He had heard from his wife about a huge collection of large individual sheets of paper, upon which had been laboriously copied the Holy Scriptures. That was the family Bible, and when necessity demanded, it could be very hard to hide . He was very touched by all this, and brought with him a Bible. A small Bible.

When my father was caught later, that Bible was found. Yes, he and the other several worshipers were arrested in the mid 1990's. Unbeknown to all, his customers, the real and the worshiping kind, had been recorded by means of a microphone planted in the house. Beyond that, it seemed strange to the secret police that certain people had tailoring needs at the same time every week.

Grandmother passed away two weeks later, from the trauma of it all.

Then it was that we found that that Korean-Chinese Pastor was looking for us. It happened in this way:

Some North Korean refugees came to his church in China. Kim Il Sung had died. The situation in North Korea was deteriorating.

"We came here because we are hungry," they said.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

They answered, and the pastor gave the refugees some money, with the instruction, "I know some people in that city. Do you know this family? I heard that a bunch of people got arrested for spying. If you see them, have them contact me."

Some of the refugees came to stay. But when he found people who were going back, he sent them to her house, with a cell phone and the invitation to call. When they showed up at my house, I denied any knowledge of the pastor, and also denied that I needed any assistance. I did not want to implicate myself in any way. My area was under surveillance constantly. I thought these people were spies.

But this happened several times. The pastor kept sending the same person my way. Finally, with nothing to lose, I admitted, "We are the ones you are seeking." I took the cell phone and headed for the top of a mountain, because the signal does not work any lower, and a phone meeting took place.

I was told that there were a lot of people who are going to die of hunger in North Korea. "Come to China!" The pastor told me that because I was young. I had a great opportunity to be educated and used.

And so my sister and I did indeed leave for that land, with Mom's blessing. We stayed in the pastor's house three months and then headed for South Korea, via the typical long route that people use. Then later, my mother and brother came also.

But my sister, well, we don't know. When crossing the Mongolia border, she was caught and sent back to North Korea. I had waited for my mom and brother three years. I was hoping my sister would come along with them. But she didn't. And my dad too has been out of our lives since that tragic day many years ago.