{"id":46928,"date":"2023-05-30T14:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=46928"},"modified":"2023-06-29T15:32:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T06:32:28","slug":"vomk-report-257","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/05\/30\/vomk-report-257\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ROSS BIBLE RE-ENTERS NORTH KOREA 140 YEARS AFTER IT FIRST ARRIVED"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46924″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In 1882, Koreans successfully smuggled the first ever Korean language version of the scriptures\u2014in the form of the Gospel of Luke they had just translated with Missionary John Ross\u2014from Moukden, China (today\u2019s Shenyang) inside of what is today North Korea. Now 140 years later, according to persecution ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea, Koreans have repeated the same feat\u2014this time with copies of the ministry\u2019s new John Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke. ” 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]\u201cWe received confirmation that multiple copies of our Ross Bible Gospel of Luke entered North Korea this month and are in the hands of underground North Korean Christians<\/span>,<\/span> who are overjoyed to have them,<\/span>\u201d says Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley, representative of Voice of the Martyrs Korea. <\/span>She says that for security reasons related both to her organization and the recipients, the organization is keeping the exact details confidential. \u201cIt is now a criminal offense to bring a Bible into North Korea in any format\u2014<\/span>digital<\/span>, print, or audio–from any country, including from here in South Korea,\u201d says Representative Foley. <\/span>She says the Ross Bible edition that entered North Korea intentionally has a different appearance than the one the ministry distributes in South Korea and elsewhere.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, the situation today is the same as it was for John Ross and the first Korean Bible couriers<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span>.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>The punishments <\/span>for <\/span>possessing<\/span> a Bible <\/span>or <\/span>contacting a missionary <\/span>are <\/span>essentially <\/span>the<\/span> same<\/span> as they were 140 years ago, namely, death. <\/span>So<\/span> t<\/span>he need for secrecy is the same<\/span> today as it was for the first Korean Christians. But <\/span>praise God, the <\/span>power of the <\/span>word of <\/span>God <\/span>remains<\/span> the same as it did 140 years ago, too<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs decide<\/span>d<\/span> to <\/span>disclose<\/span> news of the re-entry of the Ross Bible into North Korea <\/span>in order to<\/span> challenge <\/span>churches <\/span>in Korea and globally to be involved in Bible-based ministry to North Koreans today.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians outside of North Korea wrongly think that the only kinds of mission activity possible toward North Koreans <\/span>today <\/span>are things like teaching at North Korean universities, sending money for humanitarian aid through North Korean government-approved projects, or conducting training programs to plan for missions in the future when North Korea might \u2018open\u2019 to the gospel,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cBut as the Apostle Paul wrote Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:9, \u2018The word of God is not bound!\u2019 The Bible is continuing to get inside North Korea today, and more North Koreans are reading it and being transformed by it today than <\/span>at <\/span>literally any<\/span> other time in history.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, independent surveys show that Bible-based ministry to North Koreans is continuing to increase the number of North Koreans who have seen a Bible inside of North Korea.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe North Korean Human Rights Information Center, an independent data-gathering NGO, has been conducting an ongoing study where they found that in the year 2000, effectively 0% of people inside <\/span>North Korea had ever seen a Bible with their own eyes,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThey have continued to update that study, and at the end of 2020 they determined that around 8% of people inside of North Korea have now seen a Bible with their own eyes.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46927″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Dr. Hyun Sook Foley and Pastor Eric Foley, co-founders of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, display the ministry\u2019s new Contemporary Reader\u2019s Edition of the Ross Bible Gospel of John at a press conference in November 2022. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|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]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea <\/span>has <\/span>distribute<\/span>d an average of<\/span> 40,000 to 50,000 North Korean dialect Bibles a year <\/span>for 20 years to <\/span>North Korean citizens outside of South Korea<\/span>, in print, audio, and digital formats<\/span> using the Chosun Bible translation<\/span>. She notes that the Bible is also read daily on Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s five shortwave radio broadcasts to North Korea.<\/span> But she says the return of the Ross Bible to North Korea has special significance.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe Ross Bible is how the voice of Christ first came to ordinary Korean people,<\/span> and in <\/span>it<\/span> Jesus and the other figures speak with a North Korean accent, since that was the accent of the translators,<\/span>\u201d says Representative<\/span> Foley. \u201cOrdinary <\/span>North <\/span>Korean people deserve to hear that <\/span>original <\/span>voice again today<\/span>, and to experience the spiritual power of the original translation of the Bible into Korean<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Foley notes that t<\/span>he Ross Bible was completed before the Korean language was standardized<\/span>, so in <\/span>its original form it is no<\/span> longer <\/span>readable by Koreans<\/span> in either the north or the south<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cOur <\/span>new John Ross Bible \u2018Reader\u2019s Edition\u2019 Gospel of Luke <\/span>updates the text direction, w<\/span>ord order, <\/span>letters, <\/span>grammar, and spelling <\/span>so that modern readers can read it easily and understand it <\/span>fully<\/span>,\u201d she says<\/span>.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>It retains the full original wording <\/span>and <\/span>adds simple<\/span> notes to briefly and clearly explain unfamiliar vocabulary.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke is <\/span>available for purchase in Korea <\/span>in the same size and shape as the original version. \u201c<\/span>It is a <\/span>reader\u2019s edition <\/span>that ordinary Korean readers can understand. It <\/span>is designed for easy, frequent reading and for tossing in your backpack to read on the subway, not for being displayed in a museum,\u201d says Representative Foley. <\/span>It is available for 10,000 KRW at <\/span><\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/<\/span>store<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> or by phone <\/span>a<\/span>t<\/span> 02-2065-0703.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley <\/span>believes all Koreans should read <\/span>the Ross Bible <\/span>at least once.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ross Bible was for the first two decades of Korean Christianity the only <\/span>h<\/span>angul New Testament available to Koreans. It was the Bible of the Korean church during its <\/span>formative period<\/span>, and it left a permanent imprint on the Korean church in the form of a church that is Bible-centered and lay-driven. God used the Ross Bible powerfully to impart the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the first generation of Korean Christians even before missionaries arrived in Korea.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Ross Bible Reader\u2019s Edition Gospel of Luke is the first of three Ross Bible versions Voice of the Martyrs Korea will be releasing over the next two years. The organization is currently working on a<\/span> Luke\/John\/Acts trilogy edition <\/span>for publication <\/span>in <\/span>mid-<\/span>2023 and a full Ross New Testament \u201cContemporary Reader\u2019s Edition\u201d <\/span>for publication <\/span>in 2024.<\/span> Representative Foley says that the organization intends to share these editions inside North Korea as well.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning more about Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s North Korean Bible ministry can visit <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/<\/span>en\/<\/span><\/span>northkorea\/<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/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=”46924″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”In 1882, Koreans successfully smuggled the first ever Korean language version of the scriptures\u2014in the form of the Gospel of Luke they had just translated with Missionary …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":46925,"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-46928","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\/46928","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=46928"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47249,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46928\/revisions\/47249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}