What has been your experience with PRS?
I was born and raised in a strict Korean-Christian family. Around seventeen, I was forced to participate in a Bootcamp-like PRS at my church, reading the whole Bible day and night for five days. Several times per year, we also read the New Testament straight through Friday nights. I did not appreciate this intensive experience at all nor remember it positively.
What have you learned?
Whether or not someone has a theological understanding of the Bible, reading the Bible with a PRS style is very different from reading the Bible individually. The sense of community and the act of public reading of the Word can be more powerful than individual reading, affirming my training as a linguist.
Have you had an “a-ha” moment?
When I came to the United States as a graduate student, I completely forgot my less than positive childhood PRS experiences. During the lockdown, I realized how much I miss having an experience like PRS. Being deprived of fellowship with other believers, I became convicted and motivated to read the Bible with others. In prayer, I told the Lord that I yearned to read the Bible with other believers.
Forty-five days later, I received an answer to my prayer. Dr. Bell, our Associate Dean, extended an invitation to a PRS led by The Grace & Mercy Co-President Chris McPadden and his wife, Linda. I thought my PRS experience was only possible in a conservative Korean church. I was immensely excited to know that PRS is in the US, too. The invitation made my day!
How has PRS benefited you and your organization?
For most of us, practicing the discipline of reading the Bible can be burdensome. PRS is a great way to allow believers to gather and read the Bible together as brothers and sisters spending time with God. The communal setting allows the Lord to speak to us. We are soaked in His Word rather than trying to analyze the passages by ourselves.
I believe that PRS is a marvelous addition to Liberty University’s strong commitment to the Bible. I have been sharing PRS with my colleagues and students. In addition, the PRS experience can benefit other colleges, universities, and mission organizations. Besides being a professor at LU, I also do mission work with a few colleges in South East Asia. I plan to share PRS with the professors and students there, too.
Last but not least, I have found that the PRS global app is very helpful with the availability of multiple languages, such as Arabic. We recently have an Arabic program in the Modern Languages Department, so having an Arabic Audio Drama Bible is a valuable resource. My colleague who teaches Chinese has also found the app most helpful.
I am blessed to learn how God has changed my youthful PRS reticence for a passion.