Video – The Biggest Problem Facing North Korean Defectors In South Korea

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Pastor Foley

Pastor Eric Foley and Dr. Foley recently preached at the Saemoonan Church, the oldest Presbyterian church in South Korea.  He said that North Korean defectors receive money, housing, help with their health care, job training and educational assistance when they move to South Korea.  And yet North Korean defectors living in South Korea have the highest rate of death due to suicide in the world.  Pastor Foley said that the reason for this is that North Korean defectors are lonely.  In Isaiah 58:1-12 , God instructs people to “share their bread,” and “open their homes,” and this is different than giving away food or providing housing.  In North Korean ministry it is vitally important that we build relationships and share our own lives, instead of just providing assistance.

 

For other videos on North Korea, visit the Seoul USA video page!

Posted in North Korea, Videos | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

There Are No Limits To Where God’s Healing Can Go . . . Including North Korea.

Posted on July 9, 2014 by tdillmuth

WLO_healcomfortWe might assume that all North Koreans outside of North Korea have simply escaped the tyrannous regime, but that assumption would be flat out wrong. Over 100,00 North Koreans are on official work release in places like Russia, Mongolia, Africa and the Middle East. It may sound a little exotic to us, but unfortunately these NKs often work very difficult jobs in less than ideal conditions.

Even though the NK workers are often not well-equipped to do their job, it is still very hard to get them to accept gifts from us.  Recently one of our ministry teams brought New Year’s gifts to an NK dormitory: socks, underwear, and chocolates. The NK workers proceeded to toss the gifts in a pile and urinate on them. “Why do you do this when you are not wearing any socks and it is so cold outside?” our team leader asked, incredulous. “We have everything we need,” one of the NK workers responded. “We don’t wear socks because we like being barefoot.” In responding this way, the NK workers are carrying out what is required of them: Not embarrassing the Kim regime with the admission that they are poorly provisioned.

Consequently, we’ve had to adapt our evangelism and discipleship strategies to reach these NK workers, but one of the new strategies was initially a little surprising to me – healing and comforting! Healing was always something that I thought took place in churches and revival meeting with those who were already Christians. It was certainly not something that happened in remote NK worker villages with individuals who did not know Christ! But yet when these NKs were sick and hurt, our missionaries were the first ones they reached out to. One of our missionaries recently wrote this,

After I arrived I went to see the NK workers with whom I spoke last time. I learned that a week before a furnace heater exploded in a building. Four NK workers suffered. Immediately I ran to hospital. Two of them were in really bad condition. I spoke with the chief doctor. After a long conversation he let me inside the burn unit. I openly prayed for them and left packages. Out of the other two one refused to speak, but took the pack. With another I had a good talk. In a whisper, he HIMSELF asked me to pray for him (he was very much afraid of death). I prayed, gave gospel literature and a New Testament. I bought some medicine in a drug store. I stayed there almost until the evening, visiting the rest of the people. There are about 70 of them there.

An NK worker asking for helping is extremely rare. It is almost inconceivable that they would accept prayer and a New Testament.

But nothing opens up NK workers to evangelism like illness. Remember that NK workers receive neither medicine nor provision for recovery when they are ill, and most have no money for doctor’s visits or badly-needed prescriptions. So when illness strikes, NK workers will often remember the missionaries who previously expressed care.

It reminds me that God is not bound by people, places and situations and God’s word and healing are not bound by these things either.

Posted in Healing and Comforting, North Korea | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

How A North Korean Press Conference With Kim Jong Uk May Have Been The Largest Public Moment Of Evangelism In North Korean History

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Pastor Foley

SUSA-KoreanA student at one of our discipleship training bases for North Koreans shared with us that in March, the North Korean government broadcast a one-hour news conference about South Korean Missionary Kim Jong Uk, the missionary who is now detained in North Korea after entering the country illegally for evangelistic purposes.

Here’s what our student recollected about the press conference:

The news conference was repeatedly broadcast for three days, so it was seen by many people in NK (since there is only one television channel). In the broadcast, Missionary Kim was introduced as a South Korean spy who taught the Word of God to Korean Chinese people in Northeast China. Along with Missionary Kim, the press conference featured one NK woman (shown with her face blocked) who purportedly lured Missionary Kim inside North Korea.

The North Korean woman had been in Missionary Kim’s discipleship program and had allegedly gone back and forth between North Korea and China gathering information and taking pictures for Missionary Kim. The North Korean woman told Missionary Kim that if he had money, he could build churches in North Korea. The woman said her brother was a high level government official, so through his help they could pass the guard posts all the way to Pyongyang within a day. However, as soon as they arrived at [name of city withheld], Missionary Kim was caught by the police.

In the news conference, Missionary Kim admitted he had come to North Korean to build churches and to remove all of the statues in the country. Including the North Korean woman in the press conference, he revealed the names of 33 other North Korean women trained by him in China. So all women trainees were sent to the labor camp. The North Korean woman said she deceived Missionary Kim by not telling the truth and that actually she wanted to start a restaurant in North Korea with money from Missionary Kim.

Missionary Kim indicated that he had requested the news conference. He said that he wanted to show his family members and his organization that he is alive. He appeared to believe that the news conference would be broadcast all over the world; however, to this day it has not been broadcast anywhere except North Korea. Even there, our student said that the news conference did not make much of a stir: North Korean people were not interested in this news. He said that North Korean people are so busy making ends meet that they cannot concern themselves with others’ situations.

And yet…

Our student said that the new conference marked the first time inside North Korea that he had ever heard about God. Publicly broadcast. For three days. On government television. To everyone in North Korea.

15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18, NIV)

Posted in Making Disciples, North Korea, Proclaiming The Gospel, Ransoming the Captive, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment