Some 10 months since North Korea closed its border with China to prevent COVID-19 from entering the country, Christian groups have reportedly suspended activities to smuggle Bibles into the North.
The head of a missionary group doing work in North Korea who asked to remain anonymous told Daily NK on Thursday that “activities to send Bibles, religious books and rice to North Korea haven’t been going well since the border was closed because of COVID-19.” He added that they previously used people or smuggling to send Bibles into the North, but “those channels are now completely blocked.”
The Nehemiah Global Initiative (NGI), which has sent rice and bibles to North Korea as part of its “Sea Route Project,” has suspended those activities with the closure of the border. The group is currently focusing its efforts on helping young North Korean defectors settle in South Korea and teaching them English.
Because of this, missionary groups are reportedly searching for new methods in lieu of sending Bibles or items into North Korea, such as sending Bible passages or sermons through phone calls or text messages.
“One-on-one missionary activity of preaching the Bible by telephone has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began,” said the head of the missionary group. “Of course, we did these things before the pandemic, but we’ve expanded the frequency [of these activities].”
While the group focused on sending items into North Korea using funds raised in South Korea in the past, it has now effectively switched to teaching Christian doctrine on a one-to-one basis by telephone.
However, North Koreans’ thirst for religion reportedly continues to grow as the country’s economic troubles worsen and controls over their movement and communication with the outside world have tightened in the wake of COVID-19. North Koreans are accepting the gospel faster than before, and there are even recent cases of North Koreans asking for Bibles, the head of the missionary group told Daily NK.
The head of the missionary group said that, as of late, North Koreans often say things like, “The situation is difficult, but thank you for not letting me starve” and “I’m grateful that I can pray.”
“For North Koreans, who don’t know about God or religion, to use words like ‘thank you’ and ‘pray’ is exceptional,” he noted.
He also said there are cases in which North Koreans who have accepted the gospel are forming secret prayer groups with family members to whom they can confide.
The US State Department recently included North Korea on its list of “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom. “Countries of particular concern” are nations that continuously and systematically violate religious freedom. North Korea made the list for the 19th time. In a statement on Monday (local time), US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish.”
