Blog Posts

Save My Seoul Screening Tour 2018 with Polaris Project

11/22/2017

With the tremendous support and partnership of our friends at Polaris Project, there will be another screening tour of Save My Seoul in early 2018. Winner for Best Documentary at the 2017 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Save My Seoul looks at the open secret of sex trafficking in South Korea. Help us raise awareness and shine a light in this dark industry impacting millions in Korea and around the world.

Please spread the word and we hope to see you there!

To register go to the link: http://polarisproject.org/communityevents

All events will start at 7pm

Thursday January 11 – Washington D.C.
Landmark E Street Cinema, 555 11th Street NW
Thursday January 18 – New York, NY
Regal E-Walk 13, 247 West 42nd Street
Tuesday January 23 – San Francisco, CA
Opera Plaza Cinema, 601 Van Ness Avenue
Thursday January 25 – Los Angeles, CA
Cinemark 18 @ Howard Hughes, 6081 Center Drive in the Promenade
Tuesday January 30 – Miami, FL
Merrick Park, 358 San Lorenzo Avenue, Suite 3005, Coral Gables
Thursday February 1 – Atlanta, GA
Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive
Thursday February 8– Raleigh, NC
Regal North Hills Stadium 14, 4150 Main at North Hills Street
Thursday February 15 – San Antonio, TX
AMC Rivercenter 11, 849 East Commerce Street in Shops at Rivercenter
Tuesday February 20 – Minneapolis, MN
Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Avenue
Thursday February 22 – Chicago, IL
Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark Street in Century Shopping Center
Tuesday February 27 – Columbus, OH
Studio 35, 3055 Indianola Avenue (To Be Confirmed)

State of Grace: Scholarships of Hope for the Stateless

11/9/2017

Since 2011, HOPE Be Restored has been providing support and scholarships for stateless children in various parts of the world. Stateless children have no citizenship, no passport, and few, if any, options for education, medical aid, and jobs. In Thailand, for example, they are not given a legal means to work, except in the sex industry. As a result, many stateless children fall victim to sex traffickers who take advantage of their vulnerable situation. But one glimmer of hope is if they are able to graduate from a college or university, Thailand will give those students Thai citizenship. That opens up a whole new world of hope and opportunities for them and their families. We were able to support one of the first stateless students to graduate from a university in Thailand several years ago. And in South Korea, there are estimates of over 20,000 stateless children hidden in plain sight, without any government willing to help them.

HOPE Be Restored is committed to restoring hope and creating new futures for these precious souls.

DID YOU KNOW, that $1,000 can help a stateless student through one year of college in Thailand? And after just 4 years, that student will have a whole new world of opportunities opened up to them.

Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring a scholarship for these students during this coming Christmas season?

If you feel led, please give this season and give a new future to a child today:

In Korea: Hana Bank: 573-910013-48605
In the USA or through credit card: http://give.footstool.org/hbr
* Note: after donating, please email hopeberestored@gmail.com and let us know the amount given to "State of Grace"

Save My Seoul Wins Best Documentary at Film Festival

9/29/2017

Thank you for all who have prayed and supported Save My Seoul over these years. This film was a tool that God placed on my heart to make back in 2011 so that through it, it would bring about a cultural shift in Korea's understanding of sex trafficking and prostitution. Please continue to pray that God would use this as a means of changing hearts, attitudes, laws, and most of all, to bring an end to slavery in South Korea. I'm so blessed by the feedback we've gotten over the film and our editor recently sent me this photo of the recent award it won at a film festival for best documentary. All glory and thanks to God, our Great Abolitionist. If you haven't seen it yet, you can download the video through iTunes or Amazon video.

15 Year Anniversary of New Life in Sydney

7/18/2017

Thanks for your prayers. I had an amazing time in Sydney last weekend. New Life is a ministry I started 15 years ago, and as they celebrated that special anniversary, I was honored to be called back and hear the fruit of the gospel that had multiplied over the years. From those early days of when we first started, 11 of those former junior high kids and college kids are now in pastoral ministry, faithfully serving the Lord in Australia, Korea, and the US. Hundreds have been saved and so many have returned to the Lord over these years. Amazing. In some ways, I felt like I went off to college and came home to see old friends and family again. And as I was able to catch up with them, it gave me a taste of what heaven will be like - sharing what the Lord had done in our lives over the years, eating good food, visiting old favorite places that were familiar ... yet different, more developed and better than what I had remembered. Overall, it made me thankful again for the calling God had placed over my life. I love serving the Lord and seeing lives changed through the power of the gospel. Wouldn't trade my life's calling for anything else. Thank you for your prayers and thank You God for your grace. You are faithful. You are good. Always.

Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Champions!

11/15/2016

Link to Chicago Tribune Interview :)

Cubs Podcast: Cubs Parade 2016

Cubs Podcast: Game 7 Summary

Cubs Win!

11/12/2016

InterVarsity Fellowship Homepage

8/20/2016

Honored to have Praying for Your Pastor to be featured on the front page of the InterVarsity Fellowship website!

http://intervarsity.org/ivp-book/praying-your-pastor

Just Released! Praying for Your Pastor is Out Now!

8/15/2016

Praying for Your Pastor is officially released! I'm thrilled to announce that my next book, Praying for Your Pastor: How Your Prayer Support Is Their Life Support, is now available for purchase! This book was written to help increase the much needed prayer support for pastors and church leaders, and to teach churches to effectively cover their leaders in prayer. If you are a pastor, I wrote this book as a gift to you. I know how hard, lonely, and discouraging pastoring can be, and I wanted to challenage your people to step up and fight for you in the place of prayer. I encourage you to get this book into the hands of your church members, to have your small groups go through it together, and see an increase in intercessory prayer coverage for you and your ministry.

If you are a church member, I also encourage you to get this book into the hands of all your church members so that you can mobilize your congregation to be strong in prayer for your leadership. The Bible commands us to pray for our leaders, and the enemy will do all he can to make sure that doesn't happen. But one of the greatest gifts you can give to your pastor is your faithful prayers. Let this book be a guide to teach you to pray, and as a result, see greater blessings fall upon your pastor, your church, and your ministry.

And please lift up a prayer for this book to be used by God to increase the prayers of His people globally, so that we might all be faithful in interceding for our shepherds. Thank you always for your prayers and support.

You can order your copies here:
https://www.amazon.com/Praying-Your-Pastor-Prayer-Support/dp/083084466X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Invisible Chains

7/17/2016

"Not my crime, still my sentence." We are excited to announce the launch of a new ministry branch of Hope Be Restored called Invisible Chains. This is a ministry aimed at serving the children of prisoners in South Korea. Currently there are over 50,000 children who's parent(s) are in jail. While there have been ministries reaching out to prisoners, until now, there has been nothing for their children. So from today, HBR and Crossway Mission Church will begin serving these vulnerable groups of Korea.

How can you help?

1. Mentor (Big Brother/Big Sister): We are looking for men and women to serve at mentors (or big brothers and big sisters) to these children. To meet with them for an hour to two each month, for several years, sharing life together and sharing the love of Jesus.

2. Petition: Sign our petition, asking the Korean government to allow more access for the children to see and spend time with their parent(s) in prison. Currently, they are only allowed to see their parent 3 times a year. This petition is seeking a law change, allowing the child to see their parent as often as they wish.

3. Sew: If you enjoy sewing or are willing to learn, sewing is a simple way to serve them. There are stuffed animals (teddy bears) that need your help to be sewn so that we can give them to these children as gifts at various family camps.

4. Key Chains: You can also purchase a key chain for KRW 5,000 that will go towards this ministry.

5. Volunteer: There are one-day family camps held each month in different parts of Korea where children and their parents can spend time together and deepen their relationship. If you can make yourself available at these camps to be a staff member to serve, that would also be greatly appreciated.

6. Give: Financial donations are also always welcome. Please email us letting us know that you'd like your donation to be give for the Invisible Chains ministry.

7. Pray: Please pray for these children who carry with them a great deal of pain and heartache. Many of them, if they are unable to find a positive role model and a place of healing, become very vulnerable to some dangerous paths in Korea.

If you'd like to help in any of these ways or have other questions, please email:invisiblechainskorea@gmail.com

Enoch Singing Family Thanksgiving Song in Korean :)

6/20/2016

Enoch singing a Family Thanksgiving Song in Korean. It's basically thanking grandparents and parents for being a part of his life :)