Imagine four generations of Christians in one North Korean home. My great grandfather was a believer who paid for his faith in a much earlier Korea. He was arrested. I do not know all the details, but he did pass on the faith to his children...

My grandparents on my father's side lived under the harsh days of the Japanese occupation, in Pyongyang. Grandpa died early, but his wife, who knew the Lord, passed that knowledge on to her six children. Yes, times were tough, but it was still legal to share Christian faith with your children.

After the Japanese left and the Communists took over, she continued to tell them Bible stories, albeit secretly. She actually had a worship service in her home: Herself, another relative, and of course the six children. A fairly large congregation compared to North Korean groups today.

On my mother's side, my grandfather, also a Pyongyang resident, was asked to do something on his job that he could not conscientiously do, so his job was taken and he was sent to the northeastern province of Hamgyong Bukto, the very place where my paternal grandfather now lived.

The message the children received was, "Don't believe in Kim Jong Il & Kim Il Sung, only believe in God, because one day if you believe, you will go to Heaven."

My father was a "made to order" tailor, visited often by customers who came to our house for measuring. It was relatively easy to have worship gatherings under the guise of customer service. "Buyers" would come on Saturday, sleep over, and have Sunday worship the next day.

Now, under Kim Il Sung, North Koreans could go to China with a one to three month visa. It so happened that my aunt's mother-in-law actually lived in China. She attended a church there, whose pastor was ethnic Korean. The strange message came to that church that in North Korea there really were Christians, a fact not widely known then, so she and the pastor's wife came to visit our house.

Aunt and "somanim" stayed for about a month, then went back to China. Later, the Pastor came over with the aunt. His reaction, Ah! So there really are Christians here! He was so delighted.