On Balloons That Take A Few Launches To Land True

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Pastor Foley

SUSA-KoreanGreetings from 35,000 feet over Russia! Dr. Foley and I are en route back to Korea from London after a particularly satisfying week of meetings across England with Joseph, our North Korean defector “son.” You may have heard me mention him before. He’s the one whose mother was martyred in North Korea, perhaps the godliest underground Christian woman whose story we have yet learned. I hope to write it up in a book one day. Until then, make sure to check out her story in Voice of the Martyrs’ June newsletter on North Korea.

Five years ago Joseph accepted an invitation to speak at church meetings in England organized by our UK sister ministry, Release International. The day before the trip—literally, the day before the trip—he disappeared from South Korea.

We learned later that he had gone to China in one last desperate attempt to try to save his mom. The attempt, as you will have gathered by now, failed. The church meetings that year, thanks be to God, were a success—we were able to arrange for two other North Korean defectors to fly to London, with but a few hours to spare.

But Joseph himself was cast adrift on his own heartbreak. Sleep eluded him nightly, so he got an overnight job to go along with his day job in order to have no time to think. He moved in with a girl. He stopped going to church. We of course remained his friends, but when he would see us he was always tired, distant, vacant.

Then he attempted suicide. Because he wanted to see his mom.

It’s a wonder he didn’t succeed, given the number of sleeping pills he swallowed. He actually awoke and, disappointed, took more pills and collapsed again.

But God had other plans. When Joseph awoke, he himself realized that only God could have spared him—that God had some purpose for him, that suicide was the one way to ensure that he wouldn’t see his mom again.

The whole experience began to set him on a right path again—well, that and Dr. Foley yelling in one ear and me yelling in the other, with the Holy Spirit working right in the middle. To make a long and moving story short, Joseph is now on staff at Seoul USA. He’s married. He’s returned to the faith for which his mother gave her life. And he is in the seat right next to me. Traveling back to Korea after a week of speaking in the country that invited him five years ago.

Joseph is now one of our two balloon project coordinators. Fittingly, the week before our trip to London I sent our balloon project sponsors a monthly progress report on the launches. In addition to all the details on the successful launches, the report shared about one of our balloons that didn’t make it into North Korea. It happens. And so the next day we get up and launch again.

Sometimes balloons stray off course for a while. But when they are well launched and we don’t give up, sooner or later they land true.

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Podcast – North Korea Q & A – Why Was Kim Jong Un’s Uncle Executed?

Posted on June 28, 2014 by tdillmuth

Several months ago, Kim Jong Un’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek was executed.  The news of his death radiated shock waves from North Korea throughout the rest of the world.  Though commentators and analysts vary in their analysis of the event and the conclusions to be drawn from it, Pastor Foley explains why Jang Song Thaek likely held less power when he was executed than most media pundits portrayed.  Listen to Pastor Foley’s most recent North Korean podcast for more information on what this execution means.

kimjongununcle

 

Listen to more North Korean Q&As on the Seoul USA Podcast Page!

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Called To North Korean Ministry? Don’t Move To South Korea Just Yet; First, Disciple Your Household

Posted on June 26, 2014 by tdillmuth

SUSA-Korean

I recently met with North Korean defectors, a wife who had been a lifelong underground Christian inside of North Korea, and her husband whom she led to the Lord. The husband is now serving as a pastor in South Korea, but he is troubled by the way many in South Korea express their faith in Christ.

The expression of faith that he is troubled with has nothing to do with being Reformed, Wesleyan, Pentecostal or Baptist. Rather it has to do with the modern church culture that emphasizes personal fulfillment in the pursuit of happiness. He described “Korean church culture” in a way similar to how Americans might use the term “Sunday Christians.”

Instead of opining too long about the problem, we turned to the solution. The answer that we quickly agreed upon was discipleship. Unfortunately we throw around the word so much nowadays that it hardly raises an eyebrow. But when discipleship is centered at the household level rather than the institutional church level, it’s definitely an eyebrow raiser!

A household includes the family unit but also includes those in one’s sphere of influence. For me, this would include my neighbors, co-workers and my children’s school teachers. The New Testament describes Christianity as primarily functioning at the household level. In short, the early church was simply a collection of households.

As I was talking with these former underground North Korean Christians, their eyes lit up when we discussed “household discipleship.” They proclaimed that this was how the underground church disciples and they are convinced that this is the only method that will work in North Korea, or anywhere for that matter. They said the idolatry of Kim Il Sung is so prevalent in their society that they need more than a once-a-week kind of religion; they need a dynamic faith that permeates every area of their life daily. A faith that is active in the household, every day of the week.

So how is “household discipleship” different from regular discipleship?

  • Worship happens every day in the home and not only on Sundays.
  • Household worship is considered to be the main event . . . not Sunday worship.
  • The leader of each household is responsible for household discipleship, not the pastor.
  • Evangelism happens at the household level.
  • The institutional church exists to support the household and not the other way around.
  • Families “do the word” together, which includes spending their own tithe to minister to those in the sphere of influence.

If you truly want to be involved in North Korean ministry, then there is something you must do before launching balloons or before moving to South Korea. Start by giving up everything on a daily basis with your own family members by practicing “household discipleship.” To do this you won’t have to move, quit your job or even learn Korean, but you will have to make the small daily acts of sacrifice of following God together and closely in your household.

 

 

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