200,000 Volunteers in 72 Branches Worldwide: Shincheonji Volunteer Group

The efforts of Shincheonji Volunteer Group are regularly making headlines in the Republic of Korea these days. Shincheonji Volunteer Group (SVG), which belongs to Shincheonji Church of Jesus (full name ‘Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of The Testimony’), has 200,000 volunteers in 72 branches worldwide serving the local community through a range of initiatives and projects focused on environmental conservation, provision of medical aid, support for war veterans and public service campaigns. To date, 3000 people have actively served to address national blood shortage levels in Korea. A total of 60,000 volunteers worldwide directly catered to the needs of 80,000 people from January-May 2019. Beneficiaries include senior citizens (10,000), the less privileged (6000), foreign residents and workers in Korea (5000) and people with disabilities (4000).

The growth in SVG’s volunteer activity complements the sharp rise in the growth of the church congregation. Shincheonji church, which has grown by an average 20,000 people yearly in recent years, is expected to have 100,000 new congregation members by the close of 2019, totalling 300,000 congregation members. This figure is expected to increase to 500,000 members by the close of 2020. The number of people who studied the Bible at Shincheonji Church’s ‘Zion Mission Centre’ during the period January-July 2019 is five times greater than it was for the same period in 2018.

SVG provided immediate aid following the breakout of the forest fire that ravaged much of the mountainous and forested north-eastern province of Gangwon in April 2019. One of SVG's long-standing initiatives within South Korea is its ‘Wall-Painting Stories with Hope' campaign which, to date, has restored over 200,000sqm of murals in 299 locations. SVG recently provided medical aid to 500 orphaned and blind children and residents in isolated towns and villages in Vietnam. SVG’s growth, both domestically and overseas, shows no sign of restraint as the scope of its services and beneficiaries grow.

Main Article

⇨http://bit.ly/2Oisdo3 (Dong-ah Daily) 80,000 people directly benefit from this year's 60,000 new social contribution activities… “Give More Love as Growth”