Korean

“Give me a hint, O Lord, if you will”

In the early 1950s, thousands of refugees from North Korea during the
Korean War crossed the border and settled down in south. May years later,
some of them built a very tall tower on a hill overlooking North Korea.
There is no church building or people living on this hill. The secret of
the tower on the hill can be found on top of it, the cross. At night, the
cross on the tower is lit up so that it can be seen from across the river
to North Korea.

One of them is the late Roh Myung-kwan, born in North Korea. He fled to South Korea during the Korean War, Although, there was a big age difference between us, he was a good friend and a great encourager to me. Oftentimes, he made phone calls to eat together.

“When we first met, you were a soldier. After three years of military service, you came to BCC Winter School to study the Bible during your last vacation. It seems my days here is not long. I want you to know how happy I am to have met you and studied the Bible and done various activities together.” I didn’t know it was our last time meeting together.

When he passed away, his children asked me to conduct his funeral. He was
buried in a cemetery on a hill overlooking North Korea. The people who
fled from North Korea are now old and most of them have passed away. They
desperately wished for the day when they could go back to their hometowns
in North Korea before they died, but given the sharp confrontation between
the South and the North, that seemed like a distant dream, so they joined
together to build a cemetery here. They wanted to be buried here, overlooking
North Korea.

He passed away in 2021, and two years later, in 2023, we have been broadcasting to North Korea. I can only imagine how happy he would be If he knew about this. He would probably hold my hand and dance.

Most people have their own definitions of BCC. People who study the Bible online think of it as an Online Bible School. People who come to the BCC classroom a few times a year to take intensive two week program think of it as a preaching school. The group of international students who study the Korean language once a week might think of BCC as a Korean Language School. People who attend the church here at BCC think of BCC as a church.

And since I broadcast weekly through CBS throughout South Korea, listeners think of BCC as a Christian broadcasting organization. Among the listeners, many came here to study the Bible and were trained as preachers, and we can’t tell how grateful we are. And we also receive a lot of feedback from listeners we’ve never met before, expressing gratitude.

All of this is not a program that one man can do alone. Currently, about 20 people are helping this program in one way or another. In particular, producing broadcast programs for North Korea requires a lot of manpower. I am truly grateful for their help, but at the same time, I cannot hide my apologetic mind. This is because there is no way to tell them what effect their work is having.

When broadcasting in the South, we always get feedback. And if we get feedback from listeners in North Korea, those who are dedicated to this work will be greatly encouraged. That's common sense.

We have broadcasted to North Korea every day with no single day break, but we have not received any response. Of course, we have received feedback from many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. We have received feedbacks from Russia and China, and we have received emails of thanks from Japan, Pakistan, the United States, and even Ukraine, which is at war. That is something to be thankful for, but in fact, our main target is North Korea. And there has been no response from them. At such times, I try not to be disappointed, remembering the Bible verse that says we walk by faith, not by sight.

I am so grateful to my co-workers who silently help me even in this situation. However, I cannot hide the emptiness that remains in my heart and the feeling of guilt toward them.

As I stood in the cemetery facing North Korea and put my hands together to pray, tears flowed uncontrollably. I don’t know if they were tears of sadness or tears of apologetic mind. This was my prayer in the DMZ cemetery:

“Give me a hint, O Lord, if you will. If there are people in North Korea listening, would you give me a hint so that I would not be weary? Lord, if that is not your will, then just give me a strength to continue and obey your will.”