{"id":36824,"date":"2021-06-01T13:22:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T04:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=36824"},"modified":"2021-06-01T14:11:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T05:11:15","slug":"vomk-report-157","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2021\/06\/01\/vomk-report-157\/","title":{"rendered":"NORTH KOREAN FINDS JESUS ON A PRISON WALL"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”36811″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”When North Korean authorities caught Mrs. \u201cP\u201d selling South Korean DVDs to earn extra money in 2008, her husband Mr. \u201cK\u201d, fled to China while other family members in government positions bribed those who oversaw the case in order to reduce the sentence. (Names have been abbreviated for security reasons.)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]When Mr. K returned to North Korea following Mrs. P\u2019s release from prison, he could not stop talking about God and about the Bible. A family he met in China had told him about the\u00a0\u201cGood News of Jesus Christ\u201d, and now every time Mr. K ate a meal with his family, he gave thanks to the Lord.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI thought he was crazy,\u201d Mrs. P told a VOM Korea staff member.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”36820″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”One of Mrs. P\u2019s cellmates wrote \u201cJesus Christ\u201d on the prison wall and then shared the gospel with her. (Photo reenactment)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Mr. K\u2019s Bold Faith<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he knew his entire family could be severely punished for his bold faith, Mr. K shared\u00a0the message of Jesus\u00a0with at least 20 other people,\u00a0according to\u00a0Mrs. P.\u00a0\u201cAt that time, I was so resentful of him. My case had just been closed. Why would he put all the family in danger again?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, someone did report Mr. K\u2019s activities. One night, authorities came to the couple\u2019s home and arrested them, and Mr. K was immediately taken to a concentration camp. Mrs. P believes her husband died in the camp. \u201cI still do not know how my husband died,\u201d she said.\u00a0She never learned who reported him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time of the arrests, Mrs. P\u2019s uncle, who held a chief position with the\u00a0State Security Police, knew that\u00a0Mrs. P\u00a0was in danger of being sent to a concentration camp because of her husband\u2019s Christian faith.\u00a0So\u00a0for her own protection, he instead had her sent to a labor camp.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”36816″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Mrs. P remembers her husband as she views the Martyrs Wall at the VOM Korea office in Seoul.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pursued by\u00a0God<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After more than six years in the labor camp, Mrs. P was finally released. She said she barely survived its brutal conditions, but she knows it could have been worse.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After her release, Mrs. P decided to defect. After a month in China, Mrs. P and the group of defectors she was with were reported to the police. \u201cThe police showed up,\u201d Mrs. P said. \u201cBecause we had no proof of citizenship or visa, we were taken to a prison.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While in prison, Mrs. P met\u00a0Korean\u00a0Chinese women who\u00a0were Christian. \u201cIf we were sent back to North Korea and it was discovered that we had encountered a church and Christianity, we would surely die,\u201d Mrs. P said. \u201cSo\u00a0they would not share anything with me for the first month that we were together. But in prison, one has a lot of time.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, one of the women grabbed her toothpaste and used it to write \u201cJesus Christ\u201d on the prison wall. \u201cIt was my first time to see the words \u2018Jesus Christ,\u2019 so I asked her what it was,\u201d Mrs. P recalled. \u201cShe began to share with me what Christianity is.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”36821″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Mrs. P has seen North Korean defectors be transformed by North Korean dialect discipleship methods and Bible study at VOMK\u2019s Underground Technology program (file photo taken before the pandemic).” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Moving Forward<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to some South Korean\u00a0Christians who contacted the embassy in China, Mrs. P was released from prison. She contacted her nieces in South Korea, and they arranged for a broker to help her\u00a0travel there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once there, Mrs. P learned about Voice of the Martyrs Korea through another North Korean defector and soon enrolled in Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s Underground Technology (UT) basic discipleship program.\u00a0The\u00a0one-year\u00a0program uses traditional North Korean underground church methods along with the North Korean dialect Chosun Bible\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0make Christianity more accessible to North Koreans, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr.\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley.\u00a0\u201cMrs. P told us, \u2018I want to follow in my husband\u2019s footsteps. I have a heart to follow Jesus like my husband.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, Mrs. P wishes she would have considered her husband\u2019s faith when he first shared it with her. \u201cAt the time, I did not see with the same eyes that my husband did,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I had only had the spiritual eyes that I have now at that time. My concern then was only to earn money for my family and be loyal to my beloved nation.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a decade after Mr. K joyfully shared his new Christian faith with her, Mrs. P\u2019s own relationship with Christ\u00a0has now taken root.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More information about Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s Underground Technology program and its North Korea ministry is available at vomkorea.com\/en\/project\/northkorea\/<\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”36811″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”When North Korean authorities caught Mrs. \u201cP\u201d selling South Korean DVDs to earn extra money in 2008, her husband Mr. \u201cK\u201d, fled to China while other family …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":36812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}