In the heart of North Korea, under the glare of a dictator-driven society, lies untold stories of suffering and the power of the gospel. One of these stories is that of Eun-Young.
“I felt my world crumble at the age of 15 when my mother passed away,” Eun-Young says. As a teenager, Eun-Young made the extraordinary decision to defect from North Korea.
But after her escape, she became a victim of a dark industry that impacts many North Korean women in China. “Human traffickers sold me to a Chinese man.”
The dream of a better life soon warped into a nightmarish reality. But later she would give birth to a son who became her beacon, a promise of purpose.
Getting to South Korea
Eun-Young’s main priority became avoiding repatriation to North Korea, where defectors face torture, imprisonment and even execution. To blend in, she took up a job at a clothing store. “I always lived in fear,” Eun-Young confesses. But God had a different plan.
While secretly browsing the internet, Eun-Young saw a South Korean film depicting a defector’s escape. She reached out for help and soon connected with an underground network of Christians. While in China, she heard from a South Korean pastor who introduced her to God’s Word and the potential of a new life in South Korea. Her transit, through Thailand, became her spiritual oasis. She recalls, “During my three months there, studying the Bible, I found God.”
Tears filled her eyes when discussing her time in Thailand. “When I first found God, I cried uncontrollably. I wanted to tell my heavenly Father of all the hardships I had endured.” And when she read 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”—a calm enveloped her. She found herself distributing copies of the New Testament and preaching God’s Word to other North Koreans in Thai immigration, hoping they too would find solace.
New dreams
“In North Korea, my dream was merely to eat. In China, it was not to be sent back.” And now, in South Korea, her dream is to follow God.
Eun-Young now dreams of becoming a missionary to her homeland, bringing the hope she’s found to others living in despair. “There are people who don’t know God,” she says. “I want to let them know the truth.”
(The original article was shortened.)
Source: Global Christian Relief
