Rhee Soon-ja has vivid memories of her father reading the Bible<\/a> to her and her six siblings when they were children. She remembers that the verses were printed vertically, rather than horizontally. And although now 82 years old, she can still picture the phrase \u201cChrist Is Lord of This House\u201d hanging from a wall in their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy parents prayed that God would use me as His servant,\u201d she said, recalling another childhood memory. \u201cI grew up dreaming of becoming an evangelist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those were the days before Korea split into North and South, communist and free. Those were the days when the Christian faith flourished in northern Korea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere were many Christians,\u201d Soon-ja shared from her living room in South Korea. \u201cI attended the Methodist Church. All the congregations gathered every Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Soon-ja was a young girl, her family was among the first to experience persecution under the rule of Kim Il Sung, North Korea\u2019s<\/a> first leader. Today Christianity is illegal there, and those who choose to follow Jesus are sent to a concentration camp, where they are starved, tortured and often killed. Soon-ja has experienced a lifetime of pain, but when she looks back on her life she sees God\u2019s hand in it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n Soon-ja was born in 1937, the fifth of seven children. Her father, a mine worker, was known for his Christian faith \u2014 well enough that many people, including his relatives, criticized him for it. They thought he was too bold in sharing the gospel. But having read the Scriptures, he knew persecution was simply part of following Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe taught us that the more we are persecuted, the more we need to trust in the Lord,\u201d Soon-ja recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of World War II, when Korea was freed from Japanese colonialism and divided into two countries, the brutal Communist Party in the north forced most pastors to flee to the south. Kim Il Sung became North Korea\u2019s<\/a> first premier in 1948, the year North Korea<\/a> and South Korea gained formal independence as sovereign nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs the Communists became more powerful, even my father became uneasy,\u201d Soon-ja said. \u201cHe asked three of my brothers to move to South Korea to earn a living. But my father did not leave North Korea<\/a>. When our pastor left, our father took his place and kept the church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Communists began to occupy church buildings as North Korea <\/a>gradually became an atheistic state. \u201cMany of the church buildings were destroyed, and we had to begin worshiping in our own houses,\u201d Soon-ja said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around that time, Soon-ja had to complete an entrance exam and interview to enroll in junior high school. But when administrators saw that she had stated her religion as \u201cChristian,\u201d they denied her application, and her father had to find another school for her to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These subtle forms of persecution quickly became the norm, and life became increasingly difficult for Soon-ja\u2019s family. The government was already promoting the idea that religion is a drug used to control people and was mandating that all North Koreans<\/a> follow the official state religion, Juche<\/em>, venerating Kim Il Sung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy father used to say, \u2018No matter how much persecution there may be, we must persevere; we have to endure persecution even when we don\u2019t have anything to eat,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon-ja\u2019s family took time to worship God in their house regardless of the obstacles presented by the atheistic Communist government. They were aware, however, that they could be killed if they were ever caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the mid-1960s, Soon-ja\u2019s brother hosted a prayer gathering at his house. Recognizing that many people were worshiping Kim Il Sung as a false idol, he burned a portrait of the North Korean<\/a> leader following their time of prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One person at the prayer meeting reported the act to authorities, and Soon-ja\u2019s brother was quickly arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In addition, Soon-ja\u2019s family was separated and forced to leave Pyongyang, and her parents were required to work in mines for several months.<\/p>\n\n\n Soon-ja was 28 at the time and had been married for three years. She and her husband, whose relatives were high-ranking Communist officials, had two young sons. Since Christians were considered enemies of the state, the government ordered her husband to divorce her, giving him sole custody of their 3-year-old and 8-month-old sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy husband asked me to go out from the house,\u201d she said tearfully. \u201cOur 3-year-old boy was holding my leg and asked me not to go anywhere. At that moment my husband kicked me out, and he started beating the boys. They kept asking, \u2018When are you coming back?\u2019 To comfort them, I told them, \u2018I will come back after a few days.\u2019 That was the last time I saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After losing her husband, children and home because of her Christian faith, Soon-ja lost all hope and began to waver in her faith. \u201cI remember standing on the riverside thinking of committing suicide,\u201d she said, \u201cbut the words of my father kept me from doing it. He had said that our lives are not our own but God\u2019s. I couldn\u2019t die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After her parents were released from their work in the mines, Soon-ja moved in with them. Her mother was then able to visit her brother in prison, but what she saw was disheartening. On the first visit, it was clear to her that he was malnourished and had been severely beaten. On the second visit, guards told her that he wasn\u2019t available. And later, the family learned that he had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe think my brother was killed as an example for other Christians because the government hates religion,\u201d Soon-ja said. \u201cThe moment I learned that my brother died in prison, I felt there was no God. I lost my hope and vision as an evangelist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 1970s, Soon-ja\u2019s father told her about a North Korean<\/a> widower who might make a good husband for her. The man, who also had Chinese <\/a>citizenship, had eight children, and Soon-ja\u2019s father thought Soon-ja would be a good mother for them. He worried that without a husband she would have no future. Soon-ja\u2019s mother opposed the idea because the man was not a Christian, but that was not an obstacle for Soon-ja, whose faith had long faded. Although she initially refused to consider it, she eventually decided to marry the man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy to raise another woman\u2019s children when you have had to leave behind your own children,\u201d Soon-ja said. \u201cHowever, my heart grew toward the children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, Soon-ja and her second husband had two more children, giving Soon-ja 10 children to raise. While her husband and children all had Chinese<\/a> citizenship, Soon-ja was never able to obtain it despite her husband\u2019s hard work to get them out of North Korea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In late 1994, she obtained a three-month visa allowing her to join her family on a trip to visit her husband\u2019s relatives in China<\/a>. While walking around in a Chinese city with her family one day, she heard someone reciting John 3:16, a verse she remembered reading in her youth. When she turned around to see who it was, no one was there. She asked her husband if he had heard anything, but he had not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI stopped praying after I lost my brother,\u201d she said. \u201cI stopped worshiping. I never thought about God, but in that moment I was stunned by the words in my head. In that moment, I said, \u2018I have to go to church.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon-ja soon began an intense Bible<\/a> study with a pastor she met in China<\/a>, but her husband never joined them. As they studied God\u2019s Word, the pastor encouraged Soon-ja to flee North Korea<\/a> with her family and live in China<\/a>. They even set a date for her to flee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Soon-ja\u2019s visa expired, she left her family in China<\/a> and returned to North Korea<\/a>. But as the date approached for her to flee, she could not muster the courage to make the dangerous journey on her own. She did, however, remain in contact with the pastor who had encouraged her to leave North Korea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years later, at age 60, Soon-ja decided she was ready to escape. On a hot summer evening in July 1997, she told some neighbors that she was going to bathe in the Yalu River, which serves as part of the border separating North Korea<\/a> from China<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t feel afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cI already had lots of experience in suffering. It was nothing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As she waded into the Yalu River, Soon-ja sensed that the secret police were watching her. Her heart raced as she quietly trudged through the cold water, which gradually rose to the level of her chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After climbing out of the river on the Chinese<\/a> side, apparently unnoticed by North Korean<\/a> border guards, she met the pastor and reunited with her family. At the pastor\u2019s suggestion, the family soon moved to a small Chinese<\/a> town, where they lived for three years. During that time, Soon-ja continued to grow in faith; her husband, who never became a follower of Jesus, was finally able to buy her Chinese<\/a> citizenship for $1,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon-ja\u2019s two youngest children, then in their late 20s, decided to move to South Korea, and in 2001 she and her husband moved there to be near them. Her husband, however, was allowed to stay for only three years before returning to China<\/a>, where he died in 2011 from an illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had to start working as a housemaid immediately to survive,\u201d Soon-ja said. \u201cFortunately, I met a good homeowner who was a deacon at a church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Soon-ja continues to live in South Korea with her son and granddaughter. She has graduated from a VOM-sponsored discipleship program and participated in missions trips, including one to China<\/a>. During the trips, she meets with other North Korean<\/a> women and tells them how she recommitted her life to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI cried a lot when I met North Korean<\/a> women in China<\/a> who were sex-trafficked,\u201d she said. \u201cI shared my testimony. They were in their 30s and 40s. For them I was like a mother. I just hugged them, and they were just holding my hand and starting to cry. I really felt pain when I saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon-ja is not sure she would try to visit her two oldest sons if the border with North Korea<\/a> opened during her lifetime; she thinks it would be too painful. She continues to pray for their souls, but she knows they are living a comfortable life in North Korea<\/a> because of her first husband\u2019s social class. \u201cI have a heart of mother\u2019s love toward them, but I don\u2019t worry about them,\u201d she said, crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back on her life, she said her biggest regret is that she didn\u2019t listen to her father\u2019s wishes when she was younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/plugins\/vom-custom-block-subscribe-ad\/assets\/magazine-cover.jpg\")
\r\n\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\tpersecution arrives <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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losing hope <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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a new family <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
a calling realized<\/h3>\n\n\n\n