When our first North Korean defector, Cathy walked into Elim House earlier this month, our missionaries prepared and fed her dinner. They asked her if they could pray for the meal, she agreed. They held her hands and prayed. She began to cry. She said that this was the very first time she was served a dinner by someone’s hands other than her mom. She barely ate anything.
She fell asleep in the clothes she had on her back. Our missionaries described her sleeping on the warm floor saying, “she was like a wet bird who had finally found shelter.”
For North Korean refugee women in China, South Korea represents both a safe harbor and a trap. It is a safe haven because, once their plane touches down in South Korea, they have human rights. They can no longer be bartered like a commodity. If they are taken advantage of for labor with no pay, there is a legal process for them.
South Korea is also a trap. North Korean women see it as a place where they might meet their dream man, a man who will love them and provide for their every need, according to experts we have spoken to on the ground. When this does not come to pass, something changes within them. It’s as if their dream turns into a nightmare. Some become suicidal. Some turn to a finely tuned prostitution industry that preys on their disillusionment. Others turn to men who can neither provide emotional or financial security. Most become obsessed with money.
Elim House was intended to help women like these, women who experienced the hellscape of North Korea only to be turned over into human trafficking in China. And then once again preyed upon in South Korea. We officially opened our doors on July 3 of this year but because of COVID-19, potential residents have been wary of entering a living situation with strangers. So Crossing Borders has taken this time to make vital repairs, deepen our roots in the North Korean defector community and receive further training on how to care for abused women. Early in October, our first client walked through our doors.
Cathy was found on a bridge over a river about to commit suicide. But before she could take that final plunge, the authorities were able to stop her. Her story was typical, sold in China and hoping for a new life full of riches and security in South Korea. But what met her was an abusive relationship. Her husband’s family in South Korea mistreated her and took her life’s savings. She was also victimized by her family in China.
She was homeless, broke and had nothing when she stepped on that bridge. All she has known in life has been people who exploited her and took from her. It will be different in Elim House. In the few short days of her stay, she heard the Gospel for the first time. For the first time, she heard about a man who covers her with His relentless love, a man her heart has been longing for.
In her first week at Elim House, Cathy accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.
Please pray for our first Elim House client, Cathy and for the many others who will enter its doors.
(From Dan Chung of Crossing Borders, Glenview, IL)
Who are they? They come over the border from their depressed land into a land of relative plenty. They come without permission. They get fake identities. They mingle with the population, trying to eke out an existence. They will work for almost...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
There are things that you and I will now discover together that the great dictator himself does not know about North Korea. The evil that he and his family have begun. The individual lives that he has ruined and sent out of this world far too...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Here's the conclusion to the story about some South Korean citizens who were born in North Korea and wanted to help others... I could not sleep all night. I wasn't just nervous, I was being constantly interrogated. The interrogators acted as...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Yet another story gained firsthand in Seoul this summer. May the Lord speak to you through these tales as to what your part is to be... I am a South Korean citizen, but I am from North Korea. I was arrested along with my husband for helping North...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Shall we continue telling the stories I heard this last summer? Sounds good to me! Here's a two part episode sure to warm your heart. Imagine four generations of Christians in one North Korean home. My great grandfather was a believer who paid for...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
These stories are for the strong in heart and faith. Because they are true, and because they are - in the natural - awful. Yet this one has some joy attached. Read on, and then please pray! So, Mrs. Kim loses two daughters - or does she ? Her...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
This is the story of mrs. Kim, received firsthand in Seoul just weeks ago. It will sound somewhat familiar. But in Heaven it is known individually and cherished with all the rest. If a sparrow doesn't fall unnoticed by the Heavenly Father, how...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Oops. Got taken away from my desk a few days. That's a story worth telling some day, but for now let's finish up with the anonymous North Korean girl whose life was disrupted because of her father's heritage... After I got out of the hospital,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Though we are back, the stories have not all been told. I'll keep posting what I have until you get the full picture of our summer. Her name is not important to the story, so please excuse that omission. My wife and I received this directly from a...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
