1/15/11 North Korea (OpenDoors) – When people come to faith in Jesus Christ, they plead most for one thing: a Bible. But sadly, Bibles are scarce in places where Christians suffer some of the harshest persecution. Open Doors helps to provide Bibles and Gospel portions to believers facing the worst persecution.
Injury Provides Safe Passage for Christian Goods I was traveling to a certain region with a few bags of Christian items covered by other goods. I safely passed through several guard posts on the way, but as I came to one region, a solider asked me to stop for a search.
I was afraid that the Christian supplies would be discovered. I calmly answered all the questions asked by the soldier. As we were talking, I prayed to God, “Please cover the eyes of the solider as you covered the eyes of the great force surrounding the city of Dothan (2 King 6: 8-23).”
Then the soldier asked me to open my bag. I prayed again as I tried to calm myself, “God, you have given me these goods to deliver, so please take care of them.” I started to slowly open my bag, which was tied to the back of my bicycle with an elastic cord commonly used for securing items. However, as I tried to untie the tight elastic cord, it came loose and struck my leg. The resulting cut on my leg began bleeding profusely. The soldier didn’t know what to do and told me to quickly go to the doctor for treatment.
I completely forgot about my pain and repeatedly said, “Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!” After some time, I became conscious of the pain from the injury and treated myself with the emergency kit that I had with me. I said to myself, “Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for us, and the blood which I shed today is nothing in comparison. My life is not dear to me if God wants it for His mission.”
A Surprise Search Reveals an Unexpected Believer NK manI was at home holding a Christian service with my family and did not hear a knocking sound at my door. As the knocking grew into loud banging, I realized someone was at the door and I quickly hid my Bible.
After I opened the door, an intimidating village director and two followers walked into my house. The director demanded, “What were you doing? Why didn’t you open the door quickly?” Then they started an extensive search around the house.
I was extremely nervous that my Bible would be exposed, and as I thought of being captured, I started to pray. Then one of the men discovered my Bible … but he quickly concealed it and told the other men, “There is nothing suspicious here. Let’s move on to the next house.”
My heart was pounding as I walked them to the door. Everything felt like a dream. I’d never experienced an incident like this before. I could have been arrested and sent away. I was terrified that they would report my case and show up at my house again.
The next day, the man who took my Bible returned to my house … alone. As soon as he came into the house he said, “You must have been surprised yesterday. I myself am a believer. Because of the current situation in our country, I cannot fellowship with other believers so I am keeping my faith to myself. God the Father guided me to your house yesterday and gave me this opportunity to meet a believer. I am so grateful for it. I have brought your Bible back. Please pray for me in the future and take extra caution when handling these goods.”
When he left, I prayed and thanked God Almighty for what He is doing, in spite of the oppression in North Korea!
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