Have a Little Faith

Fire of Liberty

In the August 10, 2005 edition of the Washington Post (registration required), Anthony Faiola had a wonderful and inspiring article about Lee Min Bok, a South Korean missionary, who is launching helium filled balloons containing various Bible passages and messages of hope for the many Christians (who are legally forbidden to practice the faith) who linger in North Korea under the iron fist of Kim Jong Il. Unlike the leftist students and government of South Korea who keep on pushing a more accommodative relationship with the odious "Hermit Kingdom" - which only extends the reign of terror for the folks of North Korea - these missionaries are using their devotion to Christ and their love of God's given rights of Life and Liberty to tear apart and end the hellish Gulag once and for all. I've got to hand it to these brave souls who through their own initiative have taken on the regime in the North and throwing a lifeline to the people who have endured so much. All you've go to do is just read their messages and thoughts to see that they are committed to the freedom of their many siblings, children, parents or spouses who linger in their frozen hell-hole. Here a sample from the article:

"We have picked up this banner to help the North Korean people. Some people don't like using the word crusade, but that's exactly what this is -- a crusade to liberate North Korea."

Hoping to kindle opposition in the isolated communist state, missionaries are smuggling in Bibles, food, clothes, and transistor radios capable of receiving foreign transmissions over the border, mostly via China. The Chinese government does not condone smuggling across its 880-mile border with North Korea, but the size of the frontier makes most activity difficult to monitor.

Ongoing campaigns in South Korea to provide such material is considered seditious by the North, where possessing a Bible is punishable by death or imprisonment. The spread of Bible teachings directly challenges religious teachings in North Korea, where the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son, Kim Jong Il, are referred to as gods.

"The most dangerous thing for Kim Jong Il is the truth. That's the message I'm sending home," said Lee, 65, a chemist who defected from North Korea in 2000. Lee was detained and questioned for his activities for six hours late last month by South Korean police. But he and his Seoul-based team were back with their balloons on another part of the border three days later.

"We will pave the road to freedom in North Korea with our work," he said.

Missionaries have also become the primary lifeline for people fleeing North Korea.

You've got to just hope there are more people like this in the world fighting for the freedom of people who are shackled by powerful tyrants. Unfortunately, such stories are being pushed aside by the MSM who seem to focus solely on the nuclear weapons issue and tend to underplay the hellish nature of the regime of North Korea. I just wish more folks in the MSM and in the so called "peace movement" would open their eyes and see the North Korean government as the real problem and not the US. Until then, enjoy Faiola's wonderful piece.