In this sermon, Ben Torrey discusses the importance of personal preparation for those who feel called to share God's love in North Korea. He emphasizes the need to be in a right relationship with God and to rely on the Holy Spirit. Torrey suggests joining a prepared people group as a practical step towards getting involved in preparing for this mission. He also encourages individuals to learn as much as possible about North Korea and its culture to avoid misunderstandings and potential problems.

Good evening, this is Ben Torrey with you once again. I trust you have been well. Last week I spoke about personal preparation. If you think that God may be calling you to go to North Korea someday to share His love with the people there. I spoke about the importance of being in the center of God's will and how that depends on being in a right relationship with Him. I also spoke about the need for the Holy Spirit and lastly about not going it alone, which brought me to suggest joining one of our Prepared People groups. Tonight I want to build on that with some practical steps that are important. The Prepared People organization is a good way to start getting involved in preparing. We have several groups around the country. If you are interested, I will give you our phone number at the end of this broadcast. Make sure you have a pen and paper ready to jot it down. One of the first things that you need to do is start learning all you can about North Korea. Remember this is a cross-cultural mission and many of the assumptions that people have are not only wrong, they can cause serious problems. You can learn by reading, attending lectures and North Korea schools, by participating in a Prepared People group and by talking with people who have made trips there. The Fourth River Project puts on several seminars about North Korea each year in both the U.S. and here in Korea. We are planning three week-long work camp schools at the Three Seas Ranch in Taebaek, Gangwon-do next July and August. Participants stay in tents and spend the morning doing manual labor on our ranch. In the afternoon and evening we have lectures about North Korea and times of prayer. We believe strongly that some acquaintance with physical labor, some actual experience is important to prepare for interacting with North Koreans. We also joined with Jesus Abbey, our sponsoring organization, in holding that labor is prayer and prayer is labor. The first lecture we give at each school is about this and how we offer our physical labor to God as a prayer, a radically different approach to labor from either South or North Korean ideas about it. So, in addition to studying about North Korea on your own, in seminars and lectures or with other committed people, an important aspect of your preparation would be to gain some experience as a worker, a laborer. Labor is a universal constant in North Korea. Even students and professors, office workers and officials all spend some time on a regular basis in manual labor. It may be to help farmers with planting or harvesting. It may be road work or, as with this past summer, emergency flood cleanup. This is a general requirement of everyone who is a citizen of the worker's paradise, North Korea. If you have some experience as a laborer and especially if you have the understanding of labor being prayer, you will be in a position to share with your North Korean friends from a common basis. It will cause them to look at you with different eyes. But it is not enough to learn about North Korea and to gain experience as a laborer. There is more. You need to have a real plan for how and where you are going to go. Some of you may work in companies that either have now or will have later on a North Korean presence. For you, the best strategy may be to make sure you have the training and experience that will make your company's leaders and your managers want to send you to work in North Korea as your company goes there. You may also want to organize or join a company prayer group for North Korea, where you not only pray but think about and start planning for eventually going there with the firm. If you're not in such a company, you can get together with others in your church or community who have a similar concern. This is what our prepared people groups are all about. In such a group, you would pray and invite speakers so that you can continue to learn. But you won't stop there. You will also start thinking about practical strategies. I suggest you pick a location in North Korea and make it yours. Think about where you will go when the opportunity comes and who will go with you. A strategy that we think would be very powerful, very important for the evangelization of North Korea is for a group of 10-15 people to go to a town or village as a Christian community. This group would rehabilitate an old building and settle in for the long haul. The group should include some experts in such things as field-level medical care, public health, nutrition, computer skills, bicycle and small vehicle mechanics, hairdressing, and so forth, things that are important to people's lives and that they can learn easily. The group would provide some simple services such as run a clinic, distribute food, and so forth. They would also teach skills to anyone who wanted to learn. One of the most important skills that almost no North Korean has is how to keep books, how to take accounts, how to tell when you're making money or losing it in a business or store. In addition to teaching and serving, simply being there will be of great importance. People will want to see how genuine your professions of love and concern are. They will want to see what you are like over time. You only get to know a person's character through spending time with him or her. Along with just being there, you will model the body of Christ, the Church. As you worship together, loving one another and rejoicing in the Lord, you will show your neighbors things they have never seen or experienced before. They will want to learn more. It won't work to start by preaching, but as they are drawn to you and begin to learn, you can then share from the Scriptures in ways that will be meaningful. As you and your group think about where you will go and what you will do, it will be important for you to prepare a good foundation of support. Ideally, you would be sponsored by your Church who will provide you with what you need and with stuff to pass along to others. A final point on personal preparation is to acquire practical skills that will be valuable in the North. You might even prepare yourself to be invited as an engineer, a consultant, English teacher or other skilled professional. There is and will be a great demand for people with such skills. Of course, it would be good to gain skills and experience that your little community will need, such as carpentry, electrical wiring, farming, gardening and even outdoor survival skills. It is quite likely that there will be a period of great turmoil where even today's limited public services will be only a distant memory. It could be really bad. A good dose of what we call MacGyver skills would go a long way. So, study, strategize, plan and gain experience. All of these are important. If you are interested in talking about this with someone, attending a North Korea school or getting involved with a Prepared People group, then call our 3Cs office at 033-553-3395 and ask for Sister Mayim. At Sister Mayim at the 3Cs, 033-553-3395. Once again, 033-553-3395. Have fun preparing. Good night.