies using this method. In 2021, just one year later, the numbers more than doubled to 2500 people. Then in the following year, in 2022, it doubled again to 5000. And in the beginning of this year (the 4th year) HORA Ministries had the following conversation: “Let’s aim for a tenfold revival this year. How grateful would it be if 50,000 people around the world are studying redemptive history?” Currently, there are an astonishing 150,000 people. It is literally a “massive explosion” from 3,000 churches in 35 countries. These numbers have been verified through monthly reports, videos, and photos, ensuring clear and accurate data. Rev. Samuel Kim said, “150,000. We couldn’t believe the number either, so we recalculated it over ten times in case there was a mistake.” With the surge in participating saints, he shared, “When we wake up, there are hundreds of reports that have been uploaded.”

A curriculum that can earn you six medals from Christian Military Academy (CMA)

For this purpose, Zion Church in Singapore provides a set of laptop and video projection equipment for each region. Due to poor internet connection at most dependent churches, the lectures can only be screened offline rather than by online streaming. The churches are also supported with the cost of refreshments when they gather. With the number of participating churches reaching 3,000, the expenses have significantly increased as well. However, HORA Ministries explains that it’s “much more efficient than seminars.” Hosting a large-scale History of Redemption seminar can cost up to $50,000, covering airfare, accommodation, venue rental, meals, and refreshments. On the other hand, supporting video lectures for a church with 100 saints costs between $1,200 to $2,400 per year. Moreover, while seminars can only be interpreted in a maximum of 2 or 3 languages, video lectures are produced in 21 languages, removing more limitations.

The greatest advantage is sustainability. There is usually a disconnection between one seminar and the next, but video lectures continue once a month for three hours over the course of three years. A total of 120 hours of lectures serve as a time to deeply engage with all 11 volumes of the History of Redemption series.. In the case of the CMAs (Christian Military Academy) at Pyungkang Cheil Church, a medal is awarded upon completing 20 lectures for each volume of the History of Redemption series. So if the saints of the dependent churches study all 120 lectures in three years, it equates to receiving six medals from CMA.

The books speak

The foundational concept of the HORA120 Project is “TDB”:

T ∙Translation of the books of the History of Redemption series

D ∙ Distribution & Print of the books

B ∙ Broadcast Lectures on the books

In a nutshell, it’s about “starting with the books and ending with the books.” HORA Ministries firmly believes that “we must not end at merely introducing these books through seminars; the books evangelize, and the books do the missionary work.”

The fundamental basis for all this is translating the books. While the History of Redemption series is being translated and published in various languages through CLC, the English books, which have the most volumes so far, have only been published up to Volume Seven. Six volumes have been published in Indonesian and four in Spanish, but for other languages, either one or none have been published. A member of HORA Ministries mentioned, “We were holding the seminars to promote the books, but since we didn’t have the actual books, we couldn’t continue with the seminars anymore.”

Working with the globally esteemed translation agency, Christian Lingua

Since 2019, HORA Ministries has collaborated with the world’s leading Christian translation agency, Christian Lingua, and began the translation of the History of Redemption series. Christian Lingua is a globally esteemed agency that has undertaken translations for some of the world’s top apps, including YouVersion (the world’s most popular Bible app) and the Bible Project (Bible study app). HORA Ministries and Christian Lingua are currently translating the History of Redemption series into a total of 21 languages. In South East Asia: Nepali, Burmese, Cambodian Khmer, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan Sinhala. In South West Asia: Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Iranian Persian, Pakistani Urdu. In Europe: French, German, Portuguese, Russian. Hebrew, Aramaic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and English translations are also ongoing. HORA Ministries stated that for most of the languages, the translation of the History of Redemption series up to Volume 6 have been completed or is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Over 1,000 copies distributed to underground churches in Iran

HORA’s approach to distributing the History of Redemption series is also innovative. The principle is “Local printing and distribution (digital printing).” This allows for affordable pricing of the books as there are no import taxes or overseas shipping costs involved. Furthermore, it bypasses traditional distribution channels such as publishers and bookstores, resulting in faster distribution. It’s also optimized for low-income countries and places where it is difficult for Christian books to be officially published. Thanks to this approach, even in an Islamic country like Iran, more than 1000 copies of Volume 1 have been printed in Persion and distributed to underground churches. Michael Yurchuk, the CEO and Founder of Christian Lingua, remarked, “With one copy being distributed per household, if the copies are shared with family and friends, we anticipate that over 5000 people could read it.” He also mentioned, “Even my friend living in Iran plans to use this book for Bible studies,” and added that they plan to print Volume 2 soon.

A saint who even took on a second job to support the missions work

Zion Church in Singapore expects that within this year, the number of saints listening to the video lectures will surpass 200,000. The goal for next year is 350,000. They stated, “Given the current trend, this is a conservative estimate.” Until now, Zion Church in Singapore has internally raised the substantial funds needed for this amazing work. A total of $800,000 has been used to translate the books, and $70,000 to $80,000 is spent monthly to support the dependent churches studying redemptive history. Rev. Samuel Kim shared, “There are saints who donated $20,000 to $30,000 of their lifelong savings to this cause, and one saint even took on a second job to support this work.” A total of $10 million (KRW 134 billion) is expected to be needed to translate the entire History of Redemption series, up to Volume 12, into all major languages, as well as produce the video lectures. “Our goal is to ensure that the History of Redemption series will reach and be read in every country around the world,” added Rev. Samuel Kim. 

The nations are coming

Rev. Samuel’s mission report was given on the same day as the 2023 Pyungkang commemoration event, held on August 2ng at the Yeoju Pyungkang Cheil Conference Center. On August 6, 1997, Rev. Abraham Park returned home after 3.5 years of global missionary work. During those 3.5 years, churches that served as the forward bases of the gospel were planted and solidified around the world. Now, 26 years later, the overwhelming emotions from the reports of the scenes of global missions gave reassurance that the vision, where nations will come dancing, will be fulfilled

A Letter from Pastor Nayomi Gadendran in Sri Lanka

“I would like to introduce these History of Redemption lectures to every area in Sri Lanka.”

I am teaching in one of the Bible colleges in Sri Lanka. I had some questions about the Bible but all my problems were solved with the History of Redemption lectures. It really blessed me. First as a pastor, I would like to thank God and thank this ministry. Many of us are living in Central Sri Lanka, and nearly 100% are Buddhists in this area. Many Christians have to travel for 1 hour and walk 1kmjust to come watch the History of Redemption videos. Some elder ladies even come much earlier to eagerly wait for the lectures.

I am from a pastor’s family. My father, father in law and brothers are all pastors. Normally when it comes to new teachings, I am searching for mistakes, but I couldn’t find any mistakes because this is all based on the Word of God, and not outside references. It is all Bible related content.

It really helped me in teaching my Biblical Survey in my Bible college. I learned things from this video that allows students to understand and memorize well. I am planning to start broadcasting in three more new Station Churches (dependent churches). Thank you so much for these lectures!

 

Article written by Reporter Jun-seok Ho
Photos by HORA Ministries and
Reporter Ji-young Ahn

 

*This post can also be read in 'Champyungan'. (http://champyungan.com