How Ellie (엘리) Found Refuge #GivingTuesday2023

In the fall of 2022 we welcomed another refugee into Elim House. We call her “Ellie.” Ellie moved to South Korea in 2005 and scratched out a living as a restaurant worker. Her husband became abusive as a result of a mental illness, according to Ellie. She was so miserable that she attempted suicide. Finally, she asked around if there was any other place for her to live.

“I don’t want to divorce him. I just need a break,” she told our staff when she first arrived at our women’s shelter. Elim House was the resting place she needed. According to Ellie, her husband had psychological problems and was delusional. She also shared  that her husband’s brother had severe mental health issues, which was the cause of his death in North Korea.

As a part of the daily rhythms at Elim House, Ellie began doing Bible studies with our social workers. Ellie’s curiosity about Christianity grew and she even wondered why she didn’t consider the Bible more seriously in the past. Her daughter had previously become a Christian and Ellie was exposed to Christianity but was not convinced.

After spending three months at Elim House and receiving counseling, Ellie’s heart softened. She said that Elim House is like going to her mother’s home, a place where she felt safe. During the week, she would read the Bible with our social worker. She was fascinated by the book of Proverbs and said that it felt like every line was written for her. One Sunday she decided that she wanted to follow Christ and that she wanted to be baptized.

North Koreans like Ellie carry with them a tremendous amount of trauma from their difficult lives in South Korea but also from their time in China, where most have been sold, and their time in North Korea. Ellie carried this trauma into Elim House.

She shared a story about a public execution she saw in person. Often, public executions in North Korea were mandatory viewing. One man was caught with a Bible. Later, a cross was found hanging in his basement. The man’s last words were, "God saved me, not Kim Il Sung.” He barely got his last words out before he was shot dead.

The temporary separation from his wife made Ellie’s husband reconsider how he had treated her. She told us that he was willing to do anything to have her back, even go to counseling. She decided to give their marriage another try. And through most of 2023, it seemed as if they were doing well.

Ellie attended our summer retreat and her life seemed stable. When she came back in September for our Chuseok retreat,it was then that we saw the weight of her marriage on her. She was sad and broken. Shortly after the retreat, Ellie told our social worker that her husband asked for a divorce. She longed for the days when she lived at Elim House and has even considered moving back temporarily.

She is currently going through the legal process of divorce in South Korea. She and her husband are dividing up their assets and her heart is broken. Elim House was a short time in Ellie’s life. It became a place of rest for her amidst the tumult of her life. But most importantly, it was a place where she had a true encounter with the Lord. Though she came to find temporary refuge from her difficult marriage, she found her true refuge in God. Though the circumstances of her life are materially no different from when she first came through our doors, the radical transformation God did in her heart will carry her through the difficulties of her divorce.

This holiday season, please consider making a contribution to this work. Not only will you be providing physical refuge, you will also be providing a platform to share about spiritual refuge in Christ.

Julianne's Respite and Community #GivingTuesday2023

Julianne (center) at Elim House.

Julianne was urgently admitted into Elim House this past July after learning that her husband had committed suicide. She was 41 years old and had been married for about a year.

She came from an affluent family in North Korea. Her father was a high ranking executive and her mother traveled frequently to China for business. Julianne had traveled alone to China during the 2022 Beijing Olympics but due to tightening of Chinese borders, she was unable to return home. Having enough money to get herself to Thailand, she was able to defect to South Korea by way of Bangkok. This defection was both unplanned and unexpected, and it still makes her miss her family and home in North Korea. Julianne’s face lights up and her voice gets excited when she speaks of her home.

Once in Korea, she fell victim to financial fraud, was betrayed by several different men, and experienced much hardship. Julianne was with her husband for three years before they married, which was against the wishes of her in-laws. Her husband had foreign business in Cambodia that had failed recently. After the business closed, they didn't leave their house much over the course of a year, which was extremely trying. She needed to get out and wanted to be alone so she took a solo trip for ten days. Julianne said she intentionally ignored her husband’s calls while on this trip. Her husband was known to be anxious, often thinking she might abandon him and run away. He also became violent when Julianne broached the subject of breaking up. It was during her time away that her husband took his own life. She said they had lived through and endured much hardship together but she never suspected it would end this way.

Julianne believed that if she had returned earlier, her husband would not have died. She says that her husband's death was her fault and that she didn’t think she could go on living with the agony he left her by ending his own life. To make matters worse, her in-laws refused to let her be a part of the funeral because they had always been against their marriage.

We learned that Julianne had regularly listened to sermons and worship music with her husband as he came from a Christian family. Julianne joined our regular Sunday worship services at Elim House during her time with us. Upon arriving at Elim House, Julianne suffered with insomnia, chest pains, lack of energy, no appetite and constantly feeling lethargic. The other women living at Elim House when Julianne arrived cooked for her, spent time hearing her story and encouraged her. Within a couple of weeks, she had found enough stability and strength to go inquire with government agencies about getting emergency financial assistance and even began to look for how she might support herself.

Women like Julianne serve as a reminder that Jesus is our only refuge in times of trouble. We are so thankful for the folks who referred Julianne to Elim House during her turmoil. She was able to find respite and community during her stay with us. Julianne moved out just three short weeks after arriving. Her time with us was brief but we continually pray that the seeds of hope planted in her will be watered by others and that she will one day find her rest in Jesus.

Would you consider partnering with us this Giving Tuesday to help more North Korean refugees who struggle to find help and hope?

A Mother's Love - Elim House Summer Retreat 2023

Last summer, we piloted our first summer retreat for current and past residents of Elim House. God graciously provided the group last year with a time of rest, delicious food, hours of laughter, vulnerability and shoulders to cry on. Our team returned to Korea this June for two weeks to serve at Elim House and Elim Community. They taught English and workout classes, spent time cooking for and ministering to the women at Elim House and finished the trip with our second summer retreat. 

This is the second year for Jacob, one of our team members, and his family to make this summer trip. The main difference this year was having his mother-in-law, Hannah, join the team. Hannah has faithfully followed Jesus for many decades and through many trials. She had always wanted to experience being on a missions trip and the Lord finally allowed that to happen this summer. 

Hannah’s presence was immediately felt, not just by the women at Elim House but by our South Korea team as well. She was quick and constant with her words of encouragement and affirmation with everyone she encountered. As a first generation Korean American, Hannah had no trouble communicating with everyone at Elim House. She lovingly held the hands of our Elim House residents and as she heard their stories, prayed over them and consoled them. As an experienced restaurateur while living in the States, Hannah blessed the women by cooking and sharing meals with the women of Elim House.

Eight North Korean women attended this year’s summer retreat. Though it was her first time at one of our retreats, Hannah was intentional in getting to know the women and was often seen spending one-on-one time with many of them. She had heard about North Korean refugees through Jacob and Crossing Borders in the past. But now face to face with this group of women, she was hungry to learn about each of their stories. As she listened, she cried with the women, encouraging them to hope in the Lord with their own lives and with the fate of their loved ones still in China and North Korea.

The second day of the retreat started with Hannah’s home cooking and visits to a few key locations along the Northern Limit Line, which divides the North Korean coast from South Korea’s five coastal islets near Incheon. As the group visited these sites that look towards North Korea, one stop included an unexpected chorus of a well known reunification song while another stop finished with raising hands towards North Korea as the group cried out to God to heal the land.

Looking towards North Korea, the women who attended the retreat prayed together for their homeland.

As their time in Korea drew to a close with the ending of the retreat, with tears in their eyes, each of the women took turns embracing Hannah to say goodbye and insisted that she come back next year. We knew God would use Hannah to show love and compassion to the North Korean women on this trip. Yet, we were still amazed to see how deeply the women were impacted by her loving presence and her steadfast faith.

Elim House Summer Retreat, June 2023

A mother’s love is precious and irreplaceable. We’re so thankful for God’s providence and provision in sending Hannah to Korea this year. We pray Hannah and other moms will bless future trips to Elim House.

Jessica (An Elim House Resident)

Jessica with other North Korean refugees.

Through Elim House, we have had the chance to see a wide range of needs of North Korean refugees. Jessica came to us in December of 2022 and, unlike the other refugees who we’ve met, she did not have a great financial need. Instead, she came to us because of her emotional state. She said that she needed the emotional support of a community that cares for her.

It is unclear how she has made her money and it seems as if she doesn’t work much. Her backstory changes on a daily basis and it does seem like she has some emotional trauma. She spends hours and hours each week with our staff. Through this time, it is our hope that she would know that she is loved by God and that she would get the emotional help that she needs. 

In North Korea, Jessica’s father worked near the Demilitarized Zone where he made missiles for the regime, and as a result, her family lived well. When her mother passed away, Jessica’s father turned to alcohol. He eventually remarried to a woman he met through an acquaintance and ultimately quit working.

Jessica, who was attending college in Pyongyang at the time, was forced to return home. She worked and supported eight children, including three of her stepmother’s kids. Jessica got into the business of selling copper in North Korea. She eventually expanded her trade to China. She also acquired goods from China and sold them in North Korea and made a small fortune, she said. However, her father stole money from the company Jessica did business with and fled, which complicated her work relationships. 

Before Jessica’s grandmother passed away, it was revealed that Jessica’s father was not her biological father. Her biological father was a Korean-Japanese man. The father that she knew was in reality her step father. Jessica's mother had once lived in Japan. After marrying Jessica’s biological father, Jessica’s mother became pregnant, and Jessica's maternal grandmother took the whole family to North Korea, including Jessica's mother. Her birth father decided to defect from North Korea at the age of 26 as his work became difficult.

When Jessica’s mother came to North Korea, she did not know she was pregnant. She gave birth to Jessica after remarrying. Jessica was physically abused by her step father when she was young, and as she grew up, this built in her a hatred towards men, she said.

As Jessica got older, she had made friends with military influence (including some Ministry of State Security officers) which allowed her to cross over to China frequently. But eventually, an acquaintance betrayed her and handed her over to traffickers in exchange for double the going rate. According to Jessica there are too many “trashy people,” a phrase she repeats when she recalls her past experiences. 

There were many times in China when she was betrayed and victimized by other North Koreans. In the early days of her life in China, there were times when she was taken to North Korea while helping other North Koreans. She was also sexually abused on multiple occasions. Jessica said that there were many unimaginable things in her past.

She was sold to a handicapped Chinese man who had no feet, became pregnant, and ran away from the house when her child was just two years old. But, because of her concern and care for her son, she visited every few months to see her baby and brought provisions. She lived a hard life in China for 10 years and eventually bought a fake identity.

In an attempt to escape from China to Korea, she spent six months in Vietnam and another six months in Cambodia. Life was extremely challenging in those two countries but she said she had to endure because of her desire to live.

Jessica eventually made it to South Korea in 2010 at the age of 38. While government assistance allowed her to receive housing, she hired people to help find relatives from her biological father’s side of the family in Japan. She waited six months in South Korea until she was authorized to have a passport and left immediately for Japan as soon as it was issued.

This is just a glimpse into Jessica’s life before she settled in Japan for several years and ultimately returned to South Korea. Like most North Korean women who come to Elim House, Jessica’s past is filled with suffering and pain. As the details of her story change from one telling to the next and our observations from other similar encounters is that it is a form of a survival skill for many North Koreans. We hope Jessica stays for a while and is receptive to the help we can offer her through counseling and with the healing love of Jesus.

Why Elim Community is Needed for Refugees

North Korean refugee women painting verses from Psalm 23 during our 2022 Fall Retreat

For the better part of 2022, Elim House housed one resident. It wasn’t from a lack of marketing our safehouse to our network in South Korea. In speaking with other organizations and government workers involved in helping North Korean refugees, it was the broader trend this year.

As the entire world recovered from the pandemic, South Korea took several steps to relax their stringent travel restrictions. This enabled our US team to make four separate trips throughout the year. Our missionaries are on the ground at the time of this writing. Having such a low number of residents gave us new opportunities as teams started to arrive in South Korea. With added manpower, we were able to test new ideas to bring refugees together, both past residents and those who were new to our network.

classes and retreats

Refugees joined us for free exercise classes, conversational English classes and overnight retreats. It started out as a means of providing access to classes and getaways that North Korean refugees typically wouldn’t go to on their own. We were overwhelmed by how grateful participants were, not only in being able to attend, but in just being able to spend quality time with other refugees. People shared about their lives to one another and we witnessed the depth of pain and lingering trauma in them. Many of the refugees stepped up to encourage and build one another up. But it didn’t end there. Retreats gave all of us more time together, and there, we all shared, listened, cried and prayed together. We saw community start to form and healing start to happen.

A woman we call Mary attended one of our classes this fall. During a meal after class, Mary opened up about how she suffers from long term effects of trauma. Any loud noise or the sound of sirens triggers panic attacks and her condition is so severe that she can no longer take care of her child. We were touched by her vulnerability with this group but even more amazed when another refugee consoled her and shared about how counseling had helped her deal with her own trauma.

The more events we put on, the more our eyes were opened to the reality that North Korean refugees in South Korea lack community. They are a people who feel like they don’t belong and therefore, stay out of situations that might draw attention to themselves. This includes not going to a local fitness studio or a Subway sandwich shop because they don’t know the right questions to ask. A refugee woman shared after a retreat that she had wanted to try a cafe latte for a long time but never knew how to properly order one and so she just went without. Many have also been burned by religious groups including cults and simply avoid organized religion altogether. 

elim community

We are excited at this unique and wonderful opportunity that God has given us. Elim House will continue to house women in need of shelter and protection. We are thankful for two new  residents this fall and many other inquiries. ELIM COMMUNITY, which is what we’re calling our community events, will invite North Korean refugees into community by way of classes, workshops and retreats. As we reach more refugees through Elim Community, we hope to create the time and space that encourages friendships to be kindled and a loving and supportive community to be built.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2

Would you prayerfully consider helping us build this community where North Korean refugees can heal from their trauma and Christ’s love is shared?

Rest for Your Souls

Praying for Nancy at Elim House.

Nancy was referred to Elim House by a local Hana Center as she needed to remove herself from a toxic situation with a former boyfriend. He was convinced that she was cheating on him and to prove him wrong, she attempted to end her life by swallowing an excessive amount of sleeping pills in front of him. According to Nancy, he had also tracked her whereabouts by installing a secret app on her phone.

A pastor from her church told us that before Nancy met this man, she was active in the church and did not show signs of exhaustion. She came to us completely drained of energy and spirit. Upon arrival, Kelly and Michelle, the other two residents currently at Elim House, welcomed Nancy in and prepared dinner for her with dumplings, potatoes and vegetables.

Within a week of her stay, Nancy sought out a psych evaluation at the hospital and asked to be admitted if possible due to potential mental issues. Our social workers grew increasingly aware that Nancy’s mental issues seemed to be more severe than they initially thought as she settled in at Elim House. The doctor who evaluated Nancy gave her the option to be admitted and also prescribed her medication. Nancy chose to start taking her medication and to return to Elim House. For her own safety and the safety of others at Elim House, our team kept close watch over her.

Last Sunday, Nancy voluntarily asked to be discharged from Elim House as she plans to be admitted to the hospital in about a month. Her stay was just a few short weeks but she had developed a good relationship with other residents and staff in that time. Nancy’s time with us came to a close at our weekly Sunday worship as the other residents and our team lovingly covered her in prayer and blessings. While we desire to have gone deeper with Nancy, given the mental issues she struggled with, we know she needs to be under the care of trained professionals who can properly treat her.

Many residents, like Nancy, only stay for a few weeks. We don’t know if they’ll come back or if our paths will ever cross again. But we hope the time that they spend at Elim House leaves an indelible impression of God’s sabbath, his holy rest. Our prayer is for Nancy to receive the ongoing treatment she needs to get better physically, emotionally and spiritually.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. - Psalm 46:1

No Coincidences - How Michelle Found Us Twice

Michelle in South Korea,

The work of Crossing Borders often begs the question, “what are the odds?” What are the odds that we would have been able to do this work for close to two decades? What are the odds that our presence in China is still going strong, despite overwhelming constraints? What are the odds that we have been shielded from persecution as we do this highly risky and illegal work?

Last week we encountered another situation that begged this same question when we welcomed our newest Elim House resident “Michelle.”

Michelle grew up in North Korea, a daughter of a single father. Her mother passed away when she was young. After finishing fifth grade, she went to work at the local coal mine. She said that she enjoyed this work very much and remembers it as the happiest time of her life. After she got married, she left her job as a coal miner but she said her marriage was miserable because her husband was “lazy and violent.”

After years of suffering with her husband, Michelle begged him for a divorce. He did not grant it to her so she left him and fled to a nearby town where she found a job. She met another man and moved in with him and lived happily for a year. She was “caught” by the authorities after a year. Her crime was that she was living with a man to whom she was not married. She was sent to a prison camp for one year.

She was released in 2003 and soon after escaped to China. She was sold immediately after she reached the Chinese border. She lived in China for 16 years and suffered greatly while living with this man who was an alcoholic. Though a missionary introduced her to the Lord during her stay there, she found it hard to practice her faith as she dealt with the stresses of an abusive husband and her status as an illegal economic migrant.

She decided to take another chance and escape China via the Underground Railroad in 2019. Little did she know that 2019 would be the last year the Underground Railroad would function. In 2020 the pandemic would shut it down. Michelle was among the last of the 34,000 refugees who resettled to South Korea.

In 2021 she found out that she had stomach cancer. She received treatment for her cancer and is currently recovering. She lived by herself. New to the country, she didn’t have a community. Adjusting to life in a new country with new freedoms is challenging in itself; to do so during a pandemic was extremely difficult. She said that she was extremely lonely. She found out about Elim House through her local Hana Center, a place where refugees are connected to counseling and other resources to help them adjust to South Korea.

After our social workers in South Korea got Michelle’s information and story, they sent it to our missionaries along with a photograph. Our missionary Jenny saw the picture and couldn’t shake the feeling that she might have met Michelle somewhere. This nagging feeling kept Jenny up that night. The next morning Jenny scoured her photographs taken in South Korea but did not find a picture of Michelle. Then she went back in her archives to her time in China. Finally, she connected the dots. Michelle was actually under the care of Crossing Borders in China. Jenny found a picture of Michelle that was taken in 2017.

Michelle (3rd from right) in China with caretakers and other refugees.

Jenny remembers Michelle as a very energetic and happy person. They met in a rural town in China and shared times of great fellowship. They ate lots of Korean rice cake that another refugee had prepared for them. They worshiped together and played games. When they played games, Michelle couldn’t play because she was laughing so hard, Jenny said.

The lives of North Korean refugees in China are often transient. One day Michelle left without a word. We assumed she took the Underground Railroad. When refugees leave like this, it is hard to reconnect with them. We assumed we would never hear from Michelle again.

What are the odds that we would meet Michelle, one of the tens of thousands of North Korean refugees hiding in the most populous country in the world? What are the odds that she would safely leave China and then find us in the bustling urban sprawl of South Korea? We know that in life there are no real coincidences. Michelle was brought back to us for a reason. What that reason is has yet to be revealed to us or to Michelle.

All we know for sure is that God weaves his beautiful plan in our lives. We are excited to see what he has in store for Michelle.

Restore More: Spiritually

In the beginning

Kelly at Elim House.

Kelly had never heard of Jesus prior to arriving at Elim House this fall. She is 58 years old and in all of her time in North Korea nor in China, where she lived for almost 20 years, she had never heard of Christianity. Upon arriving at Hanawon, South Korea’s reeducation facility for new refugees, North Korean defectors are required to include their religious beliefs in the documentation. Kelly has been a buddhist for a while but wasn’t sure what “religion” even meant as she filled out her forms.

Hanawon is a government organization and is not affiliated with any specific religion. Volunteers from various faiths are allowed to visit and hold services on weekends for North Korean refugees. Since becoming aware of this topic of religions, Kelly had been very curious about what all of the other options were aside from buddhism. No one had told her about Jesus or the gospel message even in the four years she has been a South Korean resident.

 About a month into her stay with us at Elim House, our missionaries brought a bible and hymn book to Kelly and led her in a time of worship. They read from Genesis 1:1 and talked about how God created the world. Never having been confronted with an alternative to the theory that man had evolved from  monkeys, Kelly was highly engaged as they read through the rest of the first chapter of Genesis.

Kelly’s Buddhist calendar.

Escaping North Korea

Kelly fled North Korea in 1998. Her family started feeling the impact of starvation in 1994 and within four years, it had become a widespread devastation. As all the members of her family foraged and scoured for food, Kelly had to walk over dead bodies on the road. The government was unable to clean up the dead bodies quickly because the famine caused so much death, she said. But starvation made the North Korean people numb to constant death. Kelly and her youngest sister eventually decided to cross the river into China to escape the famine.

Kelly was 36 years old and her sister was 24 when they entered China. It broke her heart to be sold and separated from her sister. Kelly’s face was covered in sadness when she told us that she was also raped by a broker several times.

“Like everyone else,” she said.

Suffering

During the time Kelly was married to a disabled Chinese man who bought her, she worked in the Harbin area where winter temperatures dropped to -25 F. She did hard manual labor cutting down and hauling big trees. She became pregnant but she didn’t want to have a child at that time because she had to focus all of her strength on work to support her family. She ended up having an abortion at a nearby rural hospital, which led to complications that required more surgeries. After some time, Kelly went to have her appendix removed at a bigger urban hospital and was told by the doctors that it was a miracle that she was still alive. The doctors at the rural hospital had caused a lot of damage to her internal organs.

As our missionaries spent more time and heard more of Kelly’s stories, they realized that not one part of her body is normal anymore due to the amount of suffering she endured.  When her daughter was in high school, she urged Kelly to leave China for South Korea so she could stop living a life filled with so much pain and agony. Her daughter had read online that her mom would be able to receive free medical care and surgeries if she made it to South Korea. Kelly’s daughter is the only reason why she was able to leave China and make it safely to South Korea.

Kelly sharing a meal with Elim House caretakers.

Good News

After their first session of worshipping together, our missionaries asked Kelly about her thoughts on the hymns they sang. While sheepishly sharing about being tone deaf, Kelly said she was glad she was able to follow along and expressed that the words were good for her heart. Kelly appeared very receptive when she had a chance to hear the gospel message from the missionaries and seemed to wonder why no one had ever told her this before.

John wrote in 1 John 1:15 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” It is fairly common to see a darkness in North Korean refugees. What a joy it is when we have the opportunity to proclaim the good news and see God’s light begin to penetrate the layers of darkness built up over years of hardship and suffering.

Restore More

“Restore More” is our focus for this Giving Tuesday. Through Elim House, our aim is to restore more North Korean women in 2022, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He is the hope of restoration for all of the North Korean refugee women we encounter. Our goal is to raise $45,000 towards meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of more North Korean women and their children living in South Korea who may never otherwise hear the good news of Jesus and his call to put their hope in Him.

Restore More: Emotionally

Eunice (right) playing games with other Elim House residents.

Crossing the Yalu River

Eunice is 30 years old and recently left Elim House after we helped her secure a new apartment, one that her assailant would not know about. She came to us at the end of 2020 with a history of emotional and sexual trauma. She arrived in China in the summer of 2015 after claiming to fall asleep on the North Korea side of the Yalu River and waking up while being rescued by an elderly woman on China’s side of the river. She told us about being trapped in a relationship with a Chinese man for several years. This man kept her locked in the house out of fear of her running away. Eunice was forced to have sex with him regularly and became pregant but later miscarried after being physically abused by the same man.

She met a missionary who paid to get her safely to South Korea by way of Thailand. Eunice doesn’t clearly recall how she got to Thailand or how long she was there. She suffered from frequent nightmares. She was also exposed to the gospel during her time in Thailand. The constant nightmares even drove Eunice to pray for God to end her life. Much of what she shared with us about her time was disjointed but there was no suspicion by our team that she was intentionally being deceitful. Similar to many other North Korean refugees we’ve helped, it pointed to the severity of trauma she had lived through.

Arriving at Elim House

Upon graduating from Hanawon in 2018, she was able to reconnect with her missionary benefactor to whom she was eternally grateful for getting her to South Korea. To her shock, he had changed into a completely different person and had even left the church, by the time they met face-to-face. He turned from being a father figure to Eunice to a sexual predator, assaulting her for close to a year. She became pregnant and ultimately had an abortion. The thought of having his baby was more than she could bear. She was afraid, angry, couldn’t keep her mind focused, had thoughts of suicide and eventually called a police woman who had helped her in the past. This is how Eunice was ultimately referred to Elim House.

Imagine a lifetime of oppression, sexual, physical and emotional abuse further compounded by having to adapt to a completely foreign and the fast-paced culture of South Korea. Her age may be 30 but Eunice's cognitive level and her maturity do not reflect her age. She is quick to blame her forgetfulness to shirk responsibilities and has a tough time navigating through stressful situations.

Hana Foundation’s annual Settlement Survey of North Korean Refugees in South Korea from 2020 reported again that North Korean refugees living in South Korea experience suicidal impulses at a rate that is more than double that of South Korean natives, 13 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. This rate increased almost 5 percent from 2019 to 2020 for North Korean refugees.

Whether the respondent experienced any suicidal impulse

Looking deeper into the data shows that 14.4 percent of North Korean refugee women experienced suicidal impulses, which is 70 percent more than that of North Korean men (8.5 percent). The leading reason cited by refugee women is “physical or mental illness or disorder” at 30 percent.

Experience of and reasons for any suicidal impulse

Rescue from Loss

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

The word “redeem” came up during a Bible study of Galatians 4:4-5, which was a foriegn concept to our Elim House residents, including Eunice. As the Holy Spirit worked in their hearts, they were able to relate it to their experience of being sold to Chinese men as forced brides, like slaves. Their eyes lit up as they made this connection and they completely froze. The women understood the weight of enslavement more than most people because of their painful past experiences. The Greek word for “redeem” used in Galatians 4:5 can be translated as “ransom or rescue from loss”. It was amazing to see the idea click in the minds of these women who at that moment knew exactly what it meant to be redeemed.

Like most Elim House residents, Eunice was scheduled to meet regularly with a therapist who specializes in counseling North Korean refugees. Though she’s living on her own now, we pray that Eunice will continue her counseling and work towards healing the painful wounds of her past. Eunice’s story is a tragic example of how great the emotional damage is for many North Koreans who have walked in her same shoes.

Eunice at her new apartment.

Restore More

“Restore More” is our focus for this Giving Tuesday. Through Elim House, our aim is to restore more North Korean women in 2022, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Isaiah 26:3 says “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” This is our continued prayer for women who have suffered as Eunice did. Our goal is to raise $45,000 this Giving Tuesday so that we can help meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of more North Korean women and their children living in South Korea who may never otherwise experience the perfect and healing peace of God and to put their trust in Him.

Restore More: Physically

Kristine having a meal with other refugees at Elim House.

Kristine came to Elim House with the physical markings of abuse: bruises and scars. She ran away from her husband who was regularly beating her and her two teenage boys. This man refused counseling and held her boys hostage so that he could receive government benefits, which left deep psychological wounds in her boys as confirmed by a counselor.

Kristine, like 80 percent of North Korean refugees like her, was also sold in China’s expansive sex trade.

A study published in April 2021 by School of Social Welfare at Yonsei University, “showed that victims of human trafficking and sexual assault during their journey to South Korea were at a greater risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in South Korea.” This study analyzed a sample of adult North Korean refugee women to better understand the “possible link between or co-occurrence of acts of sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated against NK refugee women.” This field of research is relatively nascent and we’re encouraged to see more work starting in this area.

Physical Abuse

Many Elim House residents are victims of intimate partner violence, some coming to us severely beaten and bruised. During her time at Elim House, Kristine was brutally attacked by her partner when she unexpectedly ran into him while dropping off her boys at his apartment. Based on the study cited above and knowing that 80 percent of the refugee women in China have been trafficked, it is both sad yet not surprising to encounter such a high percentage of North Korean women who have been subjected to violence and abuse.

Sexual Abuse

Eunice came to Elim House in December 2020 to flee from a man who had sexually assaulted her over the course of a year. He was also the same man who had helped pay for her escape from China to Korea and was someone she looked to as her benefactor and father-figure. After confronting him, Eunice needed temporary shelter while making arrangements with government aid organizations to help her find a new apartment, one that this man would not know about. She was with us for almost six months and during her time at Elim House, we were able to connect her to counseling services to address the trauma she had lived through.

Kristine during a special midnight worship.

Housing Insecurity

Kelly, who came to us in October, works as a janitor at a local library. She was homeless and had secretly been sleeping at her place of work, constantly in fear of being found out and fired. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence among North Korean refugees who might arrive at Elim House after finishing their stay at government run facilities or halfway homes after being released from prison.

We’re happy to share that within the first few weeks of her stay at Elim House, Kelly has started the process to get own apartment. There are many more steps ahead of her with the need to provide the right documents to get the assistance she needs. If all goes well, she may have her own place in about eight months.

Financial Insecurity

Kristine, who came to meet and trust Jesus during her time at Elim House, was faced with financial harassment and a lawsuit from people with whom she did business with in South Korea. She was sued by someone whom she employed at one point that had later taken advantage of her small business. He was reported to the police and spent time in jail as a result. However, upon release, he sued Kristine to be compensated for his termination (which is standard practice in Korea) and the court sided with the employee. Like many refugees in South Korea, Kristine earns a living performing unskilled work at local small businesses, which makes it difficult to climb out of large amounts of debt.

Types of Jobs

Even North Korean refugees who aren’t experiencing constant financial duress feel a sense of financial insecurity, mainly driven by the desire to have more money. A few of our residents have corroborated that North Korean women in South Korea are recruited by people in the US with offers of temporary and traveler’s visas to work in America. They’re lured with opportunities to make six-figures in a few months working in the sex trade. Because most of these women were sold from North Korea to Chinese men or families, the sad reality is that they don’t think much about their involvement in prostitution, especially it it means the prospect of making a small fortune.

Kristine (second from left) at an outing with refugees and caretakers.

Restore More

“Restore More” is our focus for this Giving Tuesday. Through Elim House, our aim is to restore more North Korean women in 2022, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:12 that we are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” and that we bear the image of our creator (3:9).

Our goal is to raise $45,000 this Giving Tuesday which will cover Elim House operations for six months. We are prepared to house and serve up to 40 North Korean refugee women in crisis in 2022. Will you help us meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of more North Korean women and their children living in South Korea who may never otherwise be confronted by the love of Christ and comprehend their inherent value.

How God Prepared Cindy to be a Social Worker at Elim House

Cindy, our Elim House Social Worker, hard at work

Meet Cindy, our first team member in South Korea and Elim House’s social worker

Korea requires a licensed social worker to be on staff for a shelter for abused women like Elim House. We shared in February that God had brought us a candidate who was a pastor’s wife and had served North Korean refugees in her church for the past three years. She goes by “Cindy” and has been a huge blessing to both our Elim House residents and our missionaries. We had a chance to sit down with Cindy to get to know her better and ask her a few questions why she chooses to serve North Korean refugees.

What made you want to work with NK refugees?

While working with my husband at our church, I met North Korean refugee women and their children. I came to know their pain and life situations and realized that no one seemed to really understand them. But I was sure that God’s love could heal them just like God’s love did not give up on me. With that hope I was able to start working with them.

How has God prepared you for your role at Elim House?

Through serving in the children’s ministry and a ministry helping with resettlement of North Korean refugees at Onnuri Church, we got to know more about the lives of North Koreans in South Korea, including their culture and the harsh realities they face. At first it was shocking to me and I felt helpless, but I began to realize that the only thing that would give them true freedom from their suffering was the gospel.

I initially served the North Korean refugee population as a volunteer. And three years ago, I decided to formally work with them and started studying to be a social worker.

It seems that is how God has prepared me to be a social worker at Elim House today.

What has been the most challenging experience at Elim House?

The most challenging experience at Elim House has been when I served our residents with the utmost consideration and heart, only to have my efforts shunned and shot back at me like arrows. I was hurt by the actions of some of our residents and I have regrets regarding my reaction to them as well. I feel there are still many things I do not know about North Korean refugees. But because I am also a person in need of God’s love, I am able to relate to them in this way. God has been teaching me a lot through our most difficult residents.

What has been the most blessing experience at Elim House?

It is a blessing for me that God has allowed me to meet a healthy organization like Crossing Borders, a warm missionary couple with loving hearts that always respects and praises me and a women’s shelter that operates with biblical values like Elim House.

Please share some prayer requests with us.

Pray for refugee women who need healing and recovery at Elim House.

Please pray that I will be able to carry out the role of a social worker wisely and fruitfully.

Elim House: 2021 Mid-year Update

Elim House officially opened one year ago in July of 2020. Since opening, we’ve hired one full time staff, our missionaries have endured two rounds of 14-day quarantine, three children have come to Elim House with the four women that resided there and our fifth resident arrived this July. While the number of residents that we took in were fewer than we anticipated, God in his wisdom knew that that was exactly what we could handle.

“Julie’s” arrival

“Julie” (pseudonym used to protect refugee identities) was our fourth and most recent resident that came to Elim House in January, 2021. While her husband was asleep, Julie fled her house with her son to stay with a close friend. This friend took her to a medical center in Seoul where she received medical care and also was seen by counselors who treat North Korean refugees. Julie was referred to us at that point.

Julie and her husband are both North Korean refugees and had lived in South Korea for five years. She shared with us her fears that she might not leave her house alive if she returned to her husband one more time. Even if they were to divorce, she believed she would have to live the rest of her life in hiding from him.

One evening our missionaries gathered all the residents, including Julie, to lead them in a Bible study and to share the gospel. Julie, who was not a believer, was immediately very curious to know about Jesus and the gospel. As she followed along, when asked if she would repent her sin and commit her life to Christ, she responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!”

As her husband persisted in wanting to reconcile with Julie, she returned back home after about a month of staying at Elim House. She had set conditional terms of seeking counseling together, which seems to have been fruitful as Julie recently shared with us that her husband treats her much better. It is a blessing to see her life change so dramatically in the short time we’ve known her. Julie and her husband even invited our missionaries over for a meal at their house soon.

Elevated COVID levels and Elim House

While South Korea had the spread of COVID-19 under control during the better part of 2020, spikes and continued elevated levels in 2021 have placed the entire country under strict restrictions. Under the latest curbs, people are advised to stay home as much as possible. These limitations have also slowed down the number of North Korean refugees referred to Elim House given the elevated risks of moving into a shared facility with strangers. As such, we had not taken in any new residents since Julie came to us in January until just last week.

“Heather” wanted to be admitted to Seoul Medical Center but was referred to us since the hospital was at capacity. Heather is 44 years old, was sold to a man in China at the age of 21, was captured, sent back and jailed in North Korea until 2006. She was sold again to a farmer in China in 2007 and where she lived until she arrived in Korea in 2021. Abuse has followed her through every season and every country including South Korea. Heather has been diagnosed with severe depression and cries uncontrollably when she is by herself. Elim House will be a short time of respite while she waits to be admitted to the hospital and we pray God will work powerfully in the coming days.

Elim House residents

We shared in October about our first resident “Cathy” who came to us after a thwarted suicide attempt of jumping from a bridge. She was very receptive to the care and love given by our missionaries and even confessed her faith in Jesus after hearing about him over the course of two months. It was unexpected and unfortunate when we discovered that she had stolen money from another resident and left Elim House in February. We have not seen or heard from Cathy since. We pray constantly that her heart might be fertile soil and not rocky soil and that the gospel truth she accepted is still at work in heart. We hope to see her again.

In our first quarter update we shared a little bit about another resident who joined us in December. She had been sexually assaulted by a man whom she personally knew and trusted. During her time with us, she was able to get legal advice on her situation and request government assistance to relocate to a new apartment. She officially left Elim House in June and our missionaries shared that it was bittersweet and akin to sending a daughter off from their home to get married.

Finally “Kristine”, who has been with us since November, has made good progress with the counsel of lawyers to clear up her legal Korean identity on record with the government which will then open the door to gain custody of her two sons. She continues to grow in her faith and we are so encouraged to see Kristine cling to God’s word when she encounters setbacks.

Drive-by Banchan and other updates

We shared about hiring our first South Korea team member in our first quarter update. “Cindy,” the full time social worker for Elim House, has been an amazing addition to our team and a huge blessing to both the residents and our missionaries. Kristine recently shared with our missionaries how she has witnessed the love and care Cindy has for North Korean refugees that come to Elim House.

“I want to be a martyr while serving banchan (Korean side dishes typically served with each meal),” is how this amazing woman and mother of four serves Elim House residents and our missionaries. She is a friend of Cindy and has blessed us with several “drive by” banchan drop-offs.

While our missionaries returned back to the States for their COVID shots, a kind neighborhood grandmother planted flowers in the garden at Elim House.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. - Isaiah 26:3

The past year of learning to care for refugees in South Korea in the midst of COVID has stretched the faith and abilities of the Crossing Borders team. COVID numbers may continue to climb in South Korea and we may encounter more unexpected hurdles but we know the only way to navigate uncharted waters is for us to trust God and keep our minds steadfastly on him.

Elim House: Six Month Update

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.