Christ in North Korea

As is true of much of Korean history, the pathway of Christ and His people on the Korean peninsula is a bloody one.

In 1122 B.C. 5,000 subjects of Chinese rule rebelled and fled to the peninsula we now associate with Korea, organizing a new state, "Chosun", land of morning calm. For the next 3,000 years this "hermit kingdom" suffered the abuses of Mongolians, Chinese, and Japanese until in 1876 a trade treaty was forced upon it by Japan. Korea was brought out of its shell, and over the next quarter of a century all of its ports were opened to the West.

Japan pushed even farther, however. From 1910 to 1945 it occupied Korea totally. What Christian witness had spread was slowly extinguished, not by the Koreans, but by their foreign "hosts." At the end of World War II, the country was divided. More intruders came in, and in the North they still are there. Christians have been murdered en masse during the long occupation of Russian/Chinese style totalitarian Communism. 500 pastors were killed during the Korean War period alone.

Thousands to this day languish in theNorth Korean gulag, trusting Christ daily for their perseverance and deliverance.

That is the rough outline. We go back now to fill in details. First, Roman Catholicism. It was in the early 1800's that Korean diplomats in Peking, China, met members of the Catholic world system. Contacts were made, and secret entrances were attempted into Korea. Catholicism spread rapidly, but was countered by Buddhist priests as Rome, a foreign power, was a political threat to their authority over the lives of the Korean people. This anti-foreign fear in Korea -well founded, unfortunately - climaxed in 1846 by the all-out slaughter of the entire Romanist hierarchy along with 10,000 members.

The name of Jesus was dealt a heavy blow. But the Protestants were not far behind in their own advance into Korea. In 1882, the United States and Korea (there was only one Korea then) signed a trade treaty. Protestants now found their way into this little kingdom on the other side of the world. Medical doctors led the way, followed by evangelists and educators.

The general pattern of church formation at the beginning was laid out by China missionary John Nevius. Churches were to start in the homes of nationals, and as quickly as possible they were to be under the complete control of the national church. This was not to be an "American" thing, nor a Roman one. Christ would prove Himself a sufficient leader of men through His Spirit and His Word. Missionaries would serve as advisors and specialists, then move on.

By 1907, Hefley says that over 1,000 self-supporting churches served 120,000 evangelicals. And that was just in the Presbyterian part of the church. A major revival swept across Korea in that year. Mass prayer meetings. Confessions of backsliders. Conversions of hardened sinners. God was preparing His Church for a trial by fire.

Those of us who pray for such revival in our own day must remember that God's Spirit is poured out for a reason. Pentecost was followed by persecution, and probably ever shall be. What a difference in North Korea from 100 years ago! How our hearts should be stirred to humble ourselves before God! The "It can't happen here" mentality has ever been proved faulty.

[My thanks to James and Marti Hefley's By Their Blood for some of the facts of this article.]

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.