How To Go From One Great Leader in NK To Many NK Leaders Who Are Truly Great

Posted on December 11, 2014 by tdillmuth

Logo 071414Pastor Tim – This past Saturday, four of our North Korean Underground University students graduated.  This means that we are now sending them out to different ministry roles wherever North Koreans are found.

Much of our UU training has to do with scriptural and theological training, but we also teach a year-long course on leadership as part of the curriculum.  We firmly believe that in order for our UU students to be successful missionaries, it’s essential that they understand how to be Christ-like leaders.

With the wealth of leadership resources that we have in the US, it may be hard to understand just how incredibly rare biblical leadership training is to the North Korean defector.  In North Korea, everyone knows there is only one leader –Kim Il Sung.  He is North Korea’s “eternal president,” making North Korea the only necrocracy (country ruled by a dead man) in the world.

This law of “only one leader” spills over into every household, as every residence in North Korea is required to have spotless portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the best wall. Every child considers Kim Il Sung to be their true father, above and beyond their biological father.

Dr. Foley, President of Voice of the Martyrs Korea wrote in her article, From One “Great Leader” to Many Leaders Who Are Truly Great,

As “Suryong,” or Great Leader, Kim, Jong-Il is the one mind of North Korea.  The role of everyone else is to obey. One consequence of this philosophy is that leadership involving
independent thought is equivalent to disloyalty. North Koreans are trained not to be leaders (pg. 25).

Often because of this lack of training, many North Korean defectors tend to use shouting, self-defense, and accusations as leadership strategies.  I even remember a former UU student, when faced with a conflict in South Korea, saying, “Either you die or I die!”

That’s why we became convinced of the need for leadership training, and why years ago we worked with John Maxwell and Equip to adapt their leadership training specifically for North Korean defectors.  Throughout the course of the year, UU students learn that leadership is something God designed for us since the beginning.  Genesis 1:26 says,

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God intended our leadership to be directed not only toward the earth and its creatures but people as well. Matthew 5:16 says,

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The first part of the year focuses on character development, and then the class moves on to nuts and bolts issues like how Christian leaders are to work with people, manage conflict, build teams, and maintain healthy communication.

We’ve found these classes not only personally enriching for the students but also professionally indispensable as they get ready to minister in places like Russia, China, Mongolia and Thailand.  They are surprised to learn that leadership is not simply something that a few are born with but rather a skill that can be learned and developed over time.  In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell says,

Although it’s true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved (pg. 25).

Although you may not be able to physically join us in our Underground University classes, you can participate in training similar to what our NK missionary trainees receive. Periodically there are training events hosted by John Maxwell and Equip that teach the same powerful, helpful, practical, biblical material that we are teaching our NK students.

Just as North Koreans need leadership training, we too, regardless of our nationality, need take the time and make the effort to grow in the spheres of leadership in which God has placed us.

Posted in North Korea, Reigning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

What Is The Relationship Between God And Government When It Comes To Protecting Persecuted Christians?

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Pastor Foley

Logo 071414Writes R.C. Sproul, “Most Christians salute the sovereignty of God, but believe in the sovereignty of man.”

That’s the quote that keeps coming to my mind as I think about the ways we Christians are tempted to construe the relationship between God and government when it comes to protecting Christians and the free exercise of their faith. “Governments are God’s chosen instruments to protect religious freedom” is a formulation frequently employed. It’s a formulation that fits well in a worldview where human beings and governments are the primary actors and God, while ultimately active in such matters, is indirectly actively (often through Christians as his “hands and feet.” And voice). Which is why (so the logic goes) we need to appeal to governments (specifically, Western liberal democracies) to intervene to protect Christians.

Archbishop Athanasios Dawood, an Iraqi Christian who is based in the UK, was certainly eerily accurate when in 2010 he predicted (during a service at the Syrian Orthodox Church in London) “If they [Iraqi Christians] stay [in Iraq] they will be finished one by one.” But was he correct in his assessment that governments needed to be the primary and direct protectors of our brothers and sisters in Iraq?

“The Christians are weak – they don’t have militia, they don’t have a (political) party,” he said.

“You know, everybody hates the Christian. Yes, during Saddam Hussein, we were living in peace – nobody attacked us. We had human rights, we had protection from the government but now nobody protects us.”

He accused the US of not delivering on its promises of democracy and human rights.

“Since 2003, there has been no protection for Christians. We’ve lost many people and they’ve bombed our homes, our churches, monasteries,” he said.

“Why are we living now in this country, after we had a promise from America to bring us freedom, democracy?”

The archbishop called on the UK government to grant Christian Iraqis asylum, and called on the Iraqi government to protect Christians from militant attacks.

“Before they killed one, one, one but now, tens, tens. If they do that, they will finish us if we stay in Iraq,” he added.

These are not matters about which to speak lightly, casually, or hypothetically. Archbishop Athanasios Dawood was right: Real Iraqi Christians did stay…and real Iraqi Christians were finished. Was the problem US and UK government inactivity? Is the solution Christians calling more vocally on governments to care more actively about such matters and engage in greater levels of vigilance?

Liena seems to suggest a very different possibility. Liena is a Syrian Christian who is the narrator of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church video from our sister ministry, Voice of the Martyrs/US. She shares how she has prepared her children for the possibility that violent men may enter their home and kill them unless they renounce their faith in Christ. She counsels her children to maintain their faith even in the event of their parents’ death, and to say only “Jesus loves you, and we forgive you” before they die. And she does not indicate that this is a backup plan to be enacted only in the case of the failure of the local Christian militia. “Am I a good mother for teaching my children such things?” she asks at video’s end.

I suspect Josef Ton, the octagenarian Romanian theologian whom I quoted at length in my post last week on how Christian appeals should be directed to God, not government, would say yes. He wrote about one of his many interrogations for Christian activity this way:

On the 25th of October 1974, I was summoned to the Secret Police Headquarters. They ushered me into a room with a long table, covered with red cloth, having six chairs behind it. In front of it, there was a much shorter table, with one chair behind it facing the long table. I was asked to stand behind the smaller table while six ferocious-looking men came and sat down at the long table and then I sat down behind the smaller one. One of the six men was a Colonel, dressed in full military uniform. That man stood up and read my indictment. It stated that I was accused of committing the crime of “propaganda that endangers the security of the state,” and that offence, according to the penal code, was punishable with 5 to 15 years in prison. Then, the Colonel delivered a speech in which he told me how grave my situation was. When I was finally given a chance to speak, I said, “Mr. Colonel, let me explain to you how I see what is happening here. What is taking place here is not between you and me. It is between me and my God. My Lord obviously has some dealings with me here. I do not yet know what they are. It is very likely that He wants to teach me a few things. I only know, Sir, that you will only do to me what my God has planned for you to do to me. And you will not go one inch beyond that, because you are only instruments in the hands of my God.”
At that moment, I no longer saw six ferocious people with dark, hateful faces in front of me. I saw six puppets, and above them, I saw the hand of my beloved Father pulling six strings. The Colonel did not like my description of the events of that day, but for me it was the best illustration of the sovereignty of God! My Lord is in perfect control, even of His enemies, and He has His sovereign ways of fulfilling His plans even through them. Now, if that is the case, why should I be afraid of them?

One possible cause for fear may be the recognition that our God seems to have a very different set of values from the “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” set enshrined in our legal codes. I notice that John 3:16 is cited much more commonly as a favorite Bible verse of encouragement than Matthew 10:28, in which Jesus says, seemingly quite seriously,

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

(Just for context’s sake, it is worth noting that this is the verse that precedes the much more frequently favorited “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” notice how the sentimental greeting card feel is incinerated when the two verses are read together, as Jesus no doubt intended them to be.)

Is it untrue that Christians today seem to be more afraid of ISIS and North Korea than the Lord Jesus? If so, is it possible that Jesus does not regard this as understandable but rather as an odd and unacceptable affront by believers against his Father’s glory?

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Why Low-Tech Is Better Than High-Tech For North Korea Ministry

Posted on December 5, 2014 by tdillmuth

Logo 071414Q – What are some new high-tech ways that you are getting the gospel into North Korea?

Pastor Tim – Park Sang Hak (famous NK defector) was recently in the news because of his efforts to utilize cutting edge Silicon Valley technology to get information into North Korea. Utilizing technology in NK ministry has also been important for Voice of the Martyrs Korea over the years as well. For example, we use GPS technology to track our balloons, and we constantly improve our launches based on the GPS tracks.

But while we value the benefits of technology, we’ve also learned over the years the surprising lesson that low-tech is the new high-tech and nearly always the best solution for NK ministry.

We are often approached by pioneering techies with impressive proprietary technologies (which they are happy to share with us freely) to get the gospel into NK. We get offers for everything from drones to concealable and disguised devices to electronic Bibles that are encrypted, encoded, and protected beyond detection (and sometimes comprehension). In other closed countries we would probably be all over these cutting edge technologies, but in NK ministry, we’ve found that their effectiveness pales in comparison to much more primitive fare.

Let me explain.

If we utilized custom, high-tech equipment, and it was discovered by the North Korean State Security Agency (a reasonably safe bet, no matter what folks may tell you), the devices would become worse than worthless. Searches would be conducted in both the immediate area and among friends and relations. Every NK who had one of these devices (and, in NK’s principle of guilt by association, every NK associated with someone with such a device) would be targeted by the government. None of the remaining devices would ever get across the border. These devices would become exposed on NK news and in town hall meetings. Ordinary NKs wouldn’t be able to have them, no matter how easily or quickly they could be erased or hidden.

Bottom line – It is not just dangerous; it’s also strategically ineffective.

NK homes are regularly searched overnight without warning. Spies are everywhere in NK, even within the same family. High-tech devices always draw unwanted attention. And of course, the surest way to spread news in NK is to say, “Make sure you don’t tell anyone about this . . .”

That’s why you literally can’t pay NK Christians to use these types of things . . . and believe me, many have tried.

We do like and regularly use things like MP3 players and USBs, but we’ve found that the best devices to use are ones that are already commonly used inside NK. Devices that an average NK would be bringing back across the border, devices that could easily be bought in the marketplace–no special or unique high-tech devices.

But we’ve found that there is an even better method of evangelism and discipleship than these helpful low-tech MP3 players and USBs. It’s a method that actually requires no materials at all – it’s the lowest of low-tech.  In fact, it’s a method that NK Christians have been using for years and years . . . much longer than computers, tablets and MP3 players.

Memorization.

If a North Korean Christian encounters a portion of Scripture, instead of carrying it around with them in paper or electronic form, the best way for them to smuggle it into the country is for them to memorize it.

And they can. (So can you, by the way.) In North Korea, every citizen is required to memorize the hundred stories of Kim Il Sung’s life, in every detail. And when an important speech is released from the leader, citizens are frequently required to memorize it word for word, in just a few days. This is a perfect example of God using for good what the enemy intends for evil. The government trains them to memorize well, and when they encounter the Scriptures, we can help them put their memorization skills to work to memorize the words of life. These NK Christians then become walking Bibles and are able to spread the gospel without the limitations that other means have–including even the highest of high-tech devices.

Not only is memorization the best way for each of us to carry the Scriptures across every closed border, but it is also a powerful way to grow in Christ!  In fact, the Scriptures emphasize that memorizing is foundational to the Christian life.

Posted in Making Disciples, North Korea, Question and Answer | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments