Much, though not all, of the now-famous Crossing movie about North Korean refugees is based on the life of one Yu Sang Joon. The American team visiting Seoul in the summer of 2009 was privileged to be audience to this special man. Then my wife and I were blessed to be invited to his apartment later in the summer.

He was born in July 1963, in Chongjin, Hamgyung Bukto province, North Korea. Thirty years later he escaped to China with his son. He worked there two years seven months. Then he made his escape to the South. Not in his public testimony nor in our private interview did he ever mention family again. Even an innocent query into his earliest days and how his family life was then, brought only a one-sentence reference to the fact that there was no joy in that life either. His was a poor family. Both his parents have long since died. And the events that were in some way covered by the movie are hidden deep inside. Such pain.

In 2001 he was granted South Korean citizenship, and gained employment at a company there.

In 2003, he felt the inner call to help other North Koreans to come to safety. Eventually this sort of activity got him arrested. That was in 2007. He had been assisting some to get to the Mongolia border. Government assistance from America, Europe, and South Korea helped in his release.

We asked him why he continues to assist others in these dangerous places. His comment was that what people do depends simply on how interested they are. Interested people simply do these things. They may not be all excited about it. They just do it. Those who don't care, don't do. Echoes of the Biblical sentiment that "perfect love casts out fear."

He has often considered working in a regular job again, but friends who need his assistance in the ministry keep saying, please help us! He responds to the call and in spite of what seems to be failing health, greatly desires to be in this ministry and even be a bridge builder for other ministries.

Though wanting to see effective ministries, he himself does not participate with a particular group, preferring to work alone. Some things he has seen in the ministry of the church and para-church has turned him off. He feels that some are in it for the money, or the reputation. A bitterness has crept in. He's not into groups that "show off" or simply "talk."

Mr. Yu lives alone now, and much of his life has been characterized by this aloneness. Though he tells me that as many as 70 North Korean defectors live in the immediate vicinity, he rarely fellowships with them. There's an unrelated grandma that lives next door, calling him and other neighbors over for coffee almost every day. It happened while we were there. She also cares about his house and his plants when he must go on one of his mission trips to bless North Koreans in some way. Or when he is in prison.

He lives near a mountain that he climbs daily to start the day. He took his two American visitors on the trek that afternoon even though he had already been there himself that morning. We got, according to his estimate, about 1/5 of the way up before we cried for mercy, sat on some chairs that suddenly and happily appeared, then began the happier trek down.

For him, the mountain is essential to health, physical and mental. He gets away from the noise and traffic of Seoul and sits and walks alone for hours at a time, letting the cooler air ,the birds, the greenery, bring healing to a soul that has felt the winds of hell.

Mr. Yu struggles still in the area of faith. Your prayers are appreciated. In 1998 in China, while doing some farming work, the owner's aunt gave him a tract. His first reaction, a thought formed through many years of indoctrination, was, "This is superstition." He only believed what he could see.

In North Korea, there is a visible god, after all, false or not. There are pictures and statues of Kim everywhere. But who could ever believe in an invisible God? The thought that this unseen one could create the world, the whole concept of "Heaven," it was all too much.

But in 1999, in the summer, a Korean American missionary saw his living condition, formed a friendship with him, and gave his personal testimony. In addition, he left a booklet and a tape.

As he thought about this man praying for him so seriously, and for his son too, he was thankful, and his heart was strangely warmed.

He looked at the booklet, a description of South American missionaries. My, Christianity looked better than Communist philosophy. And the tape, it was about thankfulness, and loving others. Incredibly he felt very comfortable with it, realizing he had discovered some very good news. The missionary returned often, prayed with him, sought to win his heart.

The battle continues to rage, as he contemplates the realities of the heavenly world vs. the only world he has known as a citizen of North Korea. Though he attends a local church, it is only once a week, and his involvement in it stops there. His life, his cause, is North Korean ministry.

Mr. Yu coughed during his entire presentation and to a lesser degree with us. He does not present at first as one who is vigorous in physical or other health. (But don't try to match him in a mountain-climbing contest.)He has lost his family. He struggles with God. Yet he continues on striving to bless those who suffer as he has suffered.