For North Korean women, freedom in China can mean sex-trafficking

For many women who flee from North Korea into China, their futures are dependent upon the sex-trafficking market in China. Often sold to men who are disabled or elderly, these vulnerable women can be forced into situations that are far from the freedom they imagined.  

The South China Morning Post article features an interview with Miyoung, who was coerced into “choosing a husband” once sold to smugglers.

“[The couple] did everything to convince me that living with a Chinese man was my best choice to help my family back in North Korea,” she said. “They took me to the homes of various disabled or handicapped men in China for me to choose who I wanted to live with.

“I wept bitterly. I knew the punishment that awaited me in North Korea would be severe since I’d left without permission.”

To read the full story, click here: 

Getting Ready

"Sung" during break time at our retreat for North Korean children.

At the end of our summer retreat for the children in our network, a young man 17 years of age sat weeping in the back of a van headed back to his orphanage.

"Sung" would always volunteer to help out with whatever the counselors needed help with. He always eagerly rallied the rest of the kids and gently scolded them when they fell out of line. He organized the younger kids in skits and other activities.

Sung is an excellent student and, unlike many of the other kids in our network, will be going to an academic college to further his studies. He stands about 6 feet tall, almost a head above the rest of the children. His posture is always impeccable.

But behind his kind and capable exterior is a world of pain. Unlike so many of the orphans in our network, Sung knew his mother well. She was a North Korean refugee who was sold to his father in 1999. She is often described by Sung and those who knew her as smart and loving. When he was in grade school, she was diagnosed with liver cancer and died shortly thereafter. He has a lot of good memories of his mother.

After his mother died, things went downhill for Sung and his father. Things got so bad that his father had to send him to an orphanage. That's how we met him.

Though his life and academics turned around, Sung never fully recovered emotionally from the trauma of losing his mother. We do not know exactly why he was crying as he was leaving the retreat for the last time. But we think it was because he felt loved by the counselors and staff who took the time to visit him every year.

Though we cannot quantify this statistically or measure it in some formula, we know that children like Sung deserve the best love we can give. We pride ourselves on our ability to prepare our orphans for adulthood but we know that this means nothing if they don’t feel loved. This is our job, to prepare them and love them. We will do this for as long as God allows.

The long road to South Korea

North Korean defectors rest in a hotel room in Thailand. They will be sent to Seoul, where they will become South Korean citizens. 

(Paula Bronstein / For The Washington Post)

Instead of the short one hour and 45 minute flight from a Shenyang, China to Seoul, refugees who defect from North Korea face a much more grueling and dangerous route to safety.

Via buses, long walks over mountains, boats and hiding in the dark at border checkpoints, these refugees will journey from North Korea, through China, Laos or Vietnam, and finally Thailand, where they can request asylum and be transported to South Korea.

"I kept thinking: Imagine if I made it this far and then I got caught in Laos," a young mother said.

The article follows a group of refugees who have paid smugglers to transport them through any means possible – for the hope of a new life in South Korea. Whether it’s for new economic prospects or the fear of returning as a repatriated defector, each traveler focuses on their motivations to escape as they continue along the “underground railroad.”

Read the full Chicago Tribune story here:

Seeking to be reunited with children left behind

Jeong-ah Kim's child still in China (SBS News)

For many defectors, the danger and difficulty of escaping to China poses an impossible choice: survive and leave behind loved ones, or stay with family to face hunger and brutality together.

One woman, Ms. Kim, was smuggled and married to a Chinese farmer after 10 years in the military and malnourishment.

"Conditions in North Korea were so bad I would have half a piece of bread in the morning and the other half in the evening, and one sip of water in the morning and one at night," she told SBS News. "So eventually I decided to leave."

However, she left behind her oldest child in North Korea and her second child in China after she fled again.

Today, she has created a non-profit “Tongil Moms” that has been lobbying the UN to reunify her and other mothers with their children left behind in North Korea.

Read the full story here.

“Everyday Life” for North Koreans highlighted on NPR

NPR’s Weekend Edition featured an interview with Liberty in North Korea’s Director of Research and Strategy Sokeel Park, who touched on what the “everyday” looks like for a North Korean.

Sokeel Park

“…with so much focus on Kim Jong Un and nuclear weapons and missile launches and these kind of things, North Korea is often just seen as a security problem, as a potentially kind of crazy or irrational dictator with missiles. And often, we miss out on the story of 24 million ordinary people, just like you and I, who are living their lives in that country. And the country is changing on the inside.”

Kim goes on to cite changes in information, a basic market economy that has been established in the country, and less-effective indoctrination of the younger generations who are increasingly fleeing the country.

For the full interview and transcript, click here:

Defectors in the “Land of Freedom”

PHOTO: North Korean women gather in front of billboards of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. (Facebook: Michal Huniewicz)

Now resettled in South Korea, North Korean defectors Ann and Jayden, had to adapt to a new life in the “Land of Freedom.”

The two, who have strong memories of the deadly famine in the 1990s and of being cold and hungry most nights, have since been adjusting to things like internet news, fresh air and intensive university courses.

Their global program, sponsored by the Hana Foundation and the South Korean Ministry for Unification, aims to expose resettled refugees to global communities and education so they can become leaders in international relations in the Korean community.

Anne, driven by her experiences with hunger in North Korea, is studying to work in global aid and help other children who are starving through the World Food Programme.

Read the full story here.

A Reporter’s trip to North Korea

Journalist John Pomfret

Washington Post reporter and former bureau chief, John Pomfret, reflected on his trip through North Korea, organized by a Chinese tour company, and revealed insights into Chinese attitudes toward North Korea.

Woven through the pre-approved commentary and speeches from his tour guides, Pomfret notes sensing Chinese anxiety around North Korea’s collapse – which would incite both a refugee crisis and a pro-American border country following possible unification.

But among my Chinese friends and even among some officials, I get a sense of an emerging realization. North Korea is China’s problem, too. Communist Party insiders no longer view it as a convenient way to sap U.S. strength. As one of my companions observed, “No. 3 Fatty Kim’s missiles can be pointed in any direction. Even at us.”

Read his full account here:

Winning minds in North Koreas

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2012 file photo, Park Sang Hak, a refugee from the North Korea who now runs the group Fighters for a Free North Korea from a small Seoul office, hurls anti-North Korea leaflets as police block his planned rally on a road in Paju near demilitarized zone, South Korea. In South Korea, political activists send thousands of leaflets, DVDs and flash drives every year across the border into North Korea, mostly by balloon, hoping to bring to the isolated country. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

Often called the “Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea is infamously restrictive on outside information breaching the physical and electronic barriers of its borders. Whereas state-funded propaganda is widespread, other information can be difficult to access.

However, through activist efforts to send leaflets containing news, satire, or even soap operas, air-dropped balloons have been drifting across the border into the hands of North Koreans.

"The quickest way to bring down the regime is to change people's minds," said Park Sang Hak, a refugee from the North who now runs the group Fighters for a Free North Korea from a small Seoul office, sending tens of thousands of plastic fliers across the border every year. 

Park and the other self-proclaimed warriors in the “information war” have noted that this spread of information can have small but meaningful impacts.

Lee, another activist-balloonist who prints card-sized leaflets with his contact information and how he was once “one of them,” aims to open even just a few eyes to the mythology North Koreans often hear from the ruling family.  

"Maybe one person rebels after reading the leaflets,” he said. "Maybe one person defects. I want them to decide for themselves what to do."

Scholars, however, agree with North Korean refugees who say that the information filtering through has “helped bring a wealth of changes, from new slang to changing fashions to increasing demand for consumer goods in the expanding market economy.”

Read the full story here

Despite reports of religious persecution, Christianity taking root in North Korea

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

The US Department of State released their study on religious freedoms in the world and noted that “[North Korea] continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through executions, torture, beatings and arrests."

However, upon closer look, we also find that in spite of continued persecution of Christians under the harsh regime, there are shifts among North Koreans to seek out religion.

The Telegraph UK quotes a defector who says that North Koreans do not respect Kim Jong-Un and are “looking for something else to sustain their faith…In some places, that has led to the emergence of shamens, but the Christian church is also growing and deepening its roots there," he said.

To read about some of the stories we’ve heard from Crossing Borders initiatives to seek out, guide and aide these underground churches, click here. 

Former North Korean defector posts about life in South Korea

Following the recent news of Lim Ji-Hyun’s return to North Korea, the world watched as the household name who had denounced Kim Jong-Un just a few months earlier now spoke out against life in South Korea and urged other defectors to return.

Lim, who now goes by Jon Hye-Song in North Korea, says that she struggled in South Korea – at one time even appearing in a pornographic film to make money.

“I didn’t have a job so I couldn’t earn any money,” she said of her life in the South, “and I drank because I missed home.”

The video was posted on Uriminzokkiri (link), the Youtube channel for the North Korean ministry of inter-Korean relations.

During the 40-minute video responding to allegations of kidnap and torture. Lim said she returned of her own volition and that she was not harmed upon return.

Read the full story here.

Economic ties between China and North Korea further complicate UN talks

Beijing began refusing entry to trucks carrying tons of North Korean seafood on Tuesday.

Our post last week looked at the human rights links between China and North Korea and the long journey ahead of defectors who cross the Tuman river.

It’s important to remember that at the core of these diplomatic concerns are economic ties that link these two countries together. Reports of sanctions from China and the strong backlash from importers who rely on North Korean goods underline and complicate the calls

As calls for complete economic sanction and isolation against North Korea currently take stage amid threats of nuclear warfare, it is also important to remember that as these policies trickle down, both North Koreans and Chinese citizens suffer.  

"North Korea relies on China for about 90 percent of its foreign trade. So any move Beijing takes to restrict the flow of North Korean goods into China deals a substantial blow to Pyongyang. But because China’s economy is so intertwined with North Korea’s, it also causes hurt at home."

Read the full story here.

North Korean Refugees in China: far from freedom

North Korean soldiers in a border guard post are seen from the Chinese side in Tumen, China, January 7, 2016. 

 © 2016 Reuters

Amid current events around Kim Jung Un's threats to launch missiles and general unrest in the Korean peninsula, we are reminded of the increasingly complex nature of international relations when it comes to North Korea. 

A recent Human Rights Watch report on the Chinese government deporting 15 North Koreans has highlighted the fact that for refugees not unlike the ones who come into Crossing Borders' care are far from safe, even after crossing the border into Chinese territory. 

With an agreement to deport North Korean defectors, Chinese officials are all but ensuring punishment, political prisoner camps and "re-education."

Crossing Borders assists refugees who are in this precarious position to find shelter, education and economic support, accompanying them through the many difficulties they find once in China. One example is Ok-seo, a refugee who fled North Korea and found that though safe from immediate danger, she was still vulnerable to hard labor and prostitution. 

To read more about stories from Crossing Borders refugees who have made this journey and how you can support them, click here. 

Famous North Korean Refugee Returns to North Korea

A North Korean refugee famous in South Korea for her TV appearances and her candid depiction of North Korea recently returned to North Korea.

Lim, Ji-hyeon said that she was forced to speak harshly about North Korea in a video that was posted on North Korea’s official Twitter page. Some say Lim was kidnapped while others say that she returned on her own volition.

This is not the first North Korean refugee who has returned. The North Korean regime trumpets these returns as proof of how terrible life is outside the country.

Read the full story here.

What Came Next

Chun Jin at the orphanage.

*Update from February 8th Post*

Chun Jin is a child in our orphanage who, in February was poised to make the leap from being in our care to being fully on his own. He finished his training this spring and is now financially self-sufficient. He is the first child in our network to do so. He is now a hair stylist in Northeast China. We are so proud of him for making this leap but we also know that this is not the most important thing.

His Background

Chun Jin is from a small town in Northeast China. His father was known throughout the town as an alcoholic. Chun Jin had no one to care for him even though he lived with his father. This was until he found a place in our orphanage.

Though he no longer lives in our orphanage, Chun Jin often returns to thank our caretaker there.

“Thank you so much for disciplining me,” he said earlier this year. “I would have ended up just like my father.”

This is Just the Beginning

Chun Jin is 18 years old. He has his whole life in front of him. There will be ups and downs, disappointments and setbacks. Though we have worked hard to help him find a trade that he can be successful in, we know that his trade is just one aspect of his life. There are other, much more important things.

The Most Important Things

Jobs come and go; careers change; and economies can shift at the drop of a hat. But one thing we hope will carry Chun Jin through his life is a strong character and faith. The Bible doesn’t give us clues about what we should be, it only instructs us on who we should be. We think the kind of person Chun Jin becomes is much more important than what he chooses as his vocation.

We have been working on his character for years. Chun Jin has been waking up early in the morning to do his exercises. We have been helping him finish his schoolwork every evening. We have been taking him to church every Sunday. We have been correcting him, teaching him and loving him through very dark times.

All the children in our network have dealt with major losses in their lives. They have all lost their mothers. Many of them do not know where their mothers are or if they are alive. Many don’t know where their fathers are. And for those that live in our group homes or orphanage, it is traumatic to leave their homes and be in the care of strangers. These losses are profound for any child.

Our Hope

Our hopes for children like Chun Jin are not that they would only have a career but that they would have a heart. But what’s most important is that they know that they are loved by God and that they must love their neighbor.

We do not just send Chun Jin out into his profession, we send him on a mission to spread God’s love to whomever he touches.

___________________

Meet Chun Jin. His mother was a North Korean refugee who was sold to his father.

He is 17-years-old and is inching ever closer to adulthood. He is a child who is the closest in our network to starting his career. It is Crossing Borders’ goal to prepare him and all the children in our network for adulthood.

In 2014, 75 percent of our children had a plan for their future. Today, that percentage is at 92. We hope to make it 100 percent.

When Crossing Borders started, Chun Jin was just three-years-old. There is a whole generation of children who were born in the wake of the Great North Korean famine. As refugees rushed out of North Korea, they were sold to Chinese men who were in need of wives.

Most of the children in our network were born between 1998 and 2005. The UN estimates that there are 20,000 to 30,000 of these children. Chun Jin was born in 1999.

Chun Jin is in our orphanage and has access to a number of good vocational programs. The woman who oversees his orphanage employs a military-style training for the children in her home. Each morning the kids wake up and do an hour of exercise outside, have breakfast, wash and get ready for school. Their time after school is also regimented. She hopes to instill a self-discipline in these children that will last them a lifetime.

Chun Jin expressed to us last year that he would like to become a hair stylist. We put him in a program that will get him ready for this job and for eight hours or more per day, he is snipping, brushing, cleaning and blow drying his way to complete his training.

He will be finished this year. And if everything works out, he will be our first child to come off our aid to start a career.

It has taken us 14 years, an immense amount of resources and focused effort to get to this point. We hope this is the start of something great in his life and in the lives of many North Korean orphans like him.

To contribute to the training of our orphans and receive regular updates on their progress, sign up below.

Invite Us to Help North Korean Refugees

The son of a repatriated North Korean woman welcomes us into his home in rural China.

Today, we help five times more North Korean refugees than we did four years ago. One of the largest factors in our growth has been church invitations. In the past year and a half, we have been invited to speak at about 25 churches and conferences and we have told over 3,000 people about what we do.

Many people have donated or started a chapter in response to these events and it has resulted in an increased budget and, in turn, more resources to help more people in China.

This is why we are asking you again to please invite us to speak at your church. We can do this in person or even via video conference. The more people that find out about what we do, the more people will respond. It’s that simple.

If you like what Crossing Borders does, if you love the fact that we are increasing our capacity, if you want to continue this growth, it’s simple. Invite us to tell your community about what we do.

Email us at contact@crossingbordersnk.org for more information.

Let’s Not Forget the People

There is a flurry of news coming out of the Korean peninsula these days: Nuclear tests, missile launches, political jockeying and yes, even volleyball. It’s enough to make our heads spin.

But all the news can distract us from the lives that have been lost and the potential lives that can be lost. It can distract us from the suffering of the North Korean people. Sure, weapons are important but they’re important because they can take human lives.

For 14 years we have been working to improve a handful of these lives. We have felt the tears of these people on our shoulders. We have held the hands of children who have been left behind as their mothers are held captive in North Korean prison camps.

Kyung Tae’s mother was in our network but was arrested and sent back to North Korea in 2009. There were years and years of darkness for this boy. He didn’t smile and said very little for the ensuing three years after his mother’s arrest.

But in recent years he has been changing and light is returning to his life. He still misses his mother but he is now moving toward adulthood. Recently, he was selected for a work-study program at his school. He is studying to become a mechanical engineer. A company paid to have him work at a factory in South China. When he returned home to his father, Kyung Tae proudly handed him about $100. His father broke down in tears. Kyung Tae is turning 18 this year. We are still waiting for his mother to be released from prison.

We will continue pray for the politics and the men at the top who are in control. But we also pray for the muffled groans of the people.

As we read the news and wonder what will happen next, let us remember those who will be affected most by the decisions of the powerful and pray for a brighter future for all.

Reason for Hope

The refugee woman in this story is praying during an early morning church service.

As the political conditions in and around the Korean peninsula continue to escalate, we still hold on to hope. We do not trust in politicians or armies. We trust in the ironclad determination of the North Korean people and the God more and more of them are turning to daily.

If you've been following along with us as we post the latest about North Korean refugees, you might have been dismayed. Yes, North Korea continues to wield its influence in the world through essentially pitting the two largest world powers against one another. And yes, the most powerful agent of change, reunification, does not seem likely as interest wanes in South Korea. But as stacked as the deck is against the North Korean people and North Korean refugees in hiding, it's not all doom and gloom.

Andrei Lankov, professor at Kookmin University, reported last year that North Korea's prison camp population is in sharp decline. Refugees report that the tactic of punishing a refugee's whole family for a single person's crime is no longer enforced. He sites the number of North Koreans in prison camps at around 80,000 to 120,000, down from around 200,000 just a few years ago.

Famine seems unlikely despite the North's claims as such. North Korean farmers are being given an unprecedented amount of freedom and these changes seem to be paying off. China has also said they would supply food aid to North Korea, should the worst occur.

But what makes us at Crossing Borders the most optimistic has nothing to do with policy decisions, it has more to do with spirit and strength.

One North Korean refugee who we helped early on, told us a story about his life and times in North Korean prison camps. He described the cramped cells he had to sleep in where people were packed in so tight that no one could move. They slept without mats or blankets on concrete floors and their bodies would develop sores every night from being in the same position for hours.

This young man said that during these times, he laughed harder than he had in his whole life. The people he shared these cells with became his best friends and that there is a certain fondness he still holds for his time in what is known as the worst system of political prison camps in the world.

We make sure that, along with helping the people in our network, we try to play games with them and have fun. One very popular game we like to play is called “This is Fun.” It’s basically a staring contest where a group of people sit in a circle and try to make others laugh while not cracking a smile themselves. If you smile, you're out.

A couple years ago, we were playing “This is Fun” with some of our refugees and orphans. One of our US staff members and a master at this game was left with one other refugee woman in the circle. This woman endured the famine, was sold, was placed in hard labor in North Korea’s prison camps, and was raising a daughter under China’s brutal zero tolerance policy for North Korean refugees. She is a strong woman.

During this game, her eyes became cold and she would not crack. The other staff members who witnessed this said that the look in her eyes terrified them. The game ended in a draw and everyone who witnessed this was left mildly disturbed at how strong-willed this woman was.

But this strong, seemingly-callous exterior is symbolic of the millions of North Koreans and North Korean refugees who have survived the worst of conditions. These people may seem cold and hardened on the outside but this is because of their impervious will to survive. It comes from a heart that would not allow the worst of all evils to bring them to dismay. It comes from people who could laugh at the most desperate of circumstances and come out without going insane.

This is what gives us the most hope. It’s not for a better political future. It is for these people who have endured famine and death. It is for those who have seen the very worst of humanity: lying, cheating, stealing, and even cannibalism. And yet many North Korean refugees have found a way to protect themselves and their dignity.

No matter what these people have endured and will face in the future, no matter how long they will have to witness such horror, they will not be broken. In this, we see the grace of God.

The faith that is at the core of what we do inspires and motivates us to make our operations the best they can be. It drives us to help more people. A people certainly worth helping.

This blog post was originally published in July, 2015.

What Comes Next?

Meet Chun Jin. His mother was a North Korean refugee who was sold to his father.

He is 17-years-old and is inching ever closer to adulthood. He is a child who is the closest in our network to starting his career. It is Crossing Borders’ goal to prepare him and all the children in our network for adulthood.

In 2014, 75 percent of our children had a plan for their future. Today, that percentage is at 92. We hope to make it 100 percent.

When Crossing Borders started, Chun Jin was just three-years-old. There is a whole generation of children who were born in the wake of the Great North Korean famine. As refugees rushed out of North Korea, they were sold to Chinese men who were in need of wives.

Most of the children in our network were born between 1998 and 2005. The UN estimates that there are 20,000 to 30,000 of these children. Chun Jin was born in 1999.

Chun Jin is in our orphanage and has access to a number of good vocational programs. The woman who oversees his orphanage employs a military-style training for the children in her home. Each morning the kids wake up and do an hour of exercise outside, have breakfast, wash and get ready for school. Their time after school is also regimented. She hopes to instill a self-discipline in these children that will last them a lifetime.

Chun Jin expressed to us last year that he would like to become a hair stylist. We put him in a program that will get him ready for this job and for eight hours or more per day, he is snipping, brushing, cleaning and blow drying his way to complete his training.

He will be finished this year. And if everything works out, he will be our first child to come off our aid to start a career.

It has taken us 14 years, an immense amount of resources and focused effort to get to this point. We hope this is the start of something great in his life and in the lives of many North Korean orphans like him.

To contribute to the training of our orphans and receive regular updates on their progress, sign up below.

THE Orphan Growth FUND

A North Korean Orphan Spreads Her Wings

Sung Me (center) working on crafts at our annual retreat for North Korean orphans.

Change takes time. It hardly happens over night. This is especially true for North Korean orphans and refugees who have often been through so much before we meet them. It is the most rewarding thing for us to watch it happen over the course of years. That is exactly what took place last year for “Sung Me.”

Sung Me is a North Korean orphan whose North Korean mother was sold to her Chinese father in China’s expansive sex trade. Her mother left her and was captured by several Chinese men, locked up, abused, and murdered. She came into the care of her aunt who neglected her.

We brought Sung Me into our Orphan Care network in 2011. She was 12 and did well under the care of a pastor and his wife. She received the love, nurture and healing she needed in this home.

In 2012, we held a sex-ed class in this home. We realized that the Chinese educational system does not provide this and parents don’t usually educate children about sex. Since she and most of the other housemates were in their teens, we thought this was an appropriate subject.

During this time Sung Me kept her head down and didn’t say anything. After the seminar we pulled her aside and asked if anything was wrong. She told us that she was sexually abused while she was living with her aunt. We prayed with her and continued to encourage her to deal with her emotions surrounding this event.

Sung Me received the love she needed in this home but last year, we realized she needed something more: direction. This is why we moved her to an orphanage in a different city this fall to help her gain skills that will help her be self-sufficient. She currently attends a school where she is learning to become a kindergarten teacher.

Sung Me has been thriving in her new environment. She is in her first year at her vocational school that is designed to train Kindergarten teachers. She was recently selected by her school to read the announcements over the PA system. She has also been elected to her student council. She is a leader in her new home as well and has caught the attention of the head of the orphanage.

This is exactly what we work so hard to do, to watch the people in our network thrive. This year we have seen a lot of that. From Sung Me to Susanna, who was cured of glaucoma, which caused blindness, we have seen some amazing turns in people’s lives.

North Korean Refugee Retreat, Part Five: Rebecca Today

Continued from yesterday's blog post.

This summer, a refugee woman named Rachel from Rebecca’s church came to our retreat. The retreat was held a few towns away from their home and was reachable by bus. Rachel’s husband was away at work and she was not able to tell him before she left. She expected him back a couple weeks after the retreat.

On the last night of the retreat, our US Staff reported hearing a commotion near the entrance of the facility that the retreat was being held at about 2 a.m. They thought it was a new tenant.

The next morning our staff awoke to the news that Rachel’s husband had come for her. He brought two other men armed with sticks and pipes and he was looking for Pastor Kang. This revealed a deep insecurity the men in Rebecca’s region have about losing their wives.

The Chinese police in Rebecca’s region gives more freedom to North Korean refugees. Though they feel the threat of repatriation, this is not an imminent threat. This is because the level of trafficking that has happened in this region. There are tens of thousands of North Korean refugees who live there. Our sources on the ground tell us that, if the police round up these refugees en masse, the people would revolt.

This gives the women in the area some wiggle room when it comes to personal freedoms. But there is a flip side to this. When an outside group like Crossing Borders comes in, we too have to tread lightly. As sensitive as the villagers are to police activity that may take their wives away, they are equally as sensitive to outside groups encouraging these women to leave China.

We have been careful in our dealings with these people not to offer relocation as an option for them yet. We want to gain the trust of all the people so that, when we do mention this, it would not be perceived as a threat but as a benefit.

This fall a group of women in Rebecca’s village fled for Southeast Asia through the Underground Railroad without telling their husbands. Crossing Borders did not encourage or arrange this. Only one of the women who fled was from Rebecca’s church. But this didn’t matter to some of the men who lost their wives.

They blamed Rebecca and beat her mercilessly. When we visited her after this had happened, she didn’t speak of it. It was only after we left her village that we were informed by another refugee who she is in communication with outside her village.

When we contacted her later, she said that the matter is resolved and that she is no longer in danger. Her church continues to meet. Pastor Kang continues to make visits unharmed. The matter, it seems, is solved for the time being.

Newton’s third law is this: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Crossing Borders does not seek to upend communities. We make sure to tread lightly and to make change slowly. But sometimes change comes so quickly and unexpectedly that it elicits a reaction.

In circumstances such as this, we take the example of Jesus who was infinitely tough and unrelenting in his love yet infinitely gracious and merciful. Rebecca has come to understand this all too well.

We will continue to stand by Rebecca and the women in her village. We will redouble our efforts to minister to the men in her village and pray for those who attacked her. We will try to make their lives better and enact change slowly.

What we will not do is back down in showing Jesus’ love to those who need it the most.