*Faith in the face of trial

I'd like to share with you the sad story of a woman named Lee, Young Hee. This happened last February 10, in North Korea. This story was told authenticated by another lady who worked with Lee, Young Hee.

Lee Young Hee was one of the escapees who crossed the DooMan river, from North Korea to Mainland China, to get food. The first time she crossed was in 1997. As you well know there was a severe famine in North Korea at the time. Some estimates say that over 3 million people died during the famine.

Lee, Young Hee was an intelligent lady. She graduated from College in North Korea, and became a member of the communist led Labor party. However, due to some disgruntlements against the Labor party, she and her husband were dismissed and sent to the Aogi coal mine for forced labor punishment .

After being released from the coal mine, her living condition became terrible. Her husband was at point of death from peritonitis. They couldn't survive in North Korea anymore, so they crossed the DooMan river to Mainland China. When they arrived in China, they met some of our SDA church members, who were taking care of the escapees from North Korea secretly. That really was a great blessing for them. The SDA volunteer workers from the United States did their best to treat her husband with Christ's love and concern. And also they fed them and provided clothes for them to wear. Furthermore they showed them television programs from South Korea, through a satellite broadcast, so that they might understand the difference between the South and the North.

At first they didn't want to change from their ideology of communism. However, as a result of the unconditional love and care of our church members, they began to open their minds. Finally they realized they have been deceived by the leaders of North Korea, and so they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. They were baptized and grew spiritually very fast. They studied the bible secretly every day and were eager to share the gospel message they had discovered with their family and friends in North Korea.

They spent about three months with our members there in China. Surprisingly enough her husband recovered from peritonitis. Finally, they decided to go back to their home country to share gospel message. Our missionaries provided food, clothes and bibles for them.

In the Spring of 1998, Lee Young Hee came back to China, reporting that she had evangelized her sisters, by giving food and clothes, but that her husband's disease had return . She was further trained to be a successful soul winner in North Korea during her second stay with the missionaries. And she also studied the bible more with them. Her heart began to burn for winning souls. She went back with more bibles and food and medicine. She resumed her missionary work, as she was trained, and her husband took care of himself for the last two years.

Lee, Young Hee was getting more confident and brave in spreading the Word of God. But, unfortunately, her missionary work was discovered by the authorities of North Korea and she was taken to prison. She was severely persecuted for two weeks. the torture left her paralyzed from the waist down. She couldn't sit nor walk any more. It is rumored that she said to her persecutors, while being tortured; "You have to believe Jesus Christ who died for our salvation."

And I can image, that while Lee, Young Hee was being mercilessly tortured by the hands of her persecutors; tortured so that she could be made to deny her faith; tortured so that she could be made to deny her Lord; she would receive encouragement from Queen Esther, as her words resonated throughout the corridors of time, "if I perish, let me perish, I'm going to see the king."

Whenever she told about Jesus Christ they persecuted her more severely. She didn't complain about her pain to the Lord, but simply said, "Oh Lord! Lord remember me." Ohhhh!!! What a testimony!

Even though she was persecuted to near death, she didn't give any information of the missionary work of our SDA members in China. So we can keep working, for the escapees from North Korea, there in China.

At last, Lee, Young Hee was sentenced to death on February 10, 2000. Two communist leaders made the announcement, to the people of the village in which she was living, to come and see the execution of Lee, Young Hee in the market square. The reason why she had to be executed, they explained, was that "she betrayed our labor party and our country."

They tied her to a stake, and blind folded her. The command was made..., READY!!! AIM!!! Just before the command FIRE!!!, Lee, Young Hee cried out to her executors and to the crowd, "believe in Jesus Christ, and then you will be saved." At the moment she cried out, the three gunmen fired at her head and chest.

She was dead......

But she died with a strong faith in God.

Jesus spoke of Lee, Young Hee, and countless others like her, in Matthew 5: 10, when He said "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

In closing let read to you from Revelation chapter 6, verses 9, 10 & 11. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

We are leaving in the sixth seal, between the already and the not yet, somewhere between Rev. 6:13 and verse 14. We received a secret report that over 400 people were openly executed last year. It is said that one third of them were Christian. Even now many people are being persecuted and executed. We can see the prophecy of the fifth seal being fulfilled in this story of Lee, Young Hee, and many others like her; and we know that Jesus is coming soon.

The report also tells us that the underground churches are growing in number because of the activities of the escapees who have accepted Jesus Christ. We have a great work left to be done in our portion of the vineyard, and very little time to do it. When we read the newspapers, or look at the television news, or even hear of reports like that of Lee, Young Hee, we can clearly see the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:14, and know that, without a doubt, His coming is near, it is even at the door.

There are many escapees from North Korea to China trying to get food. If they are ever discovered by the police, they will be taken to prison or executed. We have to pray for their security. And also we have to pray that they can come in contact with our missionaries so they can be won over to Jesus Christ.

Finally let's pray for the believers in North Korea as they, in the face of torture and death, live out the great commission given by Jesus.

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* This story was passed on to me my Elder Myung Kwan Hong; Personal Ministries, and Sabbath School Director of the Northern Asia Pacific Division.