Secret gifts to sustain a secret church

The unrelenting pressure on North Korea’s secret Christians continues. Meet courageous secret believer Bae, and discover how your prayers and support for Open Doors will sustain her for years to come.

“Whenever I open my eyes in the morning, I feel the presence of our Father,” says Bae*, a Christian who wakes up hungry each morning in a rural village in North Korea. The government provides food – but only enough to keep her alive to work. The hunger is always there, gnawing at her bones.

WATCH BAE'S STORY HERE

Hungry all day

Only after a day’s labour in the fields, does her real work begin.

Sticking to the shadows, she steals back through the village to the forest. She finds the tree with the gnarled roots and scrapes away a thin layer of dirt. Pulling out the Bible, she tucks it under her cloak. When she gets home, her housemates are waiting—they’ve already covered the windows and lit a candle.

She opens the Bible and begins to whisper: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. It’s another day in a North Korean church.



Arrested for a Bible

Bae has not always lived in this village. She was sent here as a punishment when she was caught with a Bible.

Faith in Jesus can be a death sentence in North Korea. Bae was one of the “lucky” ones – kept alive, but sentenced to a lifetime of hardship and labor.  Bae says,

“The thing I give thanks for the most is that Father God uses me to work as his servant. I desire to dedicate my life, until death, to glorify Him.”

Once, Bae was able to escape into China, where she found a safe house run by Open Doors partners. It was a sweet experience of fellowship that would be impossible in North Korea.

The leaders gave Bae food, medicine, a new Bible – and the chance to stay in China. She chose to return home to share the gifts with her secret group of believers. These gifts, made possible by your support, will sustain the faith of these courageous Christians for years.

*Name changed to keep identity secure; photos are illustrative. Note: Bae is a real person in North Korea, but her story has been edited to ensure she cannot be identified.