People often ask me, “Why do you send Bibles to North Korea when they could get people arrested or even killed?”
The answer is simple: We send them because our persecuted brothers and sisters continue to ask for them!
They know the risks, but they also know growing their relationship with Jesus Christ is worth it. Christians in North Korea are facing more persecution that you and I could ever imagine. But they still cry out for the Word of the Lord.
I’ve traveled to the North Korean border and heard the tragic stories of persecution. During one of my trips, I learned of a man whose story depicts just how cruel persecution in North Korea can be. To keep him safe, I’ll call him Eun. The story of his childhood is heartbreaking.
“There was one homework I wish I had never done,” he said.
One day, his third-grade teacher had announced that the students would have no homework that evening … but she did have one request.
“When you go home, I want you to look for a Book,” she said. “Normally [the Book] is black. Normally it’s hidden, and your mom or dad read it when you are asleep. If you look hard enough, you can find this Book. And if you bring it, we will honor you.”
Eun rushed home to look for the Book. Finally, he found it — his parents’ Bible. He proudly presented it to his teacher the next day and received a red scarf as a reward. But when he returned home to show the scarf to his parents, they were gone. They had been arrested … along with the parents of 14 other children who had been “honored” for completing the assignment.
Eun never saw them again.
Incredibly, when Eun grew up and heard the Gospel himself, he also accepted Christ as his Savior … even knowing what it had cost his parents and what it could cost him.
Unbelievable cruelty — like Eun’s family experienced — is still happening today to North Korean believers. And it could be enough to extinguish the underground church. But remarkably, it continues to grow! There are now at least 300,000 Christians in North Korea … but there aren’t nearly that many Bibles in the country.
When you provide North Korean believers with God’s Word, you will help them grow in their radical faith. You will be part of something incredible!
Can you imagine trying to grow in your faith without God’s Word? Or going through almost unbearable trials without being able to read your favorite verses of comfort? That’s the reality for our brothers and sisters living in the most spiritually dark country in the world.
North Korean Christians often share Bibles among family and trusted friends. They make handwritten copies of the Gospels to share with underground church members.
In Isaiah 55:11, God says that His Word “will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” That’s what you’re a part of when you help smuggle a Bible to a North Korean believer.
Please pray.
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Vernon Brewer is a cancer survivor and the author of “Why? Answers to Weather the Storms of Life.” He is also the founder and CEO of World Help, a Christian humanitarian organization.