.W Discipleship Training Program
Underground University (UU) trains North Korean defectors to serve as missionaries in the North Korean underground church—in South Korea, China, back inside North Korea, and wherever North Koreans are found in countries around the world. Over the course of ten months, UU students are equipped for ministry in a persecuted context.
In the U.S., a hunger has been emerging for a discipleship training model that similarly equips Christians in the West using these same principles and strategies. Seoul USA has responded by making our persecuted church training program available in two different contexts:
1. Whole Life Offering Curriculum for Individuals, Small Groups, and Church Congregations
Underground University trains students in the Whole Life Offering (WLO) discipleship training method of hearing and doing the Word, developed using discipleship methods learned from the North Korean underground church, persecuted Christians around the world, and the early church. Using this curriculum, individuals, small groups, and whole congregations (house and traditional) can progress through the one-year plan and be equipped in the same comprehensive persecuted church discipleship training program as Underground University students.
In each annual curriculum cycle, participants will be challenged and equipped to develop a Capstone project in their own community to implement the persecuted church principles and strategies taught in the course, with Seoul USA available to provide free counsel.
Curriculum consists of a monthly DVD containing weekly teaching written by the Rev. Eric Foley, the author of The Whole Life Offering and Church is for Amateurs, the two books available today that teach comprehensive Christian discipleship to the church in the West according to the principles of the persecuted church and the early church. Rev. Foley’s messages on the DVD can be played for a group each week or used as a study tool by a pastor, individual, or group leader who then adapts and delivers the message themselves. An accompanying monthly PDF guide includes for each week all of the sermon/teaching text, as well as a recommended order of worship, including Scripture and song memorization guide, discussion starters, and worship elements drawn from the faithful church across history. The material is modularized so that it may be adapted for use in any setting, from individual study to small group curriculum to a house church or traditional church worship plan. The curriculum cycle is new each year, so groups can continue to use the curriculum indefinitely.
- Format: Monthly DVD and PDF guide (PDF includes license for reproduction of printed materials)
- Cost: $50/month
2. .W Evangelical Church: Learn to Form a .W Mini-House Church
For those living in the Colorado Springs area, the .W Evangelical Church (a congregation of The Evangelical Church of North America) meets Sunday morning at the Seoul USA/.W offices under the pastoral oversight of Rev. Eric Foley. It is here that the videos for the Whole Life Offering DVD are recorded each week.
Over the course of one year, through worship and shared church life together, congregation members learn how to plant and oversee their own .W mini-house church. After successful completion of one year of discipleship study, members are commissioned as lay pastors authorized to plant .W mini-house churches formally affiliated with the .W Evangelical Church and The Evangelical Church of North American denomination.
In the tradition of the early church and the persecuted church, there are no drop-in visitors. Interested individuals and families express their interest and are contacted by a member of the .W team for a personal meeting to talk further about participation.
- When: Sunday evenings from 7-9pm
- Where: Colorado Springs, CO
- Personal meeting required prior to participation
