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Welcome to Hanover Chapel
Events 2024
Synod Meeting – Saturday 12th October 11am
Regional pastoral meeting – Tuesday 15th October 2pm
Church Meeting – Thursday 24th October 6pm
Harvest Service – Sunday 3rd November 11am
Remembrance Sunday – 11th November 11am
Remembrance Day – Monday 11th November 11am (Llanover field)
Carol Service – Sunday 22nd December 11am
Weekly Timetable
Sunday Service – 11am (Every Sunday)
Communion Service – 1st Sunday 11am (Every Month)
Prayer Meeting – 6pm (Every Thursday)
Our Story
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
What is it that brings coach parties of Koreans to a small chapel here about five miles south of Abergavenny. Approaching on the A4042 from the south, a lane to the right just as we enter the village leads to Hanover Chapel (NP7 9EF) built from local stone in 1839, although the chapel community dates back 350 years. The neighbouring manse is considerably older than the chapel itself.
The link between Koreans and Hanover
Korean Christians built the Thomas Memorial Chapel in 1932 on the riverbank in Pyongyang where the Welsh missionary died. The chapel was destroyed in 1946 and is now the site of a PUST in what is now communist North Korea. Many of the pilgrims who visit Llanover are from families who fled Pyongyang for Busan in present day South Korea during the 1950s civil war.
Our History
The Story of Rev. Robert Thomas
Facing the chapel is a prominent memorial to the Rev. Robert Thomas (1810-1884), who for 37 years proclaimed the gospel in the adjoining sanctuary, and his wife. The Korean interest, however, relates to their son, Robert Jermaine Thomas (1839-1866), who became one of the first Protestant missionaries to that country.
Educated at Llandovery College and later at New College, London, the younger Thomas sailed for Shanghai in 1863 at the age of 24, accompanied by his wife Caroline. Tragically, she died of a miscarriage a few months later. He first visited Korea in 1865, distributing tracts & scriptures in Chinese, as there was nothing available in the Korean language. (The only previous Protestant missionary to that country was the German Karl Gutzlaff in 1832). The following year Thomas joined the American trading ship General Sherman as an interpreter. Displaying the arrogance for which western trading powers were notorious in the East, the crew ignored orders from Korean officials and sailed up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang, with a cargo of cotton goods, tin and glass. In the course of a disastrous journey the crew opened fire on civilians, killing and injuring several, and kidnapped Korean officials who had been sent to negotiate. Eventually the ship ran aground and was set on fire, all the crew being shot, burned or beaten to death. Thomas had been scattering tracts on the riverbank during the journey and, as he died, gave out what remained of his stock of Bibles.
Standards
By modern standards, this was scarcely a textbook example of a sensitive or well planned missionary endeavour, but there was an extraordinary outcome. Although details of the story vary, it seems that one official (and maybe others) gathered up Thomas’s Bibles and recognising the quality of the paper, used them to paper the walls of his house. This attracted the attention of visitors, who read the pages and eventually formed the nucleus of a young Korean church.
Daniel YOO
Reverend
I still can't forget the emotion and excitement I felt when I first arrived in Wales to take up my position at Hanover Chapel in 2013. When I arrived, Hanover Chapel had been maintained by a small number of members without a senior pastor for over 20 years. Our arrival was the answer to a long prayer and the fruit of the seeds of the gospel that Missionary Thomas had sown in Chosun with the blood of his martyrdom 150 years ago.
Mary JEON
Reverend Wife
Hello? My name is Mary, Jeon Young-sook, I am a wife with a sense of mission partnered together with my husband at Hanover Chapel in Wales, UK. Unlike my husband, who lived an honest life following his faith from birth, I myself loved playing with nature like a boy and was good at sports. Of course, rather than being a loving and gentle wife, I was a courageous general-like wife.
Our Ministries
Bible Studies
Since the COVID-19 lockdown, we were refrained from holding prayer meetings and Bible study meetings due to restrictions on face-to-face meetings, but since the COVID-19 declaration, we have started holding face-to-face Bible study meetings every Friday afternoon. As we read the Exodus Bible and prayed together, we experienced a deep fellowship with each other and an intimate encounter and comfort from the Holy Spirit.
Pastoral Care
Let the people of Wales bow down humbly, seek God’s face, and yearn for revival. Let Hanover Church become a spiritual well of revival in Wales. Pour out the Holy Spirit like a waterfall during Sunday services and prayer meetings so that the saints may experience God’s presence and the grace of the Holy Spirit. Let the baptized grow into warriors of faith. Protect and heal Wales and the churches from physical, mental or spiritual brokenness. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and serve Wales and Hanover Church well with passion and love.
Prayer Meetings
Together with Alec, we pray virtually every Saturday for intercessory prayers for the nations of the UK and around the world, and also for the persecuted saints. Every month, we pray via video conference with missionaries from the European Good Shepherd Mission (GSM), the Bauri Europe region, and the Bauri Europe branch. I also share updates and pray with my children through video every week. Recently, I completed my 4014 fasting and prayers.