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News from China and bordering countries of N. Korea, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. With a focus on the underground house churches of China.
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Saturday, March 22, 2003 |
Prayer Request for Today from Pray For China
First free abortion clinic opened in southwestern Chongqing last month stirred debate. It offers teenage girls free abortions. Youngsters are increasingly sexually active but receive no education about safe sex from schools or parents. Pray that God gives wisdom to authorities and educators to handle this urgent problem. We pray for the need of abstinence education, most importantly the need of Gospel to the Chinese teens.
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prayforchina-subscribe@MyInJesus.com
9:17:27 PM 
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PLANTING SEEDS OF HOPE IN NORTH KOREA
By Steven Downey
Special to ASSIST News Service
SPOKANE, WA (ANS) -- Dongwon was one of the few who successfully made his way from North Korea into China by swimming across the frigid Tumen River. Border guards are under orders to "shoot to kill" anyone escaping North Korea. For Dongwon, there was not enough food in his orphanage so rather than starve, he took his chance to escape.
In another instance, four years ago, a pregnant mother crossed the border. Taking shelter from the winter cold, she dug a cave-like hole and gave birth to a baby girl. She was found by some Chinese who took her to a church.
"When I met them, they were both about dead," said Rev. Kim (not his real name), a Christian leader working among Koreans in China. "The child had no power to cry. We placed the baby in the home of an evangelist and the mother was taken to a deacon's home. We had no access to milk so we made a rice mixture and spoon-fed the baby. Soon we found a mother who could nurse her and the baby got strong. A month later, seeing that her baby was in a good home, the mother said, 'By now my baby would have starved to death if she'd been born in my country. And I have children back home who need me.'"
Within days, the mother left. The child's new family named her "Hymnal."
REACHING NORTH KOREANS IN CHINA
The Autonomous Korean Prefecture of Yanbian (Jilin Province) in China is home to two million residents, of whom nearly 40% are Korean. Much of this is due to migrations dating back centuries, but especially after World War II when many Koreans remained in northeastern China where they settled and raised families.
When South Korea and China exchanged diplomatic recognition in 1992, Koreans could travel to Yanbian and establish links with the Korean community. Rev. Kim traveled there in 1995 to fulfill a life-long, but long-postponed dream of being a missionary.
Rev. Kim's ministry, with help from Partners International, began planting churches among Koreans in China's Yanbian Prefecture. Today there are fifteen such churches.
China frowns on the economic refugees who make it across the border from North Korea, so families often break up and go into hiding until they have blended into the society, not an easy prospect given differences in language and culture.
Rev. Kim's ministry seeks out foster homes and orphanages for children who are separated from their parents. Partners International provides the funds for food, medical care, and schooling. Only several dozen children currently receive help, but this holistic witness makes a big impact on the parents and the entire Korean community.
The ministry opened a technical college in Yanbian in 2000 to train Korean Chinese in welding and other industrial skills. The gospel cannot be taught at the college, but the students go to Japan, South Korea, and other countries for one to two years to practice their trade, where they are hosted by Christian families. When they return to China, their vocational skills enable them to find work more easily, and those who become Christians can serve and support the church.
HOLISTIC WITNESS IN NORTH KOREA
Rev. Kim has also been able to reach into North Korea itself. Four years ago, Partners International supported an agriculture project at a farm in North Korea. The farm received a cultivator, small farming tools, seed, fertilizer, a greenhouse, and training in improved farming techniques. "This farm supplies food for 600 families," said Rev. Kim. "The city's mayor was very appreciative of our help to alleviate the hunger problem in his area. In fact, he has moved to another city and wants us to begin helping there!"
The extent of tuberculosis is not known in North Korea because the government does not provide such information, but it is estimated that one million people have TB, a disease directly linked to malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions, so prevalent in the country. Though the government has many TB clinics, it is not nearly enough, nor is the equipment in good condition. Partners International provides x-ray machines, microscopes, IVs and medicine to a tuberculosis clinic in North Korea through Rev. Kim's ministry and another Christian organization experienced in this type of medical ministry. The hope is to support four more clinics in the next few years.
Rev. Kim's ministry also works with the TB patients to develop their farms, giving them a means to support themselves, and increasing the food supply.
Rev. Kim and his team know that their holistic approach is currently the only way to plant the seed of the Church in North Korea. "No matter what their ideology, it would not show God's love if we just ignore these people and let them die in their poverty and illness," observed Rev. Kim. "We hope to send God's love by providing medical care, relief, farming, and education."
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9:11:29 PM
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Nuclear North Korea. Views from 16 sources in Pyongyang, Seoul, Tokyo, Madrid, London, Chennai, Islamabad, Beijing, Toronto, Tehran, Brisbane, and Melbourne [Top Headlines from World Press Review]
8:59:45 PM
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Article on Religious Persecution in North Korea from Asialink Ministries
8:57:45 PM
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PRESS RELEASE FROM JUBILEE CAMPAIGN U.K
For immediate release March 21st 2003
HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATES APPALLING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NORTH KOREA
On March 13th 2003, in a debate initiated by Lord Alton of Liverpool, the House of Lords debated the situation of human rights in North Korea, the desperate plight of North Korean refugees in China and the threat to international security posed by North Korea.
Jubilee Campaign worked closely with Lord Alton, Lord Chan, Lord Clarke and a number of other Lords who participated in the debate, assisting them in the preparation of their speeches. In his opening speech Lord Alton pointed out that the U.S government believed that North Korea may already have nuclear weapons. He said, "Unfolding events in Iraq have inevitably distracted us from the arguably even more dangerous crisis posed by North Korea. The threat to international security posed by North Korea may best be considered by way of pernicious actions against its own citizens. North Korea's Stalinist dictatorship has treated its own people with unbelievable brutality and viciousness."
Lord Alton, Lord Clarke, Lord Hylton and Lord Chan all highlighted the desperate plight of hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees in China, thousands of whom have already been forcibly repatriated back to North Korea, where they face the likelihood of imprisonment and even execution. These repatriations have been taking place despite the fact that the Chinese government is a signatory to the 1951 Convcention relating to the Status of Refugees and is therefore responsible for the protection and humanitarian needs of the North Korean asylum seekers.
Lord Clarke said, "With thousands of refugees being repatriated to North Korea and thousands more refugee lives in serious danger, the UNHCR must be strongly pressed to enforce its bilateral treaty with China via binding arbitration. The treaty signed between the UNHCR and China states that the UNHCR has the right to unimpeded access to refugees in China at all times. It also contains a dispute resolution mechanism whereby UNHCR could enforce the treaty via binding arbitration. Surprisingly, the UNHCR has yet to attempt to enforce the bilateral treaty with China through binding arbitration. I hope that the British Government will urge it to do that."
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, responding on behalf of the British government said with regard to the bilateral agreement between the UNHCR and China, "I understand the concerns expressed on this issue. As a bilateral agreement rather than a treaty it is for the parties involved to interpret their obligations. But noble Lords are right that we should exert pressure. I assure my noble friend Lord Clarke that we will continue to encourage greater co-operation on this issue between China and UNHCR at every opportunity."
Baroness Symons rejected the suggestion that the British government, as a donor to the UNHCR, specifically earmark part of its financial contribution to that organisation for North Korean refugees, as it was entitled to do, as a means of forcing the UNHCR to be more pro-active in protecting North Korean refugees in China.
Numerous references were made during the debate as well to the severe persecution against Christians in North Korea. Lord Clarke stated, ".....the British-based human rights organisation Jubilee Campaign recently reported that North Korea has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Among the many human rights violations perpetrated by the North Korean regime is extensive religious persecution. Thousands of Christians have been put in North Korean prison camps simply because of their religious beliefs. Christians are treated as political criminals and come under intense pressure to give up their faith and worship Kim il Sung, the deceased founder of the Communist regime, instead. Christians are also regularly singled out for the most extreme treatment and toughest punishments in the prison camps. At least 100,000 Christians are believed to be among the 1 million prisoners of conscience suffering horrendous conditions throughout the country's 200 labour camps, where torture, starvation and death are commonplace. Some 300,000 Christians have disappeared in North Korea since 1953."
Baroness Symons said that the British government had regularly raised concerns about human rights abuses with the North Koreans but pointed out that the nuclear issue has inevitably taken away the focus from human rights in North Korea. She said that it had been difficult to engage with the North Koreans on any issue other than nuclear proliferation over the past six months.
Jubilee Campaign's Researcher and Parliamentary Officer, Wilfred Wong, says, "The situation for hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees in China is desperate. More international pressure needs to be placed on the UNHCR to refer the Chinese government's violation of their bilateral treaty with UNHCR to arbitration. We believe that the British government can do more and should do more to help, including designating part of its financial contribution to the UNHCR specifically for the protection of North Korean refugees in China. Much prayer is also needed for an end to the appalling human rights abuses inside North Korea, including the very harsh persecution which North Korean Christians face. "
8:23:57 PM
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© 2003 Radio Free China
Last Update: 4/6/2003; 8:38:44 AM
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