Top image: Bridge to North Korea
When I see for a moment the images that come to mind of Christians suffering in North Korea, I know why the Danish European Mission is helping people both inside and outside North Korea. I have heard and read the most horrific stories about how the North Korean regime treats their citizens.
At times, the descriptions are so horrific that as a human it's hard to believe it's really happening today.
North Korea tops the list of countries that persecute Christians. They manage to do it in the most brutal way. Christians are sent to concentration camps for an agonizing existence. The same happens to other people who are considered enemies of the regime. The main difference between Christians and other inmates is the crucial faith in Jesus Christ. A faith that gives hope even in the valley of the shadow of death.
Reporting on the horrors
In the book "Eyes Of The Tailless Animals", a former prisoner, the woman Soon Ok Lee, recounts her suffering in North Korean prisons. She endured six years in concentration camp-like conditions. In prison, she did not know Christ, but she witnessed how many Christians were tortured and murdered. The Christians refused to bow to the government who wanted them to betray Christ. She mentions a situation where eight Christian prisoners did not please a prison officer. The officer demanded that the Christian women publicly state that there was nothing to believe in heaven and that there was no God. When the eight women would not agree to this, he ordered boiling iron to be poured over them. The order was carried out and the eight Christian women died in February 1992 when 1200 degrees of hot iron was poured over them. Soon Ok Lee says: "I looked at their shriveled bodies and wondered in my quiet mind. What is it that they believe in? What do they see in the empty sky? What could be more important to them than their lives?"
Listening to such descriptions, one wonders why the world today seems to forget to pay attention to these horrific realities. People are worked to death in these camps. It reminds us very much of the concentration camps during 2. World War II. Yet these acts will continue until the regime in North Korea one day collapses. Earlier this year in South Korea, I spoke to a Christian activist who told me that in both 2010 and 2011, Christians were executed and sent to labor camps in North Korea.
With these horrific conditions in mind, it is appropriate to help the North Korean people. At Danish European Mission, the doors have opened to help North Koreans in three different areas.
The stateless children of North Korean mothers
First, we help stateless children of North Korean mothers in China. There are tens of thousands of stateless children in the area. A problem that has arisen in the wake of the thousands of women who have fled North Korea and become victims of human trafficking. The children cannot call themselves North Koreans or Chinese. Their mothers are from North Korea and their fathers are typically Chinese citizens. The women have entered China illegally from North Korea expecting a better life. They have usually been deceived by cynical traffickers who have sold them to men in China. We know that the women who are discovered by the Chinese authorities are often sent back to North Korea. Here, the women risk very harsh treatment by the North Korean authorities. In the worst cases, some are executed. The children left behind suffer the loss of their mother. In many cases, the children's Chinese father will not take responsibility for the child once the woman has been sent back to North Korea. This is an unfortunate situation for the children that can be scarred for life. Some children live with Christian foster families and others live with their Chinese grandparents. The Danish European Mission supports around 50 children in China of North Korean mothers.
Rescue operations
Medicine for the underground church
And finally, the Danish European Mission supports a project that ensures that persecuted Christians inside North Korea receive medicine. The health situation in the country is catastrophic. It is said that 5 % of the population has tuberculosis. With a population of approximately 23 million inhabitants, this means that more than 1 million people are probably suffering from tuberculosis. This desperate situation also affects the underground church. That's why we support with medicine.
We live in a time of unprecedented opportunities to show God's love to people under a regime that persecutes Christians and oppresses the population. Thank you for your support.
