Sorry you had to wait so long. Here’s the conclusion of our first-ever bi-lingual story, fresh from Seoul Korea.

 

어쨌던 저는 기어가고 미끄러져 가고 해서 둑을 지나 강 바위들 사이를 가로질렀습니다.

I crossed into China by crawling and slithering across the bank and the river between rocks.

 제가 처음 중국측에 닿은 마을은 넓은 들판에 생강 꽃이 만발한 곳이었는데 이곳에서 한달을 일했습니다.

My first stop on the other side (at the first town I encountered) was a place where large fields of ginseng flourished. For the first month I worked in the fields.

 

제가 일을 마치고 자유시간이면 아는 중국인도 없고 의사소통도 안되었기 때문에 적응하기 무척 힘들었습니다. 몇몇 조선족 일꾼이 있었는데, 이들은 국경 근처는 단지 일하기 위해서 왔습니다.

Though free, it was an awful time of adjustment, with little ability to communicate, not knowing Chinese. There were at least some Korean-Chinese , workers, as there are all up and down that border area.

 

또 한가지 문제는 계속되는 중국경찰의 검문이었습니다. 북한 탈북자를 잡아서 북송하게 되면 그들에게 포상금이 주어지기 때문에 그들은 탈북자를 잡기 위해서 혈안이었습니다.

The other problem was the constant surveillance of the Chinese police. They tried their best to sniff out refugees, hoping to gain the reward obtained for nabbing one and sending him back. There were frequent raids.

 

저는 남서쪽에 있는 다른 도시로 옮겼습니다. 그곳에서 3개월 동안 일했었습니다. 그러나 여전히 경찰의 잦은 검문이 저를 두렵게 했습니다.

I had to move to another city in the southwest. There I worked for three months. But still too many raids, too much fear.

 

저는 중국 각 도시에 있는 한국 대사관과 영사관을 방문하기 시작했습니다. 처음에는 보기 좋게 거절당했고 공관원 들은 심지어 저를 보려고 하지고 하지 않았습니다. 왜냐하면 많은 북한 탈북자들이 찾아 오고 있고 그들 모두를 남한으로 데려가기 위해 받아 들이기는 힘들었기 때문이었습니다.

Next I began visiting Korean embassies & consulates in Chinese cities. I was flatly refused at the first one. They didn’t even want to see me. There were just so many North Koreans coming over that there was no way they could process them all..

 

1997년, 이전 지내던 곳보다 보다 훨씬 남쪽에 있는 중국의 주요 도시 중 한곳에 체류하던 중 그동안 많은 탈북자들의 시도가 성공하지 못했지만 남한 정부의 정책변화로 인해서 이제는 탈북 망명신청이 쉬워 졌다는 소식을 접하게 되었습니다. 저는 망명신청을 하기 위해서 서류를 작성했습니다.

In a major Chinese city further south, 1997, I was able actually to get news. Not so many defectors made it this far. The traffic flow being light, the door was open. I set up an appointment and signed the asylum papers.

 

감사하게도 저의 신청이 받아 들여 졌습니다. 남한의 김영삼 대통령이 중국에 항구 짓는 토목공사를 하면서 탈북자들이 망명하는 것을 도왔기 때문입니다. 그래서 결국 이 시기에 많은 탈북자가 남한으로 올 수 있었습니다.

And the papers were approved! I was held there. The idea was that the political situation set up by then President of South Korea, Kim Young Sam, involving the building of a harbor in China, would eventually get a lot of defectors sent into South Korea.

 

꽤 오랜 시간 동안 한국대사관은 저희 탈북자들을 보호하며 거주할 곳까지 지원해 주었습니다. 그러나 재정은 천천히 바닥이 났고 상황은 절망적이 되었습니다. 저는 주중 한국대사관에 우리가 어떻게 되느냐고 물었지만 대답이 없었습니다. 그때는 남한에 김대중 정부가 들어설 때 이었습니다.

So for quite some time, the Embassy tried to protect me and many others by setting aside housing, etc. But slowly the money dried up. Things were looking bleak. I went in to ask, “What can we do?” No good answers. And by the time, I went again, the Kim Dae Jung government had taken over South Korea.

 

김대중 정부는 탈북자들에게 우호적이지 않았고 남한과 북한이 좋은 관계를 이어 가기를 원했습니다. 이것은 북한에서 어떤 주민도 훔쳐서 남한으로 데려올 수 없다는 것을 의미했습니다

The new government proved to be unfriendly to North Korean defectors. It was the new Kim’s idea that the South and the North should have a good relationship with each other. That precluded automatically any “stealing” of citizens from the King of the North.

 

이 아이디어에 의해서 김대통령은 탈북자들이 남한으로 오는 것을 막았고 중국과 제3국에 있는 대사와 영사들까지도 바꾸었습니다.

By this policy, President Kim blocked the entry of refugees into his land. Further, he changed all the ambassadors and consuls in China and the third countries.

 

저를 관리하고 있던 공관원이 “어떻게 우리가 너를 보호해 줄 수 있겠냐? 이제 네 살길을 찾아라”라고 말했고 저는 제가 마지막에 살았던 도시로 돌아가서 부두에서 다시 일을 하기 시작했는데 그러면서 남한에서 중국으로 오는 사업가들과 교류하기 시작했습니다.

The persons in charge of me asked, “Hey, how can we take care of you, provide your room and board? You’re on your own!” So I went back to the last city where I had lived. Worked in a harbor. Then I began to interact with South Korean vendors coming into China.

 

그러나 여전히 중국경찰의 검색으로 인하여 제가 북한 탈북자라는 것이 발각되어 그곳에 더 이상 머물 수가 없었습니다.

But still the raids come. They knew I was a North Korean. There would be no peace there.

 

저는 더 이상 중국에 머무를 수 없었습니다. 더 이상 할 일자리도, 머물 숙소도 없었습니다. 저는 어떤 대가를 치르더라도 남한으로 가겠다고 마음에 결정함으로 탈북자들이 중국을 떠나 제삼국을 통해 남한으로 넘어간 루트를 따라 움직여 마침내 태국에 도착했습니다.

I simply could not stay in China. There were no jobs, no places to live. My decision: I would do whatever it took, even give my life, to attempt to get to South Korea.  I headed to far western China, finally leaving that country for Thailand, using a well-traveled route of North Korean defectors.

 

이 탈북자 루트를 따라 저는 지속적인 위험없이 여행할 수 있었습니다. 단지 매콩강을 건널 때 강한 급류에 거의 익사할 뻔 했습니다.

It was a well-traveled route, but not without constant danger. At the Mekong river, I almost drowned in the severe current.

 

태국에 이르자 마음에 안심을 하고, 잠시 거울 속을 들여다 보게 되었는데, 거울 속의 제 모습이 마치 해골처럼 보였습니다. 처음엔 거울 속의 제 자신을 알아 보지 못했습니다. 사실, 저는 20일 동안 제 자신의 모습을 본 적이 없었습니다. 탈북 루트를 따라 태국으로 오면서 산속에서 주로 자며 살아 남기 위해서 날 옥수수와 바나나 심지어 아무거나 닥치는 대로 먹으며 여행했었습니다.

As soon as I was in Thailand, my heart was relieved. I saw my face in a mirror, looking like a skeleton. I simply didn’t recognize myself. In fact, I hadn’t even seen myself for twenty days. There were not many mirrors up in the mountains where I slept night after night, surviving on raw corn, bananas, and whatever else I could find.

 

어쨌든, 저는 결국 살아서 남한으로 오게 되었습니다. 저는 이 점 정말 주님께 감사를 드립니다.

But, survive I did, and I am here in South Korea, and for that I praise God!

 

저는 믿는 자가 되었습니다. 저는 제 삶을 통해서 하나님이 그분의 계획하심으로 저를 인도 하셨다는 것을 믿습니다. 이런 하나님의 인도하심은 제가 북한을 넘어 중국에 왔을 때부터 시작했었습니다. 

I have become a believer. I am on God’s path that leads to life. For me that pathway began when I first crossed over into China.

   

저는 UU와 함께 할 수 있는 기회가 있어 행복합니다. 제가 처음 UU에 훈련 받을 때, 심지어 제 자신이 복음으로 회심되는 것을 고려하지 않았었습니다. 그러나 이제는 UU훈련을 통해 북한에 복음의 횃불을 밝히는 역할을 하고 싶습니다.

I’m happy to have chance to associate with the Underground University course of study. When I first started that training, I did not consider myself to have been born again. But through those studies, I now want to be a gospel light which will be turned on in North Korea.

He’s already a Gospel Light, from what I could gather by sharing with him last summer. Please don’t breathe a total sigh of relief and stop praying for Mr. Nam. Living in a foreign country is a difficult task sometimes, especially after the trauma that brought you there. May God’s Spirit guide and protect Mr. Nam.

Please contact us if you’d like to get more personally involved in stories like these.

Here’s our first bi-lingual offering. This story’s English translation was by staff of Seoul USA. 

남 선생님 간증문

Mr. Nam’s testimony 

저에게는 여섯 형제와 두 명의 자매가 있었는데 어렸을 때는 정부에서 배급이 제때 나왔고 저의 어머님도 부업을 하셔서 집에 식량사정이 넉넉했습니다. 

I grew up with six brothers and two sisters and the rationed food was enough in my childhood because my diligent mother had a side job just to make sure. I never felt a shortage. 

저는 소년대같은 공산주의 자녀라면 밞는 정규과정등을 거쳤습니다. 이것은 제 의지에 의한 것이 아니라 북한에서의 일상적인 삶이었기 때문입니다. 저의 집은 부유한 사람들의 전유물인 라디오가 없었기에 매일 길 거리에서 스피커를 통해서 울리는 공산당 선전 내용 외에는 어떤 네트워크 뉴스도 듣지 못 했습니다.

I traveled the normal route of national training that any children of communist had to go through. Everything was laid out, there were no choices. This was life in North Korea. I never saw any one else’s culture. Never watched television. Radios were only for the rich, and I was not in that category. So I never listened to “network news,” but I did hear propaganda daily emanating from strategically placed public speakers. 

자라면서, 처음 십에서 십오 년 동안 저와 제 친구들은 예수님의 이름에 대하여 들어 본 적이 없습니다. 어렴풋이 기억하건 데, 학교 한글 교과서에 미국인 선교사를 괴물로 묘사하여 실은 것을 본 적이 있습니다. 한 아이가 과수원에서 단지 사과를 따 먹으려고 했는데, 선교사가 잡아서 그 아이를 나무에 묵고 그 아이의 이마에 “도둑놈”이라고 써놓은 그림이었습니다.

As all of my fellows, for the first ten to fifteen years of my life, I never heard the name of Jesus. Well, not exactly. There was this “information” in my Korean language text book. Pictures and text showed an American missionary capturing a poor innocent child who merely wanted to get an apple from the orchard. This monster tied the child on some wood, and placed a label on his forehead reading “thief”.   

계속 되어진 북한정부의 노예교육 때문에, 제 삶의 목적은 오로지 김일성과 당을 위해 존재했습니다. 군에서 제대한 후 나이 27살에, 요직을 거쳐서 미래에 성공하기 위해서 공산당에 입당하였고 그 후에 일자리를 얻을 수 있었으며 승진도 하면서 좋은 인생을 누리는 것같았습니다.

Because of the constant brainwashing, the goal of my life was somehow to help Kim Il Sung and the Party prosper.  After my own service in the military, at age 27, I entered the Party, a prerequisite to any type of career advancement. A company hired me immediately. Then came Party promotions, and life was proceeding according to plan.

  1980년대 후반에 북한사회는 쇠퇴하기 시작하면서 배급비율이 적어지고 심지어는 2주 까지도 지연되기도 했습니다. 제 가족 성분이 그리 나쁘지 않아서 저희는 제때 배급을 받을 수는 있었지만 그 양은 이전 같지 않았습니다. 여전히 많은 시간 사상교육 그리고 공산당 선전이 있었지만, 식량배급은 갈수록 나빠졌습니다.

In the late 80’s, North Korean society began to decline. Nationwide, rations were down, and/or delayed for up to two weeks. My own family status gave me less delay, but not more rations. There were still lots of talk, lots of propaganda, but less and less food. 

1990년대 초에 들어서는 상황이 더욱더 악화되면서 일년 간격을 두고 저의 아버님과 어머님이 돌아 가시게 되었습니다.

By the beginning of the 90’s, things were even worse. Soon both of my parents had died, within a year of each other because of starvation. 

그 당시 몇 몇 기관이나 직장은 여유분 땅이 있어 초과 곡식을 얻을 수 있었으나 사인에게 개인적으로 농사지을 여유분의 땅은 할당되지 않았습니다. “왜 직장은 되고 개인은 안됍니까? 왜 사람들이 굶어 죽어가는데 이런 제한이 필요합니까? 왜 주민 스스로 독립하여 살기 위해 노력 할 수 없습니까? 이것은 정말 부당합니다.”라고 저는 항변하였습니다.

There were few institutes or companies could obtain extra grains, but no space could be allotted for individual farming. Why allow companies but not farmers? Why the need for such control when people are starving and dying?  Why can’t people be independent and take care of themselves? What terrible injustice, I reasoned.

 저는 집권당 권력서열에 있는 분에게 편지를 썼습니다. “왜 저희 개인은 여유분의 땅을 가지고 자유롭게 경작할 수 없습니까?”

I wrote a letter to the ruling Party, the very seat of authority. “Why can’t individuals have extra lands for private gardens?” I asked.

 당은 서한으로 제게 답변해 주지 않았습니다. 대신에 당원이 찾아와서 제게 왜 이 편지를 썼는지 물어 보았습니다. “동무는 노동당에서도 서열이 낮은 계급인데, 어떻게 감히 김일성 장군님을 괴롭히는 편지를 쓸 수 있네?”

There was no reply. Not by letter. Instead, a Party member visited and asked me why I wrote this letter.  “You are a lowly officer in the Labor Party. How dare you write a letter to Kim Jong Il to disturb?”

 그들은 저를 해고했고, 그런 과감한 조치에도 불구하고 또다시 경고처분을 내렸습니다. 첫 번째 경고는 그냥 넘어 갔지만, 두 번째 경고는 만일 제가 당의 노래를 크고 분명하게 부르지 않으면 무엇인가 대가를 받게 될 것이라는 심각하고도 강도 높은 것 이었습니다.

They cut my job. As a member of the party, I was worthy of a warning, even two, before more drastic measures were taken. They skipped the first letter, and wrote me the serious second warning, a severe statement of what would be coming if I did not sing the Party song loud and clear.

 저는 이런 사회에서는 살아 남을 수 없다는 것을 깨달았습니다. 군부의 혜택, 절대적인 충성 그리고 제 자신의 장미 빛 계획들도 모두 사라지면서 더 이상 북한사회에서는 아무것도 할수 없었고 미래가 없었습니다. 그래서 저는 마음에 “북한을 탈출 하겠다”는 큰 결심을 하게 되었습니다.

I thought that I could not survive in this society. The military upbringing, the extreme loyalty, the plans for my own career, all gone. “My future is not here. I cannot develop, improve, progress.” That was the moment of decision.

 아무런 설명 없이 냉정하게 제 아내와 아들을 부모님이 계신 집으로 보내고 나서, 저는 북한을 탈출 하였습니다. 이 시기는 1990년대 2에서 3백만 명이 아사하는 단군이래 정말 심각한 상황이었고 길거리에서 매일 죽은 시체를 볼정도였습니다.

Sending my wife and son off to my family’s house with no explanation, a more merciful action than it appears on the surface, I escaped. It was the mid 90’s, that horrific epoch in Korean history when 2-3 million died of starvation. Dead bodies on the streets every day.

 북한정부는 항상 이 문제를 감추려 했고 이 당시 굶주림 때문에 아픈 사람을 치료소에 데려가는 것은 불법을 하면 정부에게 비판을 받았습니다. 의사들은 굶주림 때문에 아사한 사람을 특별한 질병으로 죽은 것으로 보고했는데 이것이 북한정부가 사실대로 알려 진 숫자보다 왜곡하고 축소하여 보고하는 방법이었습니다.

The government was in denial. It became illegal to suggest to the visiting medical attendant that the person in question had died of hunger. That would be considered a criticism of the government. Doctors were to report that such and such person died of a particular disease. That is why North Korean figures regarding the starved of those years would be hugely less than the known facts.

 저는 원래 동해 근처에 살았었는데 북한을 남에서 북으로 가로질러 압록강을 건넜으며 5일이 걸렸습니다.

I lived by the East Sea, set out across the country, south to north, and crossed at the Yalu River. That part of the trip took five days.

 제가 북한 쪽에서 중국으로 넘어가는 국경근처는 풀도 없고 나무들도 없었는데 이는 북한 국경 수비대원이 자기들이 조용하고도 쉽게 감시할 수 있도록 고의로 만들어 놓은 것입니다. 이러한 의도 되어진 철저한 감시는 누구도 쉽게 강을 건널 수 없게 만들었습니다.

When I arrived at the crossing point, I noted that there were no trees or grass on the North Korea side. This was by design. The guards there could see quite well anything that was going on. Constantly spotlights scanned the area making it impossible for anything standing to move undetected.

What a place to interrupt the story, I know. Please be looking for your Baekjeong Weekly next time… And you will pray for “Mr. Nam”, won’t you?

Those who have trouble with miracles in our day, with manifestations from Heaven, may find this story tough going. But hers is not the only account we received of a God Who visits with His creation, and especially with His children. Can we rejoice that God is actively involved in North Korea?

Before Yu Byung Soo crossed the Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, she had never heard the name Jesus Christ.

She comes from a mining area in the far northeastern regions of North Korea. She lived there all her life, a faithful citizen, absolutely loyal to the Party, an exemplary servant of the Kim dynasty.

To her, the Kims were god. But her god of those years provides a monthly paycheck of 52 won. 52 won can get you a kilogram of corn back then. Almost.

She has few belongings, few clothes, little food. But most of those around her are living this way. She goes with them to the countryside looking for grains on which to exist. A story oft told.

But like so many, enough becomes enough eventually. With four others, Byung must make her escape. She must leave her teen-aged sons behind to fend for themselves.

Life until now is becoming nothing but breath. Her husband has already breathed his last in these mid 90’s famine-stricken Chosun.

She can never imagine how the simple crossing of the Tumen River will change her life. Only God knows, she tells us, how wretched and miserable are the people she has to leave behind.

She begins her wanderings around China. Korean-Chinese in the know inform her that her best bet is to meet a South Korean missionary. How like the Lord to be stationed where life’s hopes are dimmest, offering His beams of hope.

A man takes her to a mission house, and soon shows her a Bible. “If you read the Bible, you’ll see where the Lord Jesus says a soul is more precious than the whole world!” She hears other astounding truths, that men are to love each other, and more. She begins to wail with joy rising from the depths. All her life loyal to the Party, but never loved like this, never heard such gracious words as these!

She finds it all so hard to assimilate. How can people love each other in this way? She learns how to pray. She hears the grand stories of the Word of God. Eventually she wants to meet a God who can say things such as these. She begins intense prayer.

Because of some forged passport issues, Byung is arrested at an airport along with several others. It is during this critical moment that she meets the Lord in her heart. Christ comes in. Though by nature a light sleeper, she actually sleeps normally in jail, feels totally calm. Those who have known nervousness or fear can say already that God has worked a miracle in his servant. Word is, she actually snores in China. That takes some peace!

The others are sent back to North Korea. But not she. Connections have been made, friends have been procured. God has other plans for this lady.

She is searched by female police there who discover a bottle filled with poison. When asked by the policewoman the reason for the bottle, she lets her know that her plan was to take that poison should she be arrested. When the arrest finally comes, though, she does not even think about the bottle, and is soon in touch with her new peace-giving Friend.

The policewoman gives her three things: pity, a hug, and some milk. No, it doesn’t always happen that way, but it did this time.

Connections are  made with a pastor who is a friend of her son, who is in Seminary in China. He wants to help. A guard is paid. Seven days later, at 4 a.m., she is quickly waved out of her cell along with a Chinese-speaking fellow-prisoner.

Through what has become the NK to SK thoroughfare, thousands of miles of hard journeying through a number of countries, led by guides and forged passports and lots of money, she eventually makes it to South Korea, where she has lived peaceably for many years.

Not end of story.

To live peaceably in a foreign land is no easy task. My own stay of 5 weeks plus in South Korea so far has been most difficult. I come from a free nation and South Korea is equally free. I come from a land of plenty, a land of many churches, South Korea ditto. But home is home and it is in us and is hard to replace.

So the story of North Korean refugees must be told beyond the time when the plot is hatched and carried out. Happily ever after does not often occur on the other side of the border. Refugees are mistrusted, unwanted, ignored, often unemployable, and sadly lacking in cultural information. A most unpleasant way to live.

In Byung’s case, God Himself seems to have intervened, and for this we must pray more earnestly for others coming out.

 She has gotten into the nightly sleeping pill habit. She can not calm down. She is constantly ill.

One night she simply calls out to the God she has met in prison, “God, if you are alive I want to meet you.” Her claim is that Jesus Himself appears to her in a dream and gives her directions. She says that from the day of that dream there has been no sickness, no pills. And for the first 40 days she lives a high spiritually satisfying life.

Her life of prayer has continued. There has come over her, not just a peace, but a desire to serve others in greater need than herself. A Seminary has invited her – though she is far past what many would call “college age” – to enroll and prepare for more service to Christ.

As our interview with her proceeded she grew more and more engaged in the process, going to shelves and pulling down volume after volume of notes  she has kept through the years of her journeying and her Christian experience. Walking at first through her doorway, one would not imagine that here lives a person whose life has such vast influence and eternal significance.

By her own claim, she is “living in Heaven now.” No worries, no cares. Only wants to serve Jesus and the needy until she is called Home.

 But then, shouldn’t it always be so? Those truly valuable parts of the body  are hidden away secretly doing their service. Those surface members shine out to the public but don’t necessarily keep the body alive…

Could I ask you to pray for Byung? And could I ask us all to learn from her? 

As soon as they meet Him, they are grateful to Him for bringing them safely out of North Korea, and more importantly, out of their sin. These letters of North Koreans came to Seoul and Seoul USA by way of a worker in China…

May 17, 2009

            I thank God Who died on the cross in order to give us grace, a  grace that caused us to repent of our sins. This is a God Who treats us as a precious soul, though we are so sinful.

            I thank God that Jesus came into this earth to save earth’s people, and I am grateful too for His servants and teachers trying to save more souls, as God’s will demands.

            I am thankful to know God, and to come to this different country, even though we have a difficult life.

            In North Korea we still serve Kim Jong Il and the people are crazy about the Juche ideology. We work every day so hard but eat only two meals. And the meals are worse than pig’s food.  No clothing. And even if we are sick and dying there is no medicine, no treatment.

            This kind of life is hellish. I have so many things to say but my tears are in front of me, and I can only sigh. Still, I am really thanking God and God’s servants and teachers, because my family met the Lord and we are living in His grace and we have His love.

            My heart is torn because I met my Heavenly Father so late.

            Oh these precious servants of God! They provide the money and materials we need with God’s love. I am very thankful.

            My husband and I promise to God that we will work for Him until the end of our lives, with strong faith , ever learning His Word.

            We are praying that God’s grace will be on all the people of North Korea. We are asking that all of you pray that way too. Yes, we want reunification of the two Koreas, but we want it to be under the Gospel, not just a political unity. We want the praises of God and true prayer to spread all over the land.

            Until that day, which we truly expect to come, I will learn His ways and stand strong in the faith. 

July 3, 2009

            My name is….

            I used to live in NK, and now I live in China. I’m writing this letter of thanksgiving to those South Koreans who have treated us in such a humane way.

            When I was in North Korea, I didn’t know anything about Christianity, not the real thing. What little I heard caused me to consider it a vain and foolish idea. Who could believe in an invisible non-existent being?

            When I came to China, I went to church and heard Christians praying for the first time. I was exposed to their writings, books from Americans, from the Chinese. I read of heroic men who spread this Christian faith everywhere. I read of a powerful Holy Spirit that fills men.

            My viewpoint began to change. As I considered the nations of the earth, it seemed to me that those nations  that believe in God and those that do not are so obviously different from each other.

             I began receiving ever so much help from the teachers God sent us. Every verse helps me understand a little more. Though I personally have very little knowledge and capacity to understand what the Spirit is doing, the teacher guides me along verse by verse.

              I have now read the entire Old and New Testament, the whole Bible! In the future I want to read it again in much more detail. I want to go deeply into Christianity, because this faith is committed to the law of God. I can see that, and I desire it.

             This is especially meaningful to such a person as I have been, who did not know God all his life, did not know how to control his emotions, now one who has come to this foreign country. Such a worthless sinful person! People like us are on the margins of life.

             But God, in these teachers, treats us as precious. They take us in with a warm heart, and they nurture us.

I’d like to become a child of God, like the Christian people who have warmed our hearts.

             I read this in Pilgrim’s Progress, a poem that it seems was written just for me!

 “O world of wonders, (I can say no less,)

That I should be preserved in that distress

That I have met with here! O blessed be

That hand that from it hath delivered me!

Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,

Did compass me, while I this vale was in;

Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie

My path about, that worthless, silly I

Might have been catch’d, entangled, and cast down;

But since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”

              Lastly, I once more thank you that you showed us God’s mercy and generosity in this difficult circumstance.

 Sincerely,

Message received, brothers! Welcome to God’s family and the free world.

A refugee tells the story we’ve heard over and over again:  Desperate North Korean meets Jesus in His people.  This unnamed but very real person, whose story is only months old,  is one of the thousands whose stories must be told.

I came to China with my cousin by crossing the Tumen river. Because of the poor living conditions  in North Korea, we came here in spite of the great danger in order to find our aunt who escaped to South Korea earlier.

It was actually in North Korea that  I heard that the Christian church would help us. I found a missionary’s phone number from a friend and was able to meet with him. When I told him my story, he found someone who said that he knew my aunt. He was living in Yanji China,  and for safety reasons, the missionary sent us there by taxi. 

However, that Yanji  person did not help us.

 He said he could send my cousin to South Korea without any cost. When I asked him to send me as well to Korea with her, he said it was not possible. I became suspicious about this man and I called the missionary on the phone in secret. When I told him about the situation, the missionary said that the man could be a smuggler who sells young North Korean women. He told me to run away from that place immediately. So we looked for the right moment and ran away in the dark of the night. When we escaped that night, having nowhere to go, the missionary contacted us and arranged for someone in the area to come and pick us up. We were able to spend the night with the helper. The next day the missionary came to Yanji  and took us to Kae San Tun. We were so thankful to him: he  put himself in great danger for us.

During my stay here, I came to learn about what “church” is and what God is like. Within such a short amount of time, I cannot say that I know much about any of this, but I will say that even though I was not able to meet my aunt,  I am so happy that I came to know God and met him in my heart.

The church is just the opposite of  what I was  told by the communists in North Korea. Christians have been so kind to us. How can we express our gratitude well enough!

They gave us some money,  with many medicines,  and about 40 MP3 players. They also prepared enough food for us. This is just unimaginable in North Korea. We are especially grateful to the Kims who were so kind to us. When we return to North Korea we are planning on spreading the gospel when we have the opportunity. I want to tell the others about the love that I have received.

This trip is so full of unforgettable memories and I give thanks to God for his love.

                                                                                                                                4. 2. 2009.

Un-named but not unknown, this pilgrim and all like him deserve our prayers.

I am a South Korean citizen, but I am from North Korea. I was arrested along with my husband for  helping North Korean  refugees. 

There were eight of them. Seven adults and one child. Among those eight was a woman who had been sent back to North Korea before, was arrested and imprisoned,  but who had escaped the camp and come back to China. Now she will be arrested again. 

There was a woman in her twenties and yes, that eight-year-old child. A group desperate  for hope and freedom, willing to take a chance for a new life. This is a story often told in North Korea, and I tell you my own version of it.

 We started our trek westward  in the winter of  2009. We  passed through major Chinese cities, and came to a bordering country  in a couple of weeks. We traveled through this country via  train to go to yet another nation. 

Meanwhile, my husband, who like myself has a Korean passport,  was supposed to come through  customs with no problem from the other side of the border. He was to bring my group on to the next destination.  I thought we would meet him within an hour. Two hours later he was still not there. I called by cell phone to try to contact him. But it was dead. I realized something was not in order.

 We found later that he had been arrested in customs after the names and passports of all the refugees were found in his bag. One nation’s police called the other nation’s police, and we too were exposed. 

I bought ten tickets to the next destination, and  told all the travelers, “Something has gone wrong, take these tickets, get on board, scatter,  hide yourself. Don’t sit in the assigned seats!” 

I decided on a train rather than a taxi, where all might be caught at one time. At least, with a train some would  have a chance to run. But though I had told them to  spread out, they were so shocked by what was happening that they all sat in their assigned seats!  

I myself did not get on the train for the sake of the North Koreans’ safety. Later, several police found me.  

“Where are those people who were with you?”  

“ I don’t know.”  

But as soon as I said that, they hurried to the train and caught six of them, forcing them to de-board. Because authorities already had checked our seat assignments at the ticket booth, the two  refugees  not caught were the ones that did not sit in their own seat. They were hiding in the bathroom. Those two escaped altogether, and went to a South Korea embassy in a neighboring land. 

But the other six and I were brought by police back to the first country where we had arrived. 

Now, I know that even though I was a foreigner in the land in which I was arrested, if I break a country’s law I am supposed to pay the penalty. I was ready for that. But I  couldn’t comprehend why we were now being made subject to another country’s law instead of the one where we were caught.

The two nations were working together to bring this about. 

We were all lined up, and escorted by the new police, carrying machine guns , and we were  then taken by them into prison. I could not sleep all night. I wasn’t just nervous, I was being constantly interrogated. The interrogators acted as though they had caught some international spy group. They made a big deal of it for several nights of questioning. 

This is the fate of North Korean people in this land, where  we receive worse treatment than animals, just as though we were in North Korea. 

During the process of questioning I  knelt to my questioners and begged them, “Please do not send these people back to North Korea. It is all my fault.” 

 But they said, “What’s that to you or us? We  have an agreement with North Korea, we will have to send them back. We have nothing to do with whether they live or die, and   we really don’t care.” 

At that time I was four  months pregnant. Endangering the life of my child, I did not sleep  for several days because of the intense questioning. At one point I even fainted. They thought I was faking it and began to scream at me. When I awakened I was in an office. My lips were dry and chapped, my face was pale.

I heard someone say, “Better be careful, we are going to kill her.”  They took me into an office to give me some basic  medical treatment. 

My spirit revived  and I tried to talk sense to the authorities. “Look, if North Korea were economically sound and had a measure of  freedom like in here or in South Korea, would North Korean  refugees come here, leave their own country, and  face dangers like this? If these people go back to North Korea they will die! Please don’t send them back, even if they have to stay in this prison for several years. 

I told you there was an eight-year-old girl among us. The Chinese police gave her candy and  delicious food. Carefully they asked her where  and how did you meet these people? She exposed everything. 

The  police suggested to me the next day, that there was only one way to stay out of  prison. “Bring money, and you will be free.” These out of court settlements, quite  common, were negotiated with me because I am a South Korean citizen. The six North Korean prisoners received no such offers. They were sent back to North Korea and their fate is unknown to this day. 

“How much?” I asked. 

“100,000 yuan ($19,000) will free you and your husband.”   

I borrowed a phone and  explained to a friend our situation. He got the money and gave it to them. But after it was  received, they only released her, and demanded  $30,000 more. 

Shortly after my release, I lost my baby. And I didn’t know that since I was pregnant I didn’t even have to go to prison. They were just using me  her to get money. 

My husband stayed in prison. I was speechless, defenseless. And I was expelled from the country after this. 

My husband got no trial. His imprisonment has been the darkest time in my life. All my money is lost. My heart aches constantly, even now, thinking of those six people. I can hardly sleep. I did everything I could  to stop refugees from going to North Korea, and to free my  husband,  but the  police took the money and kept my husband.

There is no justice in this. There is no humanity in this. There is no conscience in this. I hope the South Korean government will aggressively take care of this ongoing defector matter. Perhaps quiet diplomacy is not going to solve this problem.

Oh yes, I talked to my husband last week…for ten minutes. 

We can believe that the big-hearted gesture of those who allowed this conversation had more to do with continued greed than Christian charity. The struggle with this good  woman continues. It is given to us, the Body of Christ, to struggle with and for her. Will  you join this struggle? 

Imagine four generations of Christians in one North Korean home!

My great grandfather was a believer who paid for his faith in a much earlier Korea. He was arrested. I do not know all the details, but he did pass on the faith to his children… 

My grandparents on my father’s side lived under the harsh days of the Japanese occupation, in Pyongyang. Grandpa died early, but his wife, who knew the Lord, passed that knowledge on to her six children. Yes, times were tough, but it was still legal to share Christian faith with your children.

After the Japanese left and the Communists took over, she continued to tell them Bible stories, albeit secretly. She actually had a worship service in her home: Herself, another relative, and of course the six children. A fairly large congregation compared to North Korean groups today.

On my mother’s side, my grandfather, also a Pyongyang resident, was asked to do something on his job that he could not conscientiously do, so his job was taken and he was sent to the northeastern province of Hamgyong Bukto, the very place where my paternal grandfather now lived.

The message the children received was, “Don’t believe in Kim Jong Il & Kim Il Sung, only believe in God, because one day if you believe, you will go to Heaven.”

My father was a “made to order” tailor, visited often by customers who came to our house for measuring. It was relatively easy to have worship gatherings under the guise of   customer service. “Buyers” would come on Saturday, sleep over, and  have Sunday worship the next day.

Now, under Kim Il Sung, North Koreans could go to China with a one to three month visa. It so happened that my aunt’s mother-in-law actually lived in China. She attended a church there, whose pastor was ethnic Korean. The strange message came to that church  that in North Korea there really were Christians, a fact not widely known then, so she and the pastor’s wife came to visit our house.

Aunt and “somanim” stayed for about a month, then went back to China. Later, the Pastor came over with the aunt. His reaction,  Ah!  So there really are Christians here! He was so delighted.

He had heard from his wife about a huge collection of large individual sheets of paper, upon which had been laboriously copied the Holy Scriptures. That was the family Bible, and when necessity demanded, it could be very hard to hide . He was very touched by all  this, and brought with him a Bible. A small Bible.

When my father was caught later, that Bible was found.  Yes, he and the other several worshipers were arrested in the mid 1990’s.  Unbeknown to all, his customers, the real and the worshiping kind,  had been recorded by means of a microphone planted in the house.  Beyond that, it seemed strange to the secret police that certain people had tailoring needs at the same time every week. 

Grandmother passed away two weeks later, from the trauma of it all. 

Then it was that we found that that Korean-Chinese Pastor was looking for us. It happened in this way:

Some North Korean refugees came to his church in China. Kim Il Sung had died. The situation in North Korea was deteriorating. 

“We came here because we are hungry,” they said.

 “Where are you from?” he asked.

They answered, and the Pastor gave the refugees some money, with the instruction, “I know some people in that city. Do you know this family? I heard that a bunch of people got arrested for spying. If you see them, have them contact me.”  

Some of the refugees came to stay. But when he found people who were going back, he sent them to her house, with a cell phone and the invitation to call. When they showed up at my house, I denied any knowledge of the Pastor, and also denied that I needed any assistance. I did not want to implicate myself  in any way. My  area was under surveillance constantly. I thought these people were spies.

But this happened several times. The Pastor kept sending the same person my way. Finally, with nothing to lose, I admitted, “We are the ones you are seeking.” I took  the cell phone and headed for the  top of a mountain, because the signal does not work any lower, and a phone meeting took place. I was told that there were a lot of people who are going to die of hunger in North Korea. Come to China. The Pastor told me  that because I was  young I had  a great opportunity to be educated and used.

And so my sister and I did indeed leave for that land, with Mom’s blessing. We stayed in the pastor’s house three months and then headed for South Korea, via the typical long route that people use. Then later, my mother and brother came also.

 But my sister, well, we don’t know. When crossing the Mongolia border, she was caught and sent back to North Korea.  I had waited  for my mom and  brother three years. I was hoping my sister would come along with them. But she didn’t. And my dad too has been out of our lives since that tragic day many years ago.

The story ends abruptly. No happy ending. Though happier than some, I imagine. She  still has some family around her. And she glows with the Lord Who is in her. She will  make it. But it will not be easy. Your prayers will make a big difference in her life.

Here’s another prayer project for you.

 

A missionary who works in China along the North Korean border was in the same Seoul office out of which I was working for a couple of weeks recently. We talked a lot about the situation there and he was eager to pass on stories and letters from people on the other side. I was eager to receive them. This one was especially meaningful to me. Please recall that this note is from a real person. And that the story is only weeks old. The nightmare known as North Korea continues on unabated and so much demands our prayers!

 

I lived as a wanderer in North Korea. Living like this was sometimes fun but other times it was sad. My dad and mom died when I was 8 or 9 years old. My sister and I had to live as “flower swallows”. The North Korean term sounds like kotjebi in English. It’s a colorful word but only means street orphans. We were named after birds because of the way we flit from place to place looking for food and shelter.

Without a house to stay during the winter season, we had to find lodging in the apartment alleyways, train stations, bus stations or on the streets. In order to survive we had to steal from other people’s houses things like shoes, clothing, and whatever else we thought necessary to sustain life.

At the market, I used to pick pockets or tried to steal from food stands. It was fun at times but it wasn’t too fun when I was beaten by those from whom I stole.

An 18- year old boy that I used to hang out with was beaten with a rifle by one of the security guards. What happened was that this older boy stole three kilograms of pork. He was caught. After the beating, he had to crawl for about a month. My sister and I now went to the market and stole food for this temporarily crippled boy .

Living like this was bitterly sad because of the hunger, but also because of the pain that comes from having no parents. When we heard people describe us as flower swallows we so longed for our parents. And when people described us as dogs and pigs, well, can anyone imagine this degradation?

I did not know the whole truth about China. In North Korea, I heard rumors that the Chinese sell North Korean people as slaves and they also might even cut off one’s hands and feet. Because of these rumors I didn’t dare go to China.

At least for awhile. Desperation changes people’s minds about a lot of things. After a while, I found myself in the place I said I would never go. In China, I found so much food! From then on, I went across to China almost every day, just as if I were visiting the next door neighbor. Whenever I was hungry, I asked my friends to go over with me.

During early winter, the river freezes slightly and to cross safely, we all grab hands as we walk over the thin ice. Walking on the Chinese territory with bare feet was so awful that I actually lost my toes due to frostbite.

Last November, five of us boys planned to spend the winter in China. After my birthday, we went to an old couple’s house in Jang Baek. They were like grandparents to me. I heard about church before but I never heard about God. From there, I came to know God and learned that He looks after even people like kotjebi.

I like much better hearing that the God of all cares about me, than that I am some animal or bird.

We have received love beyond our imagination. It is hard to believe that we are actually now living in China away from North Korea. The fact that we can live and hide here is unbelievable.

Above all I am happy and honored that I came to know the Lord. And I am equally grateful that other NK exiles have accepted the Lord Jesus too!

I am very happy that God helped me to know about the kingdom of heaven by bringing me to the church of Jesus Christ, out of North Korea where people serve Kim Jung Il and Kim Il Sung. When I grow up I want to be a servant of God and be his lamb. I will live like Isaac in the Bible.

I am now hoping for a lot of things I could not hope for in my own country:

1. I want to attend school.

2. I want to go into business, and use that as my cover for traveling back and forth from China to North Korea. While I am there I want to help build a huge church for Jesus.

3. I want to know the Bible well.

4. I want to be able to speak Chinese and English.

5. I want to have a permit to stay in China so I can move around freely.

Maybe there are people who can help me. Surely you can pray.

Father God, I thank you. By the help of many people, You have brought me from place to place safely. You have allowed many NK exiles to live a happy life. Thank You for your grace, Lord. Please lead me so that I can go to NK in the future and spread Your Word well. And also bless many grown ups who have helped me. I hope they will enjoy good health and that You will bless their steps. Thank you Lord and I pray in the name of Jesus who saved us from our sin. Amen.

Thank you friend. Brother in Jesus. We’re with you.

Thirty plus years ago a 10-year-old boy entered a North Korean labor camp with his family. He lived to tell about it, the first story of its kind: The Aquariums of Pyongyang, by Kang Chol-Hwan.

 There’s probably not a serious North Korea watcher who has not read  Aquariums  In a now-rare public appearance, Mr. Kang addressed a team sent by SeoulUSA to Korea in the summer of 2009. For those who have wondered what happens to refugees once they have their dramatic escape, this talk was an eye-opener.

 Kang Chol Hwan is doing his best to live a normal life. Can anyone imagine how abnormal his life was, by any standard the world over, living in a labor camp in North Korea?

 Once settled in South Korea, he graduated from Hamyang University. After all, study in prison was limited to survival tactics and knowledge about the Kim dynasty, not far removed from the education afforded the entire nation.

 He was then employed by the Korea Electric Company for three years. He is working now, and has been for nine years, as a reporter for Chosun Ilbo, the well-known Korean daily newspaper.

 Nevertheless, he has not completely severed his ties with the sorrowful past of his life. He is a well-respected member of the North Korean Democratic Movement. The Council of Five upon which he sits includes men like Voice of Freedom’s Kim Seung Min and Juche architect Hwang Jang Yop.

Later editions of his book trace his journey to faith in Christ after his experiences. For the last fifteen years he has attended a  Baptist church in Yeoido. For those who may remember, this is the church Jimmy Carter visited on a diplomatic trip to Korea.

 Kang continues to grow in his understandings of faith, and life itself. He came to South Korea with what he describes as a “messed-up mental state.” He left family in the North when he departed. The sons of North Korea are all given a legacy of misery and emotional chaos.

 As he pointed out, in a democratic country, there are many choices that determine one’s fate.  In an un-liberated nation, the choices are already made. That puts a lot of responsibility on the free.

 Taking his responsibility seriously, he –as he says – “accidentally” went to a church at one point in his searchings, but deliberately got on the right path when the message he heard captivated him.

 In 2005, the George W. Bush White House, invited him for a 40-minute private session, where he was able to tell his story, and offer a copy of it to the leader of the free world.  Such honor. From such misery. He gives God the  glory for this incident, one which deeply affected the President as well. It was such testimony as Kang’s that helped Mr. Bush properly to discern the character of this rogue nation and its rogue leader.

 Does Kang desire democracy for North Korea? Absolutely! But without hesitating he will tell you that he wants the Gospel to go there even more! Kang claims – and the claim is not without contest in some quarters – that North Koreans are finished with Juche, that is the political philosophy of the Kim dynasty, and further that North Korea will fall soon.

 Most would agree that at least inwardly, a multitude of North Koreans have soured on this evil regime, and that eventually it will end. If Kang has spoken in an extreme manner only out of a consuming hatred for what he has seen, who can blame him?

 But even so, he says, we need a plan. We are not ready now to evangelize or disciple properly the masses of citizens that would be set free in a total failure of the government.

 The people of North Korea  need to know the right path of life or they won’t know what to do when everything dissolves, he affirms. They simply cannot adjust without the Light that comes from knowing the Lord.

 He should know. Seventeen years ago he came to South Korea, uneducated and without a clue. Well, he had one clue. It was faith in Christ. And through that faith he has been able to progress.

 He documents many who came over at about the same time, bright, strong, but faithless. They fell apart in this new world.

So faith must get to North Korea before North Koreans come South in an avalanche. But the Book that contains that faith is a sure way to get more Koreans killed. If one is caught with a Bible he can be  killed instantly or at least sent  to prison.

 So Kang suggests that  broadcasting is the best way to give the Word to North Korea. In keeping with this he has been given 1000 radios by Far East Broadcasting Corporation for distribution in North Korea. He delineates at least  three methods of media distribution, which I must leave to your vivid imagination.

 Kang believes that  Kim Jong Il is afraid. He will not change, but his people can. Hearing over and over the truth via the media that has been the pathway of lies is the salvation of this country.

 Even the United States State Department is supporting these projects. For this reason, among others, he is regularly followed by the Korean CIA. These are serious matters. Kang says that being a Christian is a more severe crime than espionage. Put the two together, though, as NK leaders do for some reason, and you have a target that the NK government eyes regularly.

 Though he continues to desire the normal life that every man seeks, Kang Chol Hwan has been touched forever by two dynamic forces: the darkness of the Kim Jong Il Empire, and the Light of the Kingdom of God. These things war in him daily, and in that sense, for the Christian, he has entered into a sort of normalcy after all.

 Will you pray for your brother Kang today, and often?

We conclude today the fascinating story of “Mrs. Kim” and her North Korean family, in hopes again that you will consider extended periods of prayer for her as she lives today in Seoul.

Her first daughter, it turns out,  went to China and a trafficker sold her. She had to decide to go back to Pyongyang or go to China and look for her. She decided to go to China. Over the Tumen River border.

 But while crossing, her hands slipped. Her daughter was somehow lost in the middle of the river. She cried out to whatever God there might be, Help Me! Struggling for awhile, they hit rocks on the China side of the bank. With some first aid, all arrived safe, She decided to continue asking God for help.

 She went  into the village with her daughter. Someone threw them a blanket. It was October and already cold. The food offered her was very hard for her to eat. She told whomever would listen that she came here  to find her daughter.

 She gave out names. But her daughter could not be found with just a name, as there were so many traffickers, and so many victims. What could she do? She put an advertisement out.

 Even the person she had been  talking to was a trafficker. He offered her a  job as a housekeeper. Five North Korean women were there in the same house. The owner there was selling women.

 Next she witnessed violence there during her stay. One young girl was violated. She realized she has to move on, quickly. But when she went to the  market and came  back home, her second daughter had disappeared. Then they lied to her, saying she was looking for her mother and simply left the house.                                                                                     

After a serious argument, she left,  wandering around looking for her daughter, who was only 16 and very  helpless. Everytime she saw someone looking like her, she thought it was her.

Since she had no place to stay now, she met a young girl, a citizen of the area, asked where she was from, told her she had no place to stay and asked for asylum. The girl agreed. She stayed there three days, began to relax,  and  came  to her senses.

 How can I find my daughter?  There is a neighbor who now visited, heard of the situation, and offered to solve it. He is Chinese-Korean. He offered marriage, with the promise that as her husband he would find the two missing daughters.

 People listening to the proposal encouraged her to take it. She must do anything to find her daughter. She went ahead with the marital arrangement. Her new husband  went to a house he knew of, and immediately began to threaten the owner.

 This brought out some truth, but still the connection was not made. Three months later, there was communication back from her daughter. Daughter had been sold to a twenty-some  year old man. But by this time she was nearly crazy and wanted to go home. No one could tame her, so they left her at his grandmother’s house. The new husband tok money there to buy her back.

 Now, some Chinese people buy North Korean  women married to Korean-Chinese, and sell them to Mongolians in need of this commodity. In fact this is what had happened to daughter number two.

 She had been  threatened, “If you scream, I will kill you.”  She resisted, and tried to fight. Next door, police were called, an arrest was made, and all who belonged there were sent back to North Korea. Even Mom, who managed to get to the scene of all this madness. But  Mom escaped from North Korea three days later.

 Mrs. Kim went back to her new husband, and the second daughter escaped only  a few months later. Then, kidnapped again! This time traffickers tried to sell her to Inner Mongolia, but they were all arrested by Chinese police, and sent to North Korea yet again!

 She went to a North Korean prison. Once more an escape. She walked across the country to where her sister lived. Back to the Tumen River. Moved out of border area to a somewhat safer area in China. She advertised in a magazine that so and so mom  is looking for daughter so and so. One year later, the match is made again. She has found her first daughter.

 Then she heard news that her son had arrived from North Korea, and he actually crossed over in another year. All children found, she decided to come to South Korea via the  long route of thousands of miles that so many have taken.

 It was in Cambodia, Mrs. Kim began seriously reading her  Bible. She wants to learn more about the Lord. And though she had some bad incidents in the South Korean church, she started coming to the Underground University,  met up with others of like values and backgrounds, and her life has taken off from there. Her daughter came to Christ in China.

 People want to know what happened to that first husband: The food ran out. He could not eat. He could not work. He was sent to a reeducation center. He starved to death in one year. Her son was a kotjebi for six years.  Her second husband was affliliated with the gangs of North Korea and could not be considered the father of her children. He had agendas of his own.

 Her future? She definitely wants to go back to North Korea when it opens.

 Mrs. Kim’s story has been heard by the U.S. Senate hearing, it is well known.

 But it is an unfinished tale. Though she appears bright and cheerful, and Christ is making His mark on her life, won’t you take some time to pray for all the scars left by this horrid life to be healed? Some memories take a long time to heal.