A few months ago, one of our North Korean partners discovered something that turned her world upside-down: her mother had been a member of the North Korean underground church. What was our partner’s first impulse upon hearing this news? Was it to smuggle her mother out of North Korea? No. It was to arrange for a smuggler to take a Bible into her in North Korea.

Why is this? Bibles are incredibly difficult—or, rather, very expensive—to obtain in North Korea. Since owning a Bible in North Korea is also quite dangerous, North Koreans will often opt to rent one from a smuggler—and smugglers often charge a hefty sum for this service. As much as a full month’s wages for only a couple of days. Despite this exorbitant price, defectors have told us that a few North Koreans are willing to pay this price.

“The government severely punishes people who own this book,” one defector explained. “And that makes a few of us curious as to what’s in it.”

Think about that: North Korea is a country where many men and women starve on the little wages they are given. Yet there are still individuals willing to sacrifice all they have just to get a glimpse of the Bible.

Bible smugglers and couriers can reach people in the northern two thirds of North Korea. But in the southern third of North Korea, where the majority of the population—and the government—lives, delivering Bibles personally is extremely difficult. The request of North Korea’s underground Christians? Launch them in by balloon from South Korea.

VOM Korea launches approximately 40,000 Bibles per year into the southern third of North Korea. The results have been encouraging. When we started more than 10 years ago, less than 2% of North Korean defectors reported ever having seen a Bible while inside North Korea. Today that number is around 10%. With our GPS tracking technology, we can confirm exactly where our balloons are landing in North Korea. Moreover, we can trust that God is delivering these Bibles into the hands of those whom he intends—sometimes even the army or even government officials.

However, we need your help.

Launching balloons off into North Korea is a lot more difficult than it sounds! Bibles need to be carefully packed into balloons, balloons need to be launched (often under the cover of darkness), and weather patterns have to be just right. Whether it be through prayer or volunteering or financial giving, we need your continued support so that God will continue to allow Bibles to rain down from the heavens in North Korea.