What I Learned From A Hoeryong Prison

Such presumption. To suggest that I actually suffered in North Korea and have returned to tell you about it. How arrogant and insensitive.

But I have learned something from the sufferings of others there. I've learned to obey the Biblical mandate to "remember the prisoners." I learn from the saints there to trust God one day at a time in my own negative situations. I'm seeing that one must wait for God to open prison doors, but that one must continue to be faithful while waiting.

I hear them teach me that God's grace is sufficient.

I learn from Hoeryong that carrying the cross is not for a selected few, but for all who would follow the crucified Christ. I learn that things don't matter, but people do, and One Person in particular. I am learning that I actually need the cross, and I need the North Koreans more than they need me.

It is certainly a romantic notion that I actually desire what they have, though I want to believe that I do. I have seen my grumbling ways over the smallest of difficulties. My tolerance for pain or even discomfort or inconvenience is near zilch. Yet the spirit touched by God that He is making me, reaches out to the fellowship of His suffering and ignites a burning of the heart. There is a sweetness about it somehow. The days I spent with the suffering church in Romania were among the most difficult yet the most blessed ever.

I think that in seeing these saints move on in spite of the pain, in viewing their patience, their selflessness, I have seen Christ. It is Him I desire after all. But how shall I ever attain to this vision? I who have lived in a land of plenty, where balance is a virtue, and the quest for security is downright heroic. Very few have ripped off the mask of these two impostors to see that one is lukewarmness and the other is the love of this present evil world.

I invite my readers today to visit North Korea sites and gather more information with which to approach the Father. May we not be swallowed up with distractions. Jesus is still in great pain.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website made to ask believers to pray for North Korea. Recently I have added Bible teachings to the menu. There are nearly 300 blogs , a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com. Audio teachings at sermonaudio.com under my name.

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. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .