By Linda Jones
10/12/2017 Washington, DC (International Christian Concern) – It is well known that Christians in North Korea are among the most persecuted Christians in the world. The ruling Kim dynasty for the last three generations has been a dictatorship that continues to strip North Koreans of their basic rights, including freedom. The regime has been harsh on Christians by taking away their religious freedom and torturing them because of their faith. Christians in North Korea are also considered a cancer to their revolution and thus taken to concentration camps to be executed.
In addition to the extreme measures to maintain control, the regime has also blocked all means of communication to and from the outside world. If anyone violates this rule, they are publicly executed or sent to labor camps to work and starve until they die. Unfortunately, the regime not only uses fear to make people follow the rules, but also indoctrinates citizens through the school system. The government has brainwashed at least 20 million people into worshipping the Kim family and considering them to be higher than God. Citizens are bombarded with propaganda 24/7 and they have become mental and physical slaves to the dictator. Most are not allowed or able to think on their own anymore and they take everything the government tells them at face value.
“I always thought that God was a hypocrite, not real. I was taught God was bad and evil. Now I know that the bad guy hypocrite is Kim Jong Un,” said one North Korean defector.
Despite all the suffering and indoctrination, many defectors have been able to escape and settle in South Korea. These former victims still remember the pain they had to endure as Christians living in North Korea and the lies that people accept from the government. Therefore, a group of Christian defectors in South Korea has decided to share the truth with their brothers and sisters in North Korea by sharing the Gospel and giving them an opportunity to seek freedom.
“We were taught that S. Korea was an American colony ruled by the Yankees. We found out from the leaflets that S. Korea is a free country of democracy, and 11th economy in the world, one of the most prosperous nations in Asia,” shared another defector.
Thanks to the support of our donors, International Christian Concern (ICC) partnered with this group of North Korea defectors, led by Mr. Park Sang Hak in South Korea, to implement a project that will bring the Gospel into North Korea. The project consists of sending balloons with Gospel materials over the border into North Korea. Plastic bags are filled with a pamphlet sharing the Gospel, USBs, DVDs, pocket radios, $1 bills, and more. When the timing and the wind is favorable from the south to the north, they try to send the balloons as often as they can.
There are approximately 30,000+ defectors living in South Korea and thousands of them have testified that they got the leaflets and the $1 bills with the rest of the materials before escaping North Korea.
“We began to doubt Kim Jong Un. We wanted to believe in God. We wanted to come to the free S. Korea. We risked our lives to escape to S. Korea. The balloons and leaflets showed us the truth.”
After reading the Gospel and the other material, they realized that the Kim dynasty had been lying to them all these years about God and the outside world. Many of these same defectors agreed that sending balloons was a peaceful and successful way to let North Koreans know the truth and expose the false propaganda pushed by the government.
Even though this project has been successful, there is still a lot to do to reach the people in North Korea. We must continue to pray for God’s mercy so that the people of North Korea can finally be free from the dictatorship and the lies. Pray that God will open up the hearts of North Koreans so that they can accept the gift of salvation, but also for their restoration.
