International (MNN) ― A "rave" is an all-night techno dance party.
It has international appeal for young people, freeing them to spend uninhibited time with other ravers. As a result, the subculture of the rave often involves promiscuity and substance abuse.
Some say it's about the creation of a community and re-connecting with something perceived as lost. For others, it's about finding hope. Founder and President of One Hope, Bob Hoskins, agrees.
His son, David, was a prodigal. For 15 years, he was a leader on the rave circuit promoting electronic music and the raves throughout Europe. When he finally came back to the Lord, he said, "I don't want to leave those kids behind. Those are kids who will probably never go to church; they will probably never read a Bible, even if it's given to them. We have to go into their world."
David's own journey led him to develop a ministry geared to reach these kids with Christ. One and a half years later, they're ready to launch "True Love." The ministry blends the light shows and music of the rave culture with the message of the Gospel. Bob Hoskins says OneHope has produced "24 ten-minute capsules which is a meta-narrative of salvation starting with Creation, the Fall, the Brokenness, Christ, Restoration, the Church, extending the Message, and finally, the new Heaven and the new Earth. Overriding it all is God's love for humanity."
Right now, the Web site (trueloveculture.com) only delivers the capsules in English. But by the end of the year, they're hoping to be ready with the full complement of 24 capsules in 20 languages with 20 separate sound tracks to help customize the message to the culture and audience.
Does it work? The One Hope team just completed a test run, airing 10 capsules at an event in Ecuador. A church sponsored the event and sold tickets for $3 a piece, hoping for 300 attendees. Word of mouth grew, and the church sold 1000 tickets. On the day of the event, 2500 showed up.
Hoskins says what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. "They ran 10 capsules, and at the end of 10 capsules, the local pastor got up and gave the salvation message. Understand: these are not Christian kids. So they show up, and they hear the Gospel, and over 300 of them came forward to accept Christ and be discipled by the Church."
Discipleship is important to keep new believers grounded in their faith. "We're creating a special ‘True Love Book of Hope', and wherever the events take place, the special edition ‘True Love Book of Hope' will be distributed."
Because of the success of the test run event, One Hope is gearing up to launch a new campaign. "On October 10 -- we call it '10-10-10' -- there will be events in 10 cities around the world. We work with the churches, so in these 10 cities, we're working with major churches."
Pray that God keeps preparing hearts to receive the message of Christ's love. Click here to help.
