Prodigal Son to Launch Global Effort to Reach Lost Ravers
For 18 years, he was a prodigal son. He was a leader in the European rave circuit and woke up each morning saying, "Whatever this body wants to do, that is what I want to do today."
But since coming to Christ several years ago, David Hoskins, the son of missionaries, has tried to reach his friends and the youth still lost in the rave culture.
"Once you know the joy of the Lord and the abundant life that He has for us, you start to think about those friends that you left behind," explains Hoskins, who heads the True Love program at the Fla.-based ministry One Hope.
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At first, Hoskins successfully brought some of his friends to Christ through personal relationships. But then he realized it would be much easier to lead them to Christ if there were effective tools to bridge the divide between the church and the rave culture.
"You try and bring someone who is in the midst of a rave culture, who's grown up in that, and invite them to one of our churches – there is a pretty big divide," says Rob Hoskins, president of One Hope and David's younger brother.
"It seems unnatural in many ways for that person to try to come into your world," adds Rob. "I think David sees this (True Love program) as a bridge for the Church to go into their world, which is the way that Jesus did his ministry and the way of effective evangelism in today's modern context."
The bridge, David hopes, will come through 24 ten-minute music videos where popular Bible stories are coupled to trance music. The idea is for ministries and churches to hold "raves," or techno dance parties, by combining the music videos on giant screens with light shows. Christians can invite unchurched youths to come enjoy the music and dance, which will also expose them to the Bible. The 24 capsules would provide four hours worth of music.
"To combine all three (word, music, video) of those in an experience is something that we feel is new and revolutionary," says Rob.
Furthermore, Rob adds, the world has captured the art form of dance and made it into a vehicle for immoral activities. But One Hope aims to recapture dance and use it a positive way to share the good news.
Currently, the True Love program has 15 out of the 24 videos done. The videos include stories of creation, Satan and pride, Noah, the 10 commandments, the birth of Jesus, the crucifixion, resurrection, new heaven and new earth, among others.
One Hope has already run test trials in Argentina, Ecuador, and Mexico with positive results. In Ecuador, they were hoping for 300 attendees but ended up selling 1,000 tickets. On the day of the event, 2,500 people showed up and more than 300 young adults accepted Christ for the first from that test run.
"The beautiful thing about effective ministry and what Jesus was so good at is understanding the audience," says Rob.
"I think David having live in that world for 18 years is a native to the rave culture community. It is not something he tried to learn … so for him it was more saying that when I came to Christ I left all my friends behind," the younger Hoskins says. "Now I want to go back into their world and to be able to share the good news of Jesus to them in a relevant way, and I know what is relevant because I lived in that world."
By the end of the year, One Hope aims to translate the capsules into 20 other languages – including French, Spanish, Russian, and Portuguese – to be used by churches around the world.
Rob Hoskins says at first he thought the rave culture was only popular in Western countries, but then he discovered how it is popular throughout the world. He notes how even people in Haiti have expressed interest in using the product.
Next month, on Oct. 10, One Hope will launch the campaign called "10-10-10," in which major churches in ten cities around the world will host a True Love event. The cities include Russia, South Africa and the Philippines.
"We really do believe with our limited launch so far that this is going to be an incredibly effective tool to reach a niche audience," says Hoskins.
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