Truth Brings Hope

Around the world, people are living in despair, believing they are trapped in their current circumstances.  They are without hope - true hope that comes from Jesus Christ.  Knowing and believing the truth about Him can bring hope into the heart of the person who looks to Jesus.  That hope will produce a faith that, even though circumstances may not change, they can know that the Lord is with them.  Exposure to the truth produces hope; Psalm 119 (ESV) states:
129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
    therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
    because I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    as is your way with those who love your name.

When he was 29 years old, Hyun-Seung Lee, as The Christian Post relates, "began to understand that the world he knew in North Korea wasn't the whole truth."  He learned of the execution of a friend, 23 years old, who was sent to a prison camp, and it opened his and his family's eyes to what was really occurring inside North Korea - and it was different than the rest of the world.  Lee had been an officer in the North Korean military, and he, along with his family, defected to China.  He was in Washington recently for an event called North Korea Freedom Week.

The event, according to the Christian Post, "combined policy discussion with firsthand testimony from people like Lee who have fled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea." It also noted that, "These discussions coincided with the findings of a report released...by the Seoul-based NGO Transitional Justice Working Group."

North Korea has for over two decades has been atop the Open Doors World Watch List, which lists the leading countries where Christians are persecuted - at #1 every year since 2002, except for 2022, when Afghanistan replaced it for one year.   The Open Doors website noted, "North Korea is arguably the most dangerous place on earth to follow Jesus. If someone is discovered to be a Christian, the consequences are unimaginably stark: either imprisonment in one of its notorious labour camps, with little hope of release, or immediate execution. The same fate is likely to await other family members."  It also stated:

Recent years have seen conditions worsen further for North Korea’s secret believers. This is largely due to the ‘anti-reactionary thought law’, introduced in 2020, which made it even clearer that being a Christian and owning a Bible is regarded as a serious crime. The law has reinforced just how much of a threat Christianity is seen to be by the country’s unbending regime.

That report that was recently released indicates how devastating that "thought law" is.  The Christian Post article relates:

According to the report, which mapped 13 years of executions under Kim Jong-un, executions for religious and "superstitious folk" activities increased since the Anti-Reactionary and Thought Crime Law was enacted in 2020. The law criminalizes the viewing and dissemination of Western and South Korean content.

While death penalty cases for murder declined by 44.4% following the border closure, the report found that offenses related to foreign culture, religion, and “superstition” experienced the largest growth, increasing by 250% (from 4 to 14), while the number of condemned persons increased by 442.9% (from 7 to 38).

The President of Free North Korea Radio, Ji-Young Kim, who is also an escapee from North Korea, "recalled listening to an outside radio broadcast for the first time at the age of 13. In North Korea, listening to outside broadcasts is a 'dangerous choice,' the escapee said."   Listen to her words: “One of the most powerful forces for changing North Korea is not military force but information,” adding, “Information changes people, and changed people eventually change society. I am living proof of that.”  She is disappointed with the ceasing of broadcasts from South Korea into North Korea, which appears to be some sort of olive branch.  These broadcasts apparently included Christian programming.

But, Far East Broadcasting, as it stated on its website this past February, "...is now one of the final remaining evangelical radio programs that can still be heard in North Korea."  The site notes:

Although it’s difficult to determine exact figures, it’s estimated there are around 400,000 Christians in North Korea, despite the restrictions and persecution people face for practicing their faith. These brothers and sisters in Christ now have extremely limited ways to hear the Gospel in their heart language. With Bibles and evangelism banned in North Korea, the radio serves as a crucial way to reach the unreached.

We’ve had the honor of sitting down with a few North Korean escapees to hear their stories. One of them, Moses Yeon, told us, “It is almost impossible to share the Gospel with [North Koreans] in person…so radio is the best option...”

FEBC is continuing to be faithful to use radio to reach the people of North Korea and other parts of the world.  I am certainly grateful for fellow broadcasters who are opening hearts in closed countries through radio and satellite television.  Because, unfortunately,  you have nations that will block the Internet and isolate their people from the outside world.

It is the truth about that outside world that has stirred a sense of expectation in the minds of North Korea.  And, the truth of God's Word can bring real hope to people - that they can escape from despair and into the hope of Jesus.  The Bible says that His Word brings light. That may not mean physical escape, but it does mean that God will walk with those who embrace Christ and bring them joy in His presence day by day, even while facing persecution.  And, that becomes powerful to their friends and neighbors - that explains growing churches, even where the gospel is being suppressed by authorities.  There is great potential for God to move because hope is being spread.