A few years ago my parents gifted me a Bible. This was quite a special Bible to me because it was in both English and Korean. Even though I couldn’t understand the Korean, it was still amazing to think about the Bible being in a different language. Perhaps someone I couldn’t verbally communicate with could bond with me over the word of God.
At that time it was just a thought but now it is real part of my life. I bring this Bible with me and it helps break barriers. I invited my Korean friend to a Bible study but he was a little nervous about keeping up with English.
“Oh! I’ll bring my Korean Bible!”
So there we were. He read the Korean Bible and I read the English Bible. What an amazing moment. The barriers where broken and we just listened to God’s word together. This is such an amazing feeling.
Its so hard to think about the Bible being thought of as dangerous, but that is a reality for so many North Koreans. I rarely think about the fact that I live so close to North Korea. It still seems a world away even though the border to North Korea is only about 35 miles from Seoul. It’s hard for me to think of the horrible human rights abuses that are happening so close to home. The beauty of Korea can blind my senses to the world the lyes beyond the mountains.
One story from voice of the martyrs sticks out to me. In this story a Korean man named Min-jae is smuggling Bibles into the country through China.
“After retrieving three large vinyl duffle bags, he hoisted them onto his back and ran toward his home in the dark. Once inside the relative safety of his home, he opened the bags to find them tightly packed with pants. But wrapped randomly within the clothing were 10 small Korean Bibles.”
“I was afraid and nervous,” he said. “Receiving them was fine, but when I actually opened the bags I began to wonder, ‘How can I distribute these at this time?’ I began to have doubts.” Min-jae decided to keep the dangerous books hidden until God led him to the right people.”
What amazing courage these Christians have to put their lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel. I’ve personally met some first generation christians who have fled their country for religious freedom. Their courage and strength inspires me. I feel so blessed to be able to share my Bible with friends openly and pray in public without fear. While I don’t have to fear for my life when sharing the gospel, my prayer is he same as Min-jae. That God would lead me to the right people. My prayer will be not only for my own mission but for the other missionaries in the world who put their lives on the line to share this message of hope.
I hope you will join me in praying for our christian brothers and sisters in North Korea. May they have the strength and courage to endure til the end.
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I’m so blessed to be a part of such an encouraging group of brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only in my church but also in Friends Network. Gwen Schroeder and Jake Wassermann paid Korea a little visit recently. These guys are so amazing at what they do. Pushing through their jet lag they were such troupers to spend every second with us. Thank you Gwen and Jake for your support and encouragement.
I also have some very exciting news to share…*drumroll*
I’m coming back to the US! I’ll be back on July 15th and spend a month with my family and friends, meeting up with supporters and enjoying SC living once again. I would love to meet up with each and every one of you and hear about all the amazing things going on in your lives. I hope this time in the US will be full of relationship building, spiritual growth and spending precious time with my family.
If you would like to meet up and grab coffee (my coffee addition never stops) while I’m back home just send me a message! I would love to meet up!
Thank you all for your support. If it wasn’t for you I would not be able to live here, help at the church, or share the gospel message. I appreciate you all!
Until next time!
-Lauren
