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| Bible study by candlelight. |
Years ago while working on an article about Sudan, I remember speaking with our founder, Richard Wurmbrand. I asked him, "Pastor, what are your thoughts on Sudan?" He replied, "I cannot tell you anything about Sudan."
I was confused by his answer but sat quietly waiting for him to explain.
"No matter what I told you about Sudan, it would be a lie. It is far more horrible than I could ever describe. And if I were to tell you even a little, you would not sleep this evening."
I now feel the same way as I assemble this article on North Korea. No matter what I write, in comparison with the gross reality, it will appear as a lie. There is no way I can accurately describe the gravity of the situation facing our brothers and sisters in North Korea.
This isolated nation of 20 million has become, without question, the most hostile place on earth—a nation that imprisons, tortures and publicly executes its citizens without the slightest regard for human life.
On the banks of the Tumen River
On the first day of my trip, I am standing on the banks of the Tumen River, which divides North Korea and China. At first glance it appears peaceful. It is not very wide (in places less than 100 feet), and there is a gentle current. However, the Tumen River has probably witnessed more deaths than any other river in the world.
There are armed guards in hidden bunkers every 100 or 200 feet along the North Korean side of the river. They are instructed to stop anyone trying to leave the country, by whatever means necessary. Those attempting to escape do so at night and face the added risk of drowning, which is not uncommon with small children. In the winter the frozen river is easier to cross, but escapees risk freezing to death. Most North Koreans do not even own a winter coat.
Heavy fines (and even imprisonment) are levied against any Chinese citizen who offers the slightest assistance to a North Korean escapee. A simple bowl of rice offered to a starving child can cost a year's salary if caught. In contrast to this, bounties are now offered as a reward for capturing a North Korean.
China's Public Security Bureau (PSB) is also on the constant lookout for North Korean refugees and has allowed North Korean agents to assist in the search. A new prison has been built near the river to house the escapees before transporting them back over the bridge to North Korea. The prison was built after the PSB received too many complaints about how the refugees were being treated. (Previously, the PSB/North Korean agents inserted metal wire through refugees' noses or under their collar bone, literally tying them together. They were also frequently beaten; some who resisted were executed on the spot.) Now the atrocities are confidently hidden behind a 12-foot concrete wall.
The Treatment in China is nothing compared to what they face when they are returned to North Korea. There are three primary crimes at the top of the list in North Korea. The first is speaking against the regime. The second is belief in God. And the third is attempting to escape North Korea.
In spite of the risks, thousands of North Koreans flee to China every year. The bottom line is they are hungry. They have no hope. Children have forgotten how to laugh or even cry.
With the aftermath of the famine that began in the 1990s, and lack of government rations, starvation is an everyday fact of life. An estimated ten to 12 percent of the entire North Korean population has starved to death in less than a decade. The Tumen River has also become a "passage of salvation," as many Christian groups have set up a support system for the escaping refugees and an opportunity to share the love of Christ. One of these workers is a Chinese Korean named pastor "Kim."
Who will help my people?
Pastor Kim was born into a very poor family of atheists. As a young child he watched as a group of Christians was publicly tortured and killed. His father told him, "Those Christians are so stupid!"
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| Safe house in North Korea. |
In 1984, at the age of 25, Kim married a young and very attractive girl named Yong Soon Lee. She came from a wealthy family and as Kim put it, "She was a bit on the wild side." But tragedy struck their family when in 1993 Kim's wife was brutally raped and murdered. He was devastated and did not know where to turn. Yong Soon Lee had become a Christian just a year before her tragic death. He thought she was foolish and blamed the God he never believed existed.
Kim began to read the Bible and visited the small house church service his wife had previously attended. Within a few months, God had softened his heart. Soon after accepting Christ, Kim attended a secret seminary and sensed the Lord leading him to plant a church among the Korean communities of northeast China. It was this move that led him to relocate along the Tumen River, where Kim received his true calling.
"After seeing the dead bodies float down the river and the woman who had washed up on my farmland, the Lord brought the story of Esther to mind. Mordecai had told Esther, 'For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?' To which Esther replied … , 'I will go to the King, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!'
"These words burned in my heart, and I knew if I didn't help my own people, God would bring salvation another way. And I believed it was ordained for 'such a time as this.' He wanted to use Koreans living in China to bring the Gospel to North Korea."
I would soon learn that pastor Kim's call to serve North Korea is not unique. Numerous Chinese Korean pastors and lay workers received this call at approximately the same time. And many of these workers, including pastor Kim, have been pushed out of their own churches for this work. Their fellow leaders say it is just too dangerous and want no association with a missionary to North Korea. While those caught helping North Koreans are fined severely, mission workers are frequently imprisoned. Pastor Kim has been imprisoned twice for this work. But a passion burns in the workers' hearts as they serve their people of the North.
Public executions and "fair treatment"
On the third day of my visit, I am brought up a winding road to the top of a small mountain overlooking a North Korean city.
We are close enough to see Koreans in the North walking along the roads, although very few citizens of North Korea leave their homes, and rarely would one see a group walking together. We can see a park, but no one is there. There is also a large factory, but it appears rundown and unoccupied.
Everything in North Korea is grey and drab. We are surrounded by mountains on both sides of the border. Those on the Chinese side are lush with growth, and the sun lights up the leaves on the trees. In contrast is the barren hillside of North Korea less than a few 100 yards away. The regime has stripped every tree off the mountains for firewood and to increase farming. Needless to say no firewood remains; and no farming ever took place, as the tree removal caused erosion, making it impossible.
I am standing beside a long-time VOM co-worker who handles much of VOM's ministry inside North Korea. As he looks over the city, he is pointing just beyond the empty park and tells me that recently the North Korean government publicly executed 30 people. A truck went through town playing loud and festive music, inviting everyone to come and witness what happens to "enemies of the regime." Our VOM co-worker then sadly tells me that 18 of the 30 were Christian workers and part of his network.
As we continue looking out over the city, I couldn't help but imagine the horror and again wondered how, in today's world, North Korea could get away with such atrocities. I had read reports of horrific executions within the labour camps by the most gruesome of methods. One report told of the condemned being tied to a stake while their family members were forced to light the fire. All the while North Korea has claimed to have no labour camps and to treat each citizen fairly.
Meeting the escapees
The next day I am joined by two VOM field directors, and we travel to one of the many safe houses VOM supports.
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| Prison in North Korea. |
We leave as the sun begins to go down and travel two hours up into the mountains. The safe house appears like a typical Chinese home from the outside: small wooden structures with thatched roofs.
As we enter, there are a number of women cooking on the floor. A small boy with a round face and big eyes nervously looks at us. I ask how old he is, and I'm told he is 12. There are three or four others, none older than 25.
We gather around, sitting on the floor. They are preparing the food for us, and we are reminded that they have never met a Westerner. For years they have heard Westerners kidnap Koreans and harvest their organs. They now know it is not true, but it appears the 12-year-old boy still has doubts. His face continues to reveal his anxiety about us being there.
Little is spoken as we eat. Our guide translates a few words, and we learn there are a number of families currently in this safe house. They have all become Christians and are studying the Bible. They are being prepared to go back as secret evangelists into North Korea. We ask where the others are and learn they are hiding further up the mountain. They take turns coming down. None of the refugees can sleep in the safe house. If they are raided at night, they will have no place to run.
After dinner, one of the VOM field directors tells me he has brought a cross (The Martyr's Cross) with him from an American donor who asked it be given to a North Korean Christian. "Perhaps you could just give it to the home," I suggest.
He thinks that is a good idea and offers it to the leader of the safe house. After a quick exchange between our guide and the hose leader, we are told that he could never accept it. At first I thought he was being modest, but he reminds us: "If we are caught with this cross, they would know we are Christians. Helping the North Koreans comes with its own risk. If we are caught teaching the Bible … ."
He doesn't have to say any more. The cross will have to remain with us.
Then one of the young men from North Korea looks at us and says something to our translator. He would like the cross.
We are now nervous about the idea of giving the cross to any of them. It is just too dangerous. But the young man says he knows the risk and is not afraid, and we watch quietly as he puts the cross around his neck. His bravery encourages us; however, we can't help but wonder what it might cost him.
Those in the safe house seem to be warming up to us, and we are invited to look at one of the shelters where they sleep. The small, once apprehensive boy jumps into the vehicle with us. (Perhaps he doesn't think any longer that we are going to cut his organs out.)
We drive a far as we can through two feet of mud and walk the rest of the way into the woods. The makeshift shelter is well hidden and built into the side of the mountain. It is made from large branches and covered with a plastic tarp to keep the rain out. Two families have been living in the small shelter for three months.
When we return to the safe house, two candles and a flashlight are brought out as well as a few Bibles. The Korean refugees take turns using the candles and flashlight to read their Bible. The 12-year-old boy read The Lord's Prayer out loud, very slowly. Our guide tells us this is a big event because he has never been to school and just started learning how to read. We later learned (after visiting a secret home for orphaned refugees) that this is not uncommon. Families are too poor to even afford shoes for the children to walk to school. They do not have money for paper or pencils. They have no hope of a future, so education takes a backseat to survival.
We sing "Amazing Grace" (in English and Korean) and conclude a very powerful service. Even in the dimly lit room, I can see the conviction and commitment in their eyes. Since the North Korean Christians were nervous about speaking to us, we were not able to communicate much. We can only imagine the hardships they have been through and what awaits them, as they will soon graduate as secret missionaries, returning to their homeland.
The woman with the cross
The next day missionary Lee invites two Christians to speak with us. The first is a younger North Korean woman who had been arrested during her attempt to escape. She was not a believer at that time.
"I was caught trying to escape and sentenced to one month and ten days along with 15 other women. We went to a special prison camp that was just for those caught trying to escape North Korea. It is a miracle I am alive. I did not think I would survive the prison. They treated us worse than animals.
"We had no water. We began work at 5 a.m. and worked until 4:30 p.m. Then we immediately went into 'training' and more work until 11 p.m. and then more training. We still had no water during this time. And if they got mad at us, they took away the little food that we were supposed to receive. (They were fed bare corncobs.)
"They liked to beat us with rubber whips, which were about three feet long and flat on one side. Those who were too weak to meet their quota were whipped more, making it more difficult for them to work; and the cycle repeated. We felt very bad for them."
She tells us that after serving their term of one month and ten days, the group was released—all except one woman. That woman, when she was arrested, was wearing a cross. Her current whereabouts are unknown, but she is probably in heaven.
"Tell the world!"
The second woman we interview is in her mid-70s. Roli has never shared her story with a Westerner., I was told she is the most unique of all workers traveling into North Korea and no other known worker has come close to establishing a network like hers. Roli can't remember how many times she has been over the border, but she has a network of 100 house churches and has personally carried a Bible to each one.
This incredible woman reminds me of Corrie ten Boom or Sabina Wurmbrand.
Halfway through our interview, she begins to cry. The joy she expressed when telling me of the many believers has been replaced by anguish as she tells me about three of her workers who were executed and eight who remain in prison. I reluctantly ask her if those who were executed were done so publicly, and she nods her head, yes. She worries most about a young man who has suffered so severely in prison that she actually wished they had executed him as well.
At the end of the interview, I ask her what we can do. First, she asks us to pray. The second answer catches me off guard as she looks intently at me with watery eyes: "Tell the world. Please tell the world about our brothers and sisters in North Korea. Please."
"I will do my best," I promise. This incredible woman reminds me of Corrie ten Boom or Sabina Wurmbrand. She displays a beauty that radiates her love for Christ and for her people in North Korea. I ask her if she is afraid, and she just smiles and says: "Why would I be afraid? I have already been arrested five times. What can they do to an old woman like me?"
As we gather together to say our good-byes, she peers into my eyes again with a now familiar look. Then she reaches up and grabs my neck and pulls my head tight to hers. (This is extremely out of character in Chinese Korean culture.) Without voicing a word, I can hear her pleading, "Tell the world! My work is nearly over, but yours is just beginning. Tell the world!"
Sending more light
One has to wonder how the world turns a blind eye in the face of the tragedy in North Korea. And even when there are reports on the situation, retaliation usually comes in the form of more arrests and executions. Some of the labour camps were built as a direct result of public criticism against Kim Jong II and his regime, creating an even greater dilemma: empowering an evil and ruthless ruler to gain more control over the people in his rogue nation.
While the world offers no answer, perhaps God does as He stirs the hearts of Korean Christians in northeast China. As stated by Queen Esther: "For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?" (Esther 8:6) But it doesn't stop there. As children of God and fellow workers in His kingdom, we have a role. For North Korea, it could prove to be a role of international and historic proportions, as only an invasion of the Gospel can topple Kim Jong II's unprotected and demonic rule.
The VOM is committed to serving the persecuted Church in North Korea. Together with our sister missions around the world, we are committed to greatly increasing our efforts into North Korea. The existing work among the safe houses (and other undisclosed projects) will continue, but VOM has committed to research and launch massive new campaigns into North Korea. Our purpose for these is threefold: One, we must let our brothers and sisters in North Korea know they are not forgotten; two, we must increase the presence of the Gospel in North Korea; and three, we must tell the world.
Originally published in Voice of the Martyrs November 2005.
Pray for "Bob" the BC tentmaker who works in NK and the house churches he has started.
