Written by: FEBA South Africa
Article source: JOY! Magazine
In FEBA Korea’s office, there is a wall of letters from North Korean listeners. Written by hand and smuggled out by missionaries, each letter tells a tale of hardships suffered and hope found. “Please throw a lifeline to save us…”, reads one. Another says, “[FEBA] Korea is the lighthouse that lit up my heart. My family was led to the Lord’s way of truth through the broadcasting of FEBA Korea.”
Persecuted for their faith
North Korea sits at the top of the Open Doors World Watch List as the worst place in the world to be a Christian. Christians are heavily persecuted, and it is extremely difficult to get the Gospel into the country. But it was not always like this… Before 1945, when North and South Korea were still united, the north was known as the “Jerusalem of the East”. There were about 2850 churches and more Christians than in the south of the country. So what happened?
The split
After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea along the 38th parallel (north circle of latitude). The split was made permanent in 1948. Kim Il Sung, a former communist guerrilla and Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, became the first premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north. In 1950, North Korea tried to invade South Korea, and war broke out. About 2,5 million people died. A ceasefire was signed in 1953, but the war is technically still ongoing, with both countries on permanent alert. The demilitarised zone (DMZ) between them is the most heavily fortified border in the world. The North Korean government uses this threat of conflict against their own people. They use it as an excuse to pour money into their weapons programme, at any cost. They use it to turn harmless acts into treason and justify severe punishment. And in their eyes, being a Christian makes you a traitor.
The current reality
According to Open Doors USA, the Kim dynasty sees Christians as “the most dangerous political class of people”. Persecution is merciless. The US State Department recently published a report on religious freedom in North Korea, which mentions a case where an entire family, including the two-year-old child, was sentenced to life in political prison camps for possession of a Bible. The report cites execution, torture, arrest, and physical abuse as some of the punishments that await any religious activities conducted outside of state control. The Kim family are held up as god-like beings to be worshipped. Still, there are an estimated 400 000 Christians in North Korea. About 70 000 of them, like the family mentioned earlier, are in prison camps. There are a few registered churches, but they are tightly controlled by the state and mostly serve as “showpieces” for tourists.
The hardships of life
But religious persecution is not the only hardship the North Koreans have to suffer. At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, the country sealed its borders, both for people and goods. Informants told the BBC of the terrible conditions people face every day. “One wrong move and you face execution,” said one. And another, “The food supplies are so low, people have started dying.” At the end of 2020, Kim Jong Un passed a law that makes the act of sharing foreign material – be it songs, series, or movies – punishable by death. North Koreans are forbidden from even speaking with anyone outside the country.
Radio crosses borders
North Korea is officially closed to the Gospel. But, as FEBA International President and CEO, Ed Cannon, puts it: “Radio doesn’t believe in that.” Radio waves can go where people cannot, and through the efforts of FEBA Korea, the “forbidden hope” of the Gospel is reaching across North Korea’s nearly impenetrable borders.
FEBA Korea – Reaching the north
FEBA Korea has been broadcasting to North Korea since 1956. For decades, radios have been smuggled into the country or floated across the border in helium balloons. “Many missionaries, including FEBA, have smuggled tens of thousands of AM radios into the country. We hear from the people who have defected that AM radio is a good, effective means [of spreading the Gospel],” says Ed Cannon.
Where no man can go
Today, FEBA Korea runs a 250 000-watt station on Daebu Island, just south of the DMZ. It is about five times stronger than any station in the USA and can reach the whole of North Korea. Pilots have even reported picking up a strong signal when they fly over the country! The station broadcasts 18 hours a day. FEBA Korea employs North Korean defectors to help them develop programmes specially tailored to the North Korean listeners. North Korean hosts can share personal experiences and teach the Gospel in a relatable way, speaking in the distinctive North Korean dialect. “When someone who understands the [situation] they’re in, tells them: ‘There is hope in Christ, and Christ can deliver you regardless the situation you’re in’,” states Ed Cannon, “they will believe [them].”
Bearing fruit
Thanks to the handwritten letters on that wall in FEBA Korea’s office, FEBA knows its efforts are bearing fruit. The Good News is being heard and held onto as a source of hope and peace. As one listener wrote: “I was brainwashed that there is no God. However, the more I listened to [FEBA] Korea, the more I became inclined to know about Jesus Christ and to have peace in my heart.” Imagine living in a society where even listening to a song can land you in prison. Where the air is heavy with the constant fear of death, be it from starvation or the government. Imagine switching on the radio, which normally spouts frightful propaganda, and hearing this instead: “God loves you and there is hope.” This is the message FEBA will keep broadcasting worldwide. Until all have heard.
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Date published: 29/08/2023
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