What Is The Bible? Here’s How We Explain It In Our New North Korean/English Parallel Version

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Pastor Foley

Logo 071414North Koreans have no concepts of a spiritual world, of sin and forgiveness, of prayer, or of a transcendent, eternal deity. (Even when Kim Il Sung is worshiped, he is not mistaken for a transcendent, eternal deity but rather is revered Confucian-style as the great ancestor of the North Korean people.)

So as we are preparing our two new Bibles for publication–one, a North Korean study Bible and the other, a North Korean/English Parallel study Bible–we experienced again the same great challenge we experience each time we publish a North Korean Bible: How to describe the Bible in a single page, in a way they can understand, in a way that says everything that needs to be said.

Here’s what Dr. Foley and I wrote. We used the Nicene Creed as our guide for “everything that needs to be said,” and we used our experience with North Koreans, coupled with a whole lot of prayer, to write in a way they can understand.

Greetings to the Reader.

This book is the most widely read book in history. It has been read by people in every country of the world. It is loved by billions of people because it tells the good news about the one true God, who is a good and loving and all powerful God who rules over the whole universe.

This news did not originate in Korea or America or in any country on earth, though it has been announced in every country and is being sent to all people. As you will read in the beginning of this book, God created the heavens and the earth. He remains active in every country on earth to this day, including North Korea. He creates each one of us in love, including you. Because of his love, he is even now setting right every wrong that has been committed by every human being, including us.

As you will also read in the book, he has accomplished this by being born on earth as a man even while he continued to rule from heaven. This man, Jesus Christ, showed us the way to God and how we should live our lives. He was rejected by those to whom he came, and they killed him. But he was raised from the dead, forgave those who turned against him, and ascended into heaven. He will soon return to end history. He will rescue those who trust him but also punish those who have rejected his forgiveness. Until his return, his spirit is present with us on earth, willing to live inside all of us who will receive him in order to guide us back to God.

This book will tell you the good news of how to invite the one true God to live inside you so that you may be made ready for his soon return. Just as Jesus Christ died and was raised again, those in whom God’s spirit lives will also be raised from the dead and given power to overcome evil. Please read this book to learn how.

The proof of God’s love is that he has used all of the circumstances of your life to bring you to the point where you now hold this good news in your own hands, in your own language. We encourage you not to set aside this book. The purpose and destiny of your life, as well as the meaning of everything you have so far experienced, is contained within.

Warmly in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Eric Foley and Dr. Hyun Sook Foley

 

Now, turn yourself to this task: What would you write if you were printing a Bible and sending it to North Koreans?

If you’re interested in learning more about our new North Korean/English Parallel Bible or our North Korean study Bible, please contact Pastor Tim at [email protected].

Posted in North Korea, Proclaiming The Gospel, Searching the Scriptures | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Rev. Richard Wurmbrand Taught Us That Doing The Word Is Both Necessary And Dangerous

Posted on April 16, 2015 by tdillmuth

in gods underground 2After being released from prison after serving eight-and-a-half years of a twenty year sentence, Rev. Richard Wurmbrand was ready for some rest and relaxation.  He said,

Now that I was free, I longed in the depths of my heart for quietness and rest.  But communism was working everywhere to complete the destruction of the Church.  The peace I desired would have been an escape from reality and dangerous for my soul (In God’s Underground, 189).

Soon after Wurmbrand was released, he went to see Patriarch Justinian Marina to plead the case of his friends that were still imprisoned.  This meeting was particularly dangerous because the patriarch had already proven to be quite damaging to the true church.  This meeting, along with his refusal to stop preaching, caused the communist officials to re-arrest him on January 15, 1959.    Shortly before his arrest Wurmbrand prayed,

God, if you know men in prison whom I can help, souls that I can save, send me back and will bear it willingly (In God’s Underground, 197).

What strikes me as simply amazing is that fact that Wurmbrand was not content to hide away in his attic apartment.  He wasn’t content to take an extended vacation.  He wasn’t content to work a simple job and make a quiet living. What things are we often content with?

  • Taking vacations
  • Relaxing in front of the computer or TV
  • Taking walks at the park
  • Mowing the grass on a Saturday afternoon
  • Playing board games
  • Attend the 1.5 hour church service every Sunday
  • Working hard at my 40-50 hour per week job

The things in the above list aren’t even remotely sinful.  They aren’t bad at all.  But they are things that we find fulfillment with–and that’s the problem.  We tend to be content with working hard and playing hard.

But if Rev. Richard Wurmbrand were to look at this list he would surely notice something was missing. I believe that he would notice that there is a lack of “doing God’s word” in this list.  The Bible says that if we live our lives without a healthy dose of “doing God’s word,” than we are foolish.  And yet, it was Wurmbrand’s doing (preaching and meeting with the patriarch) that sent him back to jail . . . something worldly people would surely call foolish.

When we “do the word,” the Bible promises that persecution is sure to follow.  Simply put, there is really no safe way to obey Jesus.  Wurmbrand was willing to be called a fool in the world’s eyes.  He was unwilling to rest and relax when confronted with worldly evils.  He was willing to do the word and face the inevitable result of being sent back to prison.

Wurmbrand’s legacy is not simply for us to remember how great of a man he was.  Wurmbrand’s legacy is that we are now inspired to not be content with our lives the way they are.  His legacy is that we “do the word” despite the consequences and with full knowledge that persecution will follow.

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Send a Personal Message Of Christ’s Love To Over 2 Million North Koreans

Posted on April 10, 2015 by tdillmuth

2015-03-06 18-150-0062 TVOM Broadcast_recording 09Would you like to send a personal message of God’s love to over 2 million North Koreans? 

My wife and I recently had the opportunity to do that at the recording studio in our South Korean office. VOM Korea provides North Korean Christians with one of the strongest (200kW) shortwave radio signals into North Korea for 90 minutes every night, reaching an estimated 2 million listeners according to independent surveys.

Our 90 minute broadcasts normally revolve around a central theme such as sin, creation or the names of God.  They contain simple and clear teaching on the Bible but in a conversational style with both South Koreans and North Koreans participating.  Throughout the broadcast we play songs from our North Korean hymnal that relates to the particular subject.

We also add short radio greetings from Christians all around the world.  This is particularly important because North Koreans have been taught that Westerners hate them and that Christian missionaries like to “eat the guts” of North Koreans.  In fact, only a few months ago, I had a recent defector come up to me and declare that he was trained to shoot people like me!

A short audio greeting from Christians in the West goes a long way in helping NKs question what the Kim regime has taught them since birth.  And even more important, it plants the seed of God’s love in their heart.

The radio broadcast team at VOM Korea, would like to welcome you to send us a short audio clip of your greetings and of God’s love!

We can’t promise that we’ll use every one, but I pledge to personally listen to whatever you send. Before you record your own greeting and send it to me, listen to the other greetings below.

Listen to Susana’s Greeting.

Listen to Colin’s Greeting.

Listen to Alexander’s Greeting.

You’ll notice that the greetings are very short and very simple.  Please don’t talk about any topics that are too theologically deep such as atonement, propitiation, soteriology, or the Trinity.  Even something as simple as “prayer” can be misunderstood in North Korea. We never water down the gospel message, but we make sure to unpack Scripture in an understandable way during the 90-minute broadcast.

Please send your short recordings to me at [email protected].  If your particular recording is too large to send via e-mail, please use www.wetransfer.com – it is very simple and reliable. With each recording, make sure to spend ample time praying that God would use this simple recording to remind North Korean of God’s love and care for them . . . expressed through your voice!

Posted in Announcements, North Korea, Podcast | Tagged , , | Leave a comment