North Korean refugees in an Elim Community Pilates class.
Since 2022 Elim Community has served North Korean refugees in South Korea with free classes. Through this program, Crossing Borders has been able to form relationships with many North Koreans. Unlike Elim House, our safehouse for North Korean women in need, Elim Community participants are usually independent and not in urgent need of help. Because of their relative stability, it presents a different challenge in ministering to their hearts and showing them a need for a savior.
Tea time
After most Elim Community classes, we host a “tea time,” which is a time for North Koreans to engage in community with one another at a nearby coffee shop. The many hours spent with refugees have revealed the unique challenges in sharing the gospel with North Koreans. Many are consumed with guilt as they forge new lives in South Korea. And it has reminded us that we must always be mindful of North Korean culture, as we present Jesus to them.
In a recent tea time, a North Korean woman said that she has a hard time believing in Jesus and that he is like a Genie in a bottle to her. She wants to go to church but she feels that it is hypocritical for her to go because of her sinful behavior during the other six days of the week. Our staff enthusiastically shared with her that awareness of one’s own sin is the first step in understanding our need for a savior.
lack of community
A 2023 study by the Korean Hana Foundation showed that only 19.2 percent of North Koreans participated in social activities on weekends, which included religious activities. Pastors and Christian workers in South Korea have told us that, though some North Koreans are interested in church, many find it hard to connect to South Koreans at church, which has become a deterrent for regular attendance.
a culture of shame
Furthermore, North Koreans have shared with us that they are wracked with the guilt of the things they did in North Korea to survive during the famine, which lasted between 1995 and 1998. It was a time marked by utter desperation. In her book, “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea,” Barbara Demick describes the famine as a “killer.”
“Yet another gratuitous cruelty; the killer targets the most innocent, the people who would never steal food, lie, cheat, break the law, or betray a friend.”
It is said that the good people died first during the famine. We try to counsel North Koreans who feel this guilt by sharing with them that only Jesus can help them escape the shame of sin. They are truly a people who need to hear about the forbearance of our loving father in Romans 2:4, that God's kindness is meant to lead [them] to repentance. This is a hard pill to swallow for many, but to some, it is like water in a drought.
North Korea has a hyper-guilt-driven culture in which citizens must attend weekly self criticism sessions where they must confess errant thoughts against the regime. They are harshly punished for any breach against their government and their social status is permanently affected by their behavior. North Koreans come from a culture of self loathing. Considering this cultural backdrop, it makes sense that the woman from Elim Community said that she didn’t want to go to church because of her sins.
The Gospel is Enough
This strikes at the core of the gospel and Jesus’ mission on earth. To have our transgressions wiped away, we must have someone powerful enough to forgive them. 1 John 1:9 (ESV) says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Sin causes people to feel a sense of guilt and shame. Those who have been confronted by the mercy and grace of our lord are able to “live as a people who are free” 1 Peter 2:16 (ESV). Our challenge is to present this truth in a way that North Koreans in their culture can understand and receive it.
We are thankful that the gospel is enough. Please continue to pray for us as we share the good news of the gospel with our North Korean refugees.
