God Loves North Korea

On November 16, 2010 at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism in Cape Town, South Africa an 18 year old young woman shared her remarkable testimony.

Her father was assistant to Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator.  As so often happens in North Korea their favored position in society dramatically switched and her father was politically persecuted.  In desperation her father and mother and she fled to China.

In China a relative brought them to church.  Soon her parents became believers.  However a few months later her pregnant mother died of leukemia.  Later her father was arrested by Chinese police and repatriated to North Korea where he was in prison for three years.

After his prison term her father fled to China again and was briefly reunited with his daughter.  He then gathered Bibles and returned to North Korea as a missionary instead of going to South Korea.  He was discovered and arrested in 2006.  “In all probability he has been shot to death in public.”

In 2007 this young woman got the opportunity to go to South Korea.  While waiting at the Korean Consulate in Beijing she saw Jesus in a dream who asked her “How much longer are you going to keep me waiting?”  That night she gave her life to Jesus.

She ended her testimony by asking us, the church, for help.

I believe God’s heart cries out for the lost people of North Korea. I humbly ask you, my brothers and sisters, to have the same heart of God. Please pray that the same light of God’s grace and mercy that reached my father and my mother and now me will one day come down upon the people of North Korea… my people

There are thousands of testimonies like hers coming out of North Korea pleading for our help.  And not just from North Korea but from all over the world.  These North Koreans believe God loves North Korea.  But do we believe it?  And if so how do we show it?

At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. 2 Corinthians 8:14 NIV

Historically there has never been such a great difference between those that have plenty and those that have need.  This Christmas Barnabas Trading and World Vision have provided a simple way to help.  For $10 you can buy a pair of boots for Mongolian children who may have been physically abused, disabled or living in extreme poverty.  These boots are made in North Korea at a factory started by missionaries including one who recently spoke to many people here in the Bay Area.  I can witness to this missionary’s love for the North Korean people.

There are many other ways to love North Korea.  Read about North Korea in the news and on blogs and in books like Escaping North Korea by Mike Kim.  Or watch documentaries like Seoul Train or Crossing Heaven’s Border.  Or donate to groups like Helping Hands Korea, Crossing Borders NK, PSALT NK or LiNK.

If you find yourself saying at the end of this presentation “But I don’t have a heart for North Korea.” my response is “That’s okay!  Just let God lead you.  It’s Christmas.”