Week after week Pastor Foley and I write about our amazing Underground University (UU) and Underground Technology (UT) students. These North Korean defectors are truly role models that all of us should emulate! Underground Technology is our 6 month personal discipleship school for North Korean defectors who are new to the Christian faith or who are interested in learning more about Jesus Christ. We are always amazed to see these men and women, not only growing in their own faith, but also encouraging their friends and family (back in NK) to accept Christ into their lives!
After our UT students graduate, many of them decide to join UU. This is a huge step of faith for most of our students because the commitment required for UU is much greater. UU is essentially a 2 year program now, with intensive studies, a sizable short-term missionary commitment and a requirement to serve as an intern for a year. And all of this is with a goal to commit one’s life to serving as a missionary!
But yet, many of our UT and UU students suffer from depression related to the torture they endured in North Korea, the family members they left behind in NK and general loneliness in South Korea. Don’t get me wrong, these men and women are fully dedicated to God, but their past experiences still haunt them on a day to day basis. And to add injury to insult, they are often ignored or pitied by SK society rather than being viewed as worthwhile and able to contribute.
The bottom line is that these men and women have some amazing things to contribute to the Kingdom of God, but they need some encouragement along the way! Even though you and I are far away, God can use us to encourage these precious saints of God! One of the ways we can do that is by sending them encouraging cards and notes. Here are some instructions . . .
- Please include a picture of yourself – the students love to see who is praying for them!
- Please include a Scripture verse for them. This is best kind of encouragement and the students love learning new Scriptures passages!
- Please include a sentence of two of your own encouraging words. If the contents of your card are too long, the translation will take too long for our volunteers to translate.
- Please mail the card to our US office. Pastor Foley and I will be happy to hand deliver your card of encouragement on one of our upcoming trips! Please mail it to:
Seoul USA, 14960 Woodcarver Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80921
Sending a card of encouragement is a simple, yet powerful way to share the love of God with these men and women who are called and equipped to bring the Gospel to quite possibly the most oppressive regime on the face of the earth!
Do the Word 