On The Death Of Our North Korean Student, Mrs. Choi

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Pastor Foley

Today, Holy Saturday, we are having the memorial service for our former student named Mrs. Choi. She was born February 10th, 1973. Her hometown was Chungjin, in North Hamgyeong Province. She was sold in China and lived near Harbin for some years, giving birth to a son. She came to Korea on April 21, 2017, as part of the 233rd class at the Hanawon Refugee Resettlement Center. She enrolled in our UT school October 14th, 2017. She lived in Daegu but came by train on Friday nights and stayed sometimes with some of our UU students and sometimes with her Hanawon friends in order to be here for class Saturday morning.

Why do we do this memorial service for Mrs. Choi today? Is it because she was such a good student? No. In truth, she was not a great student or a bad student. Is it because she followed Christ so well? No. In truth, there were many things about Christ that she did not know or understand. Is it because she was such a good person? No. Like all of us, she had many struggles. She sometimes had conflicts with her friends. She put all her efforts into bringing her son to South Korea. In order to earn the money to do that, she sometimes did wrong things. She ended up in trouble that resulted in her death earlier this month. She died within a month after she was able to bring her son to South Korea. Her body was cremated and placed at the Yongin Crematorium. This is a facility operated by the government for the disposal of the bodies of those who have no one. No newspaper reported her death. No one has called for a fuller accounting of how she died. None of her friends or family members or colleagues from Hanawon 233 have come today to participate in this memorial service.

But it is not complete to say that Mrs. Choi was born February 10th, 1973. Instead, we must say that on February 10th, 1973, the Lord Jesus Christ breathed life into a newborn baby whom he had formed in her mother’s womb, and he numbered every hair on her head.

It is not complete to say that her hometown was Chungjin, in North Hamgyeong Province. Instead, we must say that God in his infinite wisdom, in order to accomplish his perfect purposes in the universe and in her life, and in each of our lives, placed her in Chungjin, in North Hamgyeong Province at that particular day and time and moment in history.

It is not complete to say that she was sold in China and lived near Harbin for some years, giving birth to a son. Instead, we must say that God permitted her to be sold into slavery, for even though his ways are not our ways, he works all things together for our good, even when everything in our circumstances look bad. It was in that place that she came to know the Lord Jesus and even to receive Dr. Foley and other members of our team into her home. The Lord Jesus says that whoever opens their home to a servant of the Lord and welcomes them into their home, that person is actually receiving him, and he will not forget that. Not ever.

It is not complete to say that she came to Korea on April 21, 2017, as part of the 233rd class at Hanawon. We must say that God arranged for her to come, and to be a part of the 233rd class, not the 232nd class or the 234th class, for reasons that only he knows. And she came with her Bible and was able to contact us because of it, which was part of God’s gracious provision for her, too.

It is not complete to say that she enrolled in our UT school October 14th, 2017. We must say that Christ himself sent her to us, with specific instructions for us to treat her as his daughter, and to extend to her the same love and care that we would extend to him.

And it is not complete to say that in the process of working to bring her son to Korea she made bad choices and did bad things and ended up in trouble that resulted in her death earlier this month. And it is not complete to say that no newspaper reported her story. And it is not complete to say that her friends have left her. And it is not complete to say that the government had to cremate her body because she had no one. We must say that when every other hand gave way—her family, her friends, North Korea, South Korea, the church, us—Christ never let go of Mrs. Choi. He did not turn his back on her. He did not condemn her. On Holy Saturday he descended to the very depths of death in order to make sure that no one who came to him would ever be lost. His grip is firm. “I do not lose even one that was put in my hand.”

How little we know the character of Christ! How little credit we give him for the perfect, unfailing love he shows toward us! How much we focus on our fears, our sins, our own efforts, our own desires, our own goals, our own ways of thinking! How seldom we realize that he is the one who breathed life into us, the one who ordered our steps, the one who watches over every detail of every day to ensure that his perfect will towards us will be accomplished!

What does Christ want from us? How should we respond to his perfect love?

The answer is found in today’s Holy Saturday scripture reading, though if you do not read carefully you will miss it. It is in Matthew 27:61. Matthew writes:

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

What does Christ want from us? To sit and wait for him. Especially when he seems absent and circumstances are urgent. Especially when we fall into sin. Especially when we are afraid. Especially when we are lost. Especially when everyone else leaves us. Especially when our families need us and are in trouble, and we feel like we must act and do something and be their savior… Stop and sit. Wait on him. Show your respect and trust in the Lord of glory. Recognize that he, not you, not the Korean government, not money, not the church, is your savior. Put your faith and trust not in yourself or in your family or in your friends or in your church or in any earthly thing. Put all your faith and trust in the one who descended farther into death and sin than you ever have, or will, or could. He did that not just so that he could forgive your sins. He did that so that you would never need be separated from him.

It is not complete to say that Mrs. Choi’s life has ended. We must say that Mrs. Choi’s life is just now beginning, and will stretch on forever in perfect glory in the presence of God. We must say that Mrs. Choi was always directly and personally under Jesus’ care, but now she sees him face to face, and knows him as he has always known her. We must say that Jesus has drawn her death up into his own, that his eternal life is now hers as well.

Death will end. Life cannot.

Because of Christ, because of Holy Saturday, death will always end in resurrection. For those who reach out to Jesus, they can be certain that he has them in his grip, he will not them go, he will never leave them, he has prepared a place for them, he will take them there in his perfect timing.

And now, at last, Mrs. Choi is truly home.

Posted in North Korea | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

It’s now the post-missionary age of NK ministry, and its newest hero is Mrs. MG

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Pastor Foley

People sometimes mistakenly label Dr. Foley and me as “missionaries to North Korea.” Actually, we are not missionaries but rather servants of the persecuted church of North Korea. Everything we do for North Koreans, we do in support of, in partnership with, and at the request of the North Korean church. They set the agenda, the projects, the understanding, and the methods. We act as their proxy and as their most eager students.

It is a good thing that we are not missionaries to North Korea, since it’s now the post-missionary age of North Korea ministry work. Since China’s new religious laws were implemented in February, China has intensified its crackdown on any form of Christianity that is not controlled by or subservient to the state. More than a thousand missionaries have been expelled from China in the past eighteen months. And even in the state controlled churches, crosses—and sometimes even whole church buildings—are torn down. Those who help North Koreans can be arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and even killed.

As a result, many Chinese Churches have turned their backs away from the North Koreans in their midst. With missionaries gone, churches frightened, and true believers driven farther underground, it is tempting to grieve and worry about this new post-missionary age.

But to think like this would be to overlook 1 Corinthians 1:27-29:

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

Even though the Chinese government has the political power and economic strength to expel missionaries, the message of Cross nevertheless remains the wisdom of God and the power of God. That message is foolishness to the powerful but wisdom to the weak. And the Chinese government rarely stops to worry about the weak.

Who are the weak?

They are the North Koreans in China. They lack worldly power or freedom or wealth or even the ability to speak Chinese. They receive the gospel and experience every dimension of its power because it pleases God to reveal himself in this way to them. They do the word of God simply because he has called them, and they have responded in faith and trust. Most of them have no standing in China because they are there illegally, having been sold against their will into marriage with Chinese men.

One of these North Korean woman is named MG. If you met MG, you might be tempted to pity her. Like most sex-trafficked North Korean women, she is poor and suffers from several health problems. Her husband is a Chinese man who doesn’t speak Korean and thus isn’t sure how to interact with MG. He often treats her poorly.

But in her suffering and weakness, MG is a mighty warrior of Christ.

Although MG had no knowledge of Christ before coming to China, she came into contact with one of our discipleship bases and came to know and serve Christ. Through our base she was able to receive:

  1. A Bible in her own North Korean dialect;
  2. An MP3 player with the Faith Comes By Hearing dramatized New Testament, Korean hymns, and discipleship materials from the underground church;
  3. Personal discipleship through the base leader and the base leader’s family.

But none of these things in and of themselves makes a mighty warrior. That can come only through the personal tutelage of the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit loves the weak. Over time, people around MG were amazed by her spiritual growth. Although she had no formal education, the time at our discipleship base equipped her to take up her cross and follow Christ—and to encourage others to do the same.

Even though Chinese churches turn their backs on North Koreans seeking help, a Chinese church in her area sought her out to teach a Bible Study for young North Koreans in China, and to visit other North Koreans in Chinese hospitals.

Although a hospital visit may not sound difficult or impressive, hospital visits in MG’s region of China can be arduous: Villages are remote and so a visit to the hospital can take up an entire day! Often, North Korean women are not able to take public transportation, because they are in China illegally; if they are discovered, they will be returned to North Korea and its labor camps. When MG does her hospital visits, she doesn’t just tell fellow North Koreans to “get well soon.” MG preaches the word that she heard at our discipleship base and teaches them how to reach their husbands, children, and neighbors for Christ.

If MG had gone to a ministry other than VOM Korea, it is quite likely that they would have encouraged her to cut ties with the Chinese man who bought her and escape to South Korea.

But this would have extinguished one of the few remaining lights that Christ has in China. Rather than seeing MG as a victim in need of saving, we see her the way God sees her:

As a hero of the new post-missionary age of North Korean ministry, which is led by great, weak women of God like MG.

 

Thanks to Margaret Foley and our field team for helping me with this post–and, more importantly, for loving and supporting women like Mrs. MG with the same heart that has characterized VOM Korea for more than 17 years.

Posted in Discipleship, North Korea | Tagged | 1 Comment

More than even our prayers or our money, persecuted Christians need this

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Pastor Foley

“How can we help persecuted Christians?”

It is the question I have been privileged to be asked nearly every day for nearly two decades. Most people assume that the answer must be some combination of prayer and financial giving, and most people assume that the biggest challenges in helping will be in remembering to pray regularly for the persecuted, knowing what to pray, and finding money to give amidst many excellent competing causes.

But after 17 years, I have come to the conclusion that God has ordained the matter of persecution so that something must precede our prayers and our financial giving in order for us to be able to help persecuted believers.

What persecuted Christians need more than our prayers and financial giving is a global church that embraces and trusts the way of the Cross.

Put more personally, what persecuted Christians need is for each of us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Christ.

Why?

Because absent the personal process of dying to ourselves and dying to the world, we will pray for the wrong things for persecuted believers and give to the wrong projects to help them.

Take, for instance, the general state of anxiety and alarm among Christians in response to the proliferation of news stories proclaiming that Christians are now being persecuted more than ever. Such stories create a sense that the persecution of Christians is due to a combination of our neglect/silence/passivity and the neglect/silence/passivity of the governments under which we live. The solution seems clear: We need to end our neglect/silence/passivity and demand that governments end theirs. Then, persecuted Christians can be protected (or, in the language of one recent campaign, saved).

But the fundamental premises of such a view must be subject to serious biblical scrutiny:

  1. Does persecution indicate the absence of God’s activity or blessing, or its presence?
  2. If, as Paul insists in 2 Timothy 3:12, “all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (BSB), who exactly is it who is saving the persecuted Christians?
  3. Why does Hebrews 3:13 not say, “Remember those who are in prison with your prayers and financial giving” or even “Remember those who are in prison and do what you can to help get them out” but instead “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering”? Why is there no mention of those in prison exiting the prison as a result of our remembrance? And why does the remembrance take the form of suffering in the body of the one remembering?

The Cross is always the anchor of the Christian life, the interpretive principle of all of history. Jesus refers to Peter’s admonition to skirt the cross as nothing less than satanic. As our friends at VOM Canada say, ““A cross-centered gospel requires a cross-bearing witness.” Any step that is not a step in the direction of the Cross is, for the disciple, a misstep. In fact, we would always do well to remember that it is the non-persecuted Christian, not the persecuted Christian, who is the biblical oddity.

But if our prayers and our financial gifts must be preceded by a cruciform transformation in our own lives (which Jesus notes as the initial step of discipleship, by the way, not an advanced stage), it is fair to ask: What does that look like in a place where we are not being overtly persecuted?

I have previously written about the early church’s three “colors” of martyrdom. The insight of the early Christians was that the martyr’s physical death differs in degree, but not in kind from the Christian’s death to self and death to the world. As I have written previously, this is why the author of Hebrews can propose that one of the best ways we can remember the martyrs is to stop sinning: because self-denial and persecution are disciplines which are both rooted in taking up our cross.

As I write this, persecution is rising to a new level in China. How should we pray? To what should we give financially? My own sense is that if we are not dying to ourselves, to our own desires and plans and ways of thinking, and if we are not dying to the world, to its desires and plans for us and its ways of thinking, then our prayers and giving will be exceedingly wrong-headed. Instead of seeing the present hour as a major offensive that God is undertaking in China, we will see it as a major offensive that Xi Jinping is undertaking, and a major setback for the work of God.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, NIV).

 

 

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