When Sun Lee defected to China in 2000, she believed she was leaving her native North Korea forever. Yet, while studying at an underground church seminary in China, the Lord began to impress upon her heart the desire to go back to her loved ones in North Korea and share with them the love of Jesus. But North Korean spies had been collecting information on her, so she was quickly arrested upon her return to her hometown. She was sent to Pyongyang for one month and then turned over to the Bowie Bureau, a special organization whose purpose is to protect Kim Jung Il. "The most difficult punishment," Sun Lee says, "was when I was required to sit in one position for twenty-four hours without moving." She described it as worse than a beating.

Sun Lee knew there was a reason she was imprisoned, but she couldn't see what it was. She prayed, "You brought me to China to get educated, and I believe you brought me to North Korea, but please do something!" Six months into her prison term, at a time of depression and still wondering why she was there, the Lord answered her question and her prayer. A new prisoner, named EJ, arrived. EJ soon learned from other prisoners that Sun Lee was there for religious reasons and even though prisoners were not allowed to talk with each other, EJ began whispering questions about God to Sun Lee. Sun Lee realized that God had brought her to prison so that she could share the gospel with this tortured soul.

EJ was a spy for the Bowie Bureau in China before she was caught trying to defect to South Korea. Suffering from guilt for sending so many families to prison, she wanted to know if God existed and if He could ever forgive her. Sun Lee told her about 1 John 1:9 which says that if we confess our sins He is faithful to forgive. She also shared other verses from memory with EJ. Though the process was slow, God was working in EJ's heart. EJ confessed all her sins before the Lord and then prison could no longer keep her captive; she was free in Christ.

One evening EJ had a dream and in her dream the Lord said, "I will bring Sun Lee out of prison." EJ was terrified and cried out "What about me? I cannot make it here by myself." Sun Lee asked the Lord what she could do for EJ before she was released. He directed her to write down some Scripture. There was no paper, so she used what she had on hand, toilet paper. She didn't have a pencil to write with either but EJ was able to smuggle one from the investigation room. Thus, Sun Lee began to write some Bible verses for her. She wrote out the Lord's Prayer, Isaiah 41:10, some hymns she had memorized, and some other verses that God brought to her mind. In all, she was able to write about ten verses.

When Sun Lee was finished, EJ attempted to return the pencil, but it fell from her pocket and the guard saw it. He was angry and he started shouting. EJ was weak from three days of fasting and she fainted during his tirade. She was taken to the doctor and eventually returned to the cell without injury. Sun Lee had been afraid that EJ would confess about the paper, but she had not. When Sun Lee asked her why, she replied, "You have risked your life to give it to me, so I will carry it with me wherever I go." Sun Lee asked God to forgive her for doubting EJ.

EJ feared Sun Lee's imminent release, so Sun Lee asked God to show Himself to EJ in a dream and help strengthen her faith. He did and in the dream, two angels showed her a book, which was the Bible. They also showed her that Sun Lee's time of release was at hand. Sun Lee received a similar dream. She prayed for her release in one week's time if it were the Lord's will. Because of the dream EJ had, and the incident with the pencil, she was ready to let Sun Lee go. Her faith had become her own. The end of that week came on a Sunday, a day that no business took place. However, on this particular Sunday, the Superior Bureau people came and prepared papers for Sun Lee to sign (agreeing to be mute about her time in prison), and after she signed them she was released. It had been one year.

During her time in prison, God gave Sun Lee the desire to speak to the free world about the corruption in North Korea, and after defecting to China again, she waited for God's leading. She received a call from a pastor asking her to come to South Korea, and she prayed for God's direction. Three days later, a broker the pastor had hired called and said it was time to go...and she left within a few hours.

Since arriving in South Korea in 2006, Sun Lee seeks opportunities to speak her testimony and share the plight of the North Koreans with others.

The Bible says that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. God also says through Isaiah His prophet "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing to which I sent it."

These verses bring such a promise of hope because we know that whenever we open God's Word, God has His divine hand on that moment. Anytime we feel discouraged or we want to know more about what God has for us, we can easily pick up God's word and begin to read. This best-seller of all time, this life-changing book, the very words of God (!) ... at our fingertips.

This book so easily placed in our hands is almost entirely unavailable to North Koreans. Every page placed within their hands is a treasure that must be read in secret, memorized, and prized.

Sun Lee didn't have a Bible to share with EJ; she didn't even have one to read for herself. Everything she had was from her memory, and everything that EJ had rested on a piece of toilet paper. Unfortunately, this is the status of most Bibles in North Korea. North Korean Christians long to have God's word in their hands to study, to disciple others, and to share with others the hope of Jesus Christ.

Well, thanks to the partnership of Seoul USA and SDOK, this dream can finally be a reality. These two ministries have collaborated to print and distribute the first North Korean dialect Bible ever-completed for mass production.

During the 1970s, a North Korean Bible Scholar created a complete translation of the Scriptures in the North Korean dialect. This translation is widely regarded (by the United Bible Societies, the Korean Bible Society, and the Korean Language Scholars Society) as the best Korean translation of the Bible, but it has never been widely distributed. This Bible will be edited and reduced in dimensions so that it can be printed in portable and conveniently-sized copies. This will be the first time a full North Korean dialect Bible will be printed in mass quantity.

This project will directly benefit five thousand Christians in North Korea, and five thousand North Koreans visiting China on business or relative visas, as well as an estimated fifty thousand underground Christians or potential Christians in North Korea whom these original recipients will either teach or impact.

Imagine the power of God's Word sweeping the nation, touching lives, and shining forth the truth. The lives that see the light can never be the same again. Pray that many are reached and that God will accomplish a great work in North Korea and in the lives of those who serve Him.

"Oh how sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth" are the words of David the Psalmist. He also says "Your words are a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

Lord, let Your sweetness permeate North Korea and let Your light and Your word chase away the darkness and illuminate the way for those in the shadows.