Jim has become Kim. Jones is Jong. You know the rest. We ask as respectfully as we know how, is this the best way to get people to follow? Consider the Christ. Yes, people voluntarily want to hear more and more of His message once they catch on to how wonderful it is. You'll see believers with ipods and radios and computers pouring out the Gospel message into their souls. We understand the need for "hearing the message."

But when it is force-fed, involuntarily, what kind of creature is created, with what kind of worldview? Surely Jesus has never forced Himself on anyone, though His followers have been insistent at times, knowing the cost of leaving this world without sins forgiven.

Hyok Kang relates in This Is Paradise, "as we hoed, sowed, or harvested, we were subjected to a continuous flood of revolutionary songs, always very cheerful, broadcast by a propaganda lorry [truck] equipped with enormous loudspeakers."

Kang says there are very few vehicles in Onsong, North Korea. But three propaganda lorries. Besides hearing the propaganda in the fields, he had to listen all the way to and from school, and even at certain times during the school day. It buzzed through his head even when he wasn't hearing it. It was life for this youngster growing up.

Holidays were especially Kim-filled. Special days like the birthdays of the two Kims, "Foundation of the Party" Day, "Foundation of the Army" Day, and some of the more tradional celebrations, caused the lorries and speakers to proclaim the virtues of Juche all day long.

It is especially difficult for North Koreans to shake their attachment to their government even after escaping. Only the tragedies that have befallen these people added to the grace of God can overcome a life of one monotone message. That makes the salvation of a North Korean something special. And when such a citizen desires to go back to his land and preach Christ, as numbers have, the miracle increases.