{"id":21972,"date":"2025-02-01T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T11:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsuk.org\/?post_type=news&p=21972"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T11:34:46","slug":"north-korea-joo-min","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/connect.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/blog\/news\/latest-news\/north-korea-joo-min\/","title":{"rendered":"If you escaped the darkest place on earth\u2026 what would make you go back?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Joo
Joo Min fled starvation in North Korea – but chose to go back to share the gospel<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t the first time that Joo Min* had crossed the border between North Korea and the neighbouring country. She knew that the river was deep and treacherous. Guards patrolled the riverbank, holding machine guns. If anybody discovered her, she\u2019d be arrested and hauled to a North Korean labour camp, where conditions are unimaginably bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last time Joo Min made this dangerous journey, she was escaping starvation and an oppressive regime in North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, she was choosing to go back.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t <\/iframe>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\n\n\n

A North Korean childhood<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joo Min was born and raised in North Korea. In school, Joo Min was taught that North Korea was the greatest country in the world, and that the ruling Kim family were to be gratefully obeyed and even worshipped.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n
\r\n
Every \u00a320<\/div>\r\n\r\n
could get Bibles to two adults in a country where God’s Word is not easy to access.<\/div>\r\n My gift<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

She did hear about Christians \u2013 and how they were to be feared. \u201cI was told to stay away from missionaries,\u201d she remembers. \u201cThey said missionaries were like wolves pretending to be sheep.\u201d Her school textbook said the same thing, telling stories of American spies pretending to be missionaries. These spies \u2013 so the textbook claimed \u2013 were sent to North Korea to kidnap children and sell them into slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Severe food shortages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite what she was taught about life being wonderful in North Korea, Joo Min\u2019s actual experience didn\u2019t match up. Her family was desperately short of food. Her father started abusing alcohol, meaning he couldn\u2019t afford even the meagre amount of food available on the black market.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

“Driven by the need to provide, I crossed the border in search of work.”<\/p> Joo Min, North Korea<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy father told me I had to provide for our family,\u201d says Joo Min. \u201cDriven by the need to provide, I crossed the border in search of work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joo Min was one of tens of thousands of North Koreans who crossed the border looking for sources of food and income. While it\u2019s illegal for North Koreans to leave the country, the authorities are less vigilant in stopping them during periods of severe food insecurity. If Joo Min had been caught, the punishment would have been dire \u2013 but the border crossing wasn\u2019t as heavily guarded as it is at other times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joo Min hoped to find a way to survive when she reached the other side of the border. She found so much more than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing the gospel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At first, after reaching the other side of the river, Joo Min wasn\u2019t sure what to do. Soon, she met someone who said they could help her, and take her to a safe place. Unknowingly, she had met the first Christian she\u2019d ever known. She\u2019d met a secret Open Doors fieldworker.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n
\r\n
Every \u00a338<\/div>\r\n\r\n
could help provide six months of safe housing and relief aid to a family of North Korean refugees who have fled extreme persecution<\/div>\r\n My gift<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

The fieldworker took Joo Min to one of the safe houses for North Korean refugees run by Open Doors underground networks, where she found herself part of a community of people who\u2019d made the same difficult journey as her. At the safe houses, these local fieldworkers provide food and help people find jobs. More than that \u2013 they tell people about Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

“In the safe house, I heard the gospel for the first time.”<\/p> Joo Min<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the safe house, I heard the gospel for the first time,\u201d says Joo Min. At first, she was very resistant. Not only had her schooling taught her that Christians were evil \u2013 she knew what she\u2019d face if she were discovered and deported back to North Korea. If you\u2019re found even to have met a Christian while outside the country, you are targeted for particularly harsh punishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo back to North Korea\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even with the extreme risks, Joo Min couldn\u2019t help wanting to know more about Jesus. The Christians she met weren\u2019t like the sadistic missionaries in her North Korean textbook: they were kind, loving and offered her help without asking anything in return. \u201cDespite what I was told as a child, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour,\u201d she says. \u201cI started attending Bible studies and training every week.\u201d Eventually, Joo Min chose to be baptised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a long period of biblical teaching and persecution survival training from Open Doors fieldworkers, Joo Min felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit. She knew God had a plan for her \u2013 and it would require extraordinary courage.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

“I felt like God was telling me: \u2018Go back to North Korea’.”<\/p> Joo Min<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt like God was telling me: \u2018Go back to North Korea,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI felt a calling to share everything I\u2019ve learned in my homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s what brought Joo Min back to the border, and to the dangerous crossing into North Korea. As she walked into the water and made her way across, this time it wasn\u2019t because of financial necessity or hunger \u2013 it was because her life had been turned upside down by the hope and love of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smuggling light<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, Joo Min is still serving as a leader in the underground church. \u201cI know the risks involved,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I am caught, I could end up in a labour camp, paying a heavy price for being a Christian now.\u201d Yet, by the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help of the training she received from Open Doors fieldworkers, she continues her ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

“Pray for protection and courage, so that I can be like salt and light in a land overshadowed by darkness.”<\/p> Joo Min<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

The light she found in the safe house is what she now smuggles into North Korea and nothing \u2013 not food shortages, the danger of imprisonment, or even the seemingly all-powerful Kim dynasty \u2013 can stop the light from shining brightly in the darkness. \u201cPlease pray for me,\u201d she asks. \u201cPray for protection and courage, so that I can be like salt and light in a land overshadowed by darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can help North Korean Christians<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joo Min\u2019s story is a little different from many stories you\u2019ll read from countries on the Open Doors World Watch List. She hasn\u2019t been attacked or imprisoned \u2013 but she risks extreme persecution every day. At any moment, she could be seized by the authorities. But she is determined to continue her ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n
\r\n
Every \u00a345<\/div>\r\n\r\n
could help give persecution survival and evangelism training to a Christian who has fled extreme persecution.<\/div>\r\n My gift<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

With your help, other North Korean refugees can encounter the gospel at Open Doors safe houses outside the country \u2013 and receive the vital training that enables them to return home and share the gospel in the darkest place on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You almost certainly won\u2019t ever be called on to cross the border into North Korea. But, with your support and prayers, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with believers like Joo Min as they courageously smuggle light into darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Joo Min\u2019s story is taken from accounts of two North Korean believers. As the real people are currently living and ministering in North Korea, some details have been combined or omitted to protect their identities.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joo Min fled North Korea – and found Jesus at an Open Doors safe house. What would make her go back to the darkest place to be a Christian?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":21973,"parent":8268,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[137],"class_list":["post-21972","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-north-korea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIf you escaped the darkest place on earth\u2026 what would make you go back? - Open Doors Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Joo Min fled North Korea - and found Jesus at an Open Doors safe house. 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