In the light of everything going on with our always interesting neighbors up north, I am going to take a break from my journey to North Korea and answer the question that keeps coming to me from so many people; WHAT DO I THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN UP NORTH AFTER THE MEETINGS IN JUNE? I am excited to see the Trump/Kim showdown in Singapore on June 12. But who knows what might happen. Therefore, I will answer the above question by answering the following questions: 1. WHAT DO THE AMERICANS WANT FROM NORTH KOREA? The simple answer is NO MORE NUKES! And with that a lot less bantering. However, there is a list of bonuses that will probably come up in the meeting in June. Some of that should include questioning of their human rights record with a nod to Otto Warmbier and a serious look at economic reform with hopefully a foundation being laid for future trade cooperation. These things would be an amazing start to bringing North Korea out of the Dark Ages. 2. WHAT DO THE SOUTH KOREANS WANT FROM NORTH KOREA? The simple answer here beyond the nukes is just PEACE on the peninsula. Peace does not equate to reunification. Most South Koreans I talk to would love to see peace and a restored friendly relationship but not necessarily reunification. One can hope that if peace is established that perhaps will start the long drawn out road to reunification. But the reunification conversation is complicated and one that most people do not truly want to have on the South side of the DMZ. More open trade would also be a nice bonus amongst a few other things. South Korea would love to tap into the resources and the potential work force North Korea could provide. 3. WHAT DOES NORTH KOREA WANT? Simple answer: NO MORE CRIPPLING SANCTIONS! The leaders want to stay in power and be relevant to the world and to their people. Kim Jong Un like his father and grandfather before him want to be acknowledged as leaders in the same realm as Trump, Putin and Xi. The North Korean people simply want to just live life, be afforded human rights, freedom, more food to eat, greater opportunities to dream and be able to watch a South Korean drama without the fear of being sent to a labor camp or worse. It may go without saying, but Kim would love to see reunification of the Korean peninsula as well, as long as he is in charge of course. Oh, and if he can keep his NUKES and get the USA off the Korean peninsula, that would be a nice bonus. 4. WHAT DOES CHINA WANT FROM NORTH KOREA? It really just wants North Korea to behave, continue to be a subservient vassal state, and quietly be a buffer between them and the USA. The Chinese agenda is pretty open and not a secret. They want to dominate the world. They ultimately are the greatest threat to the USA politically, economically and militarily. With that said, they are watching this summit very close and will have a lot of say on really what happens in North Korea. 5. WHAT DO I WANT FROM NORTH KOREA? For me personally, I want to see the nation change. I want to see the nation come to Christ through an amazing revival. But assuming that I might not get that, I want to see peace. I want to be able to go back to North Korea with my teams and impact the lives of their people. In order for that to happen effectively, I need the North Korean leadership be open about economic change, access to information and freedom for their people in all areas. They need to allow us to come back in and have the freedom to do our jobs unhindered. This is my prayer. 6. WHAT DO I THINK IS ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN ON JUNE 12, 2018 IN SINGAPORE? Making a prediction concerning an event that is unparalleled in recent human history is a practice probably not worth much. But I am going to do it anyways. My gut feeling keeps telling me that something is going to happen in the next few weeks that will keep the meeting from happening. However, assuming that it goes through and is completed, I believe very little will actually be accomplished immediately. Both leaders will talk and exchange pleasantries perhaps, and at best, a certain level of denuclearization will be accomplished in exchange for some lessening of sanctions. But I am not so sure Kim is really open to change quite yet (I hope I am wrong) and Trump is kind of holding most of the cards. But I believe the meeting will decide whether or not a more serious meeting will take place between the USA and China in determining the future of North Korea. But, the photos of TRUMP and KIM together will be EPIC and the liberal media will probably encourage a bunch of crazy memes that are likened to those of Dennis Rodman and his “homie” Kim. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! I guess it is time to PRAY.
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The word on the street this week is that the three Americans being held as prisoners in North Korea have been moved from their labor camps and will possibly be released soon in preparation for the Kim/Trump showdown. This is exciting news for the families and friends of these individuals who have been on their knees praying to God for their safe return to them. I personally cannot imagine what it is like inside of a North Korean labor camp, but all my sources and testimonies have confirmed that it is pretty awful.
I am not exactly sure who the Americans are or what their crimes might have been, but what I do know is that North Korea is a place that is dead serious about keeping certain outside influences out. One of these influences would be religion of almost any kind. Christians seem to be a pretty hard target. And most Americans who tend to be detained are often those who have evangelical motives (there are exceptions). I guess you don’t hear too much about Muslim or Buddhist missionaries getting caught. There are reports all the time of Christians being brutalized in North Korea by some pretty gross methods. For this reason and many others, Christianity still exists all over North Korea but it has to be very well hidden. Church is very much restricted. With that said, I want to share with you about my first time (and only time) attending a Church service in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Pyongyang. The basketball team was pretty excited about the day’s activities. We finished breakfast and boarded the bus. We were all pretty quiet as we looked out the bus windows. We knew we were headed to a church. After all, it was on our schedule. We pulled into the parking lot. It was a simple and beautiful grey stone/brick structure. We all stood around outside talking and taking pictures. I couldn’t help but think to myself what kind of service it would be. Local men and women filed in to the building (mostly older women). I wanted to go in and see what it looked like. But we were told we must wait. Our guides were lecturing us on how North Korea is a free country and everyone can worship the way they want. Most of us smiled and internally rolled our eyes at that notion. As we were talking the pastor of the church shows up and greets us all. With a warm friendly smile he welcomed us. Finally we were ushered in. As we were ushered to the front of the auditorium, we were introduced with an uncomfortable applause. I looked around to take it all in. It was weird to think that I was going to a church service in Pyongyang, North Korea. As I walked up the aisle, I immediately noticed that all the people sitting in the pews were probably no younger than 60 years old and mostly women. There were no children or diversity of any kind in relation to age. The service started. We were directed to the hymnals and sang a few traditional hymns. There was a small choir that sang a few songs. And then the pastor came up and introduced the passage and his message. Since the message was in Korean, I wasn’t paying much attention. One of the guides behind me was trying to translate here and there for my teammates. My mind drifted to the plight of the Christians in North Korea. I was more than aware that this service was very much propaganda and not much more. As I was drifting in thought, I decided to come back to the present and attempt to listen to the message. My Korean is fairly functional but a far cry from fluent. I was trying to piece the words together when I caught a line from the pastor I am pretty sure I understood. With conviction and typical Korean pastor style (some of you know what that means) he clearly said "If we love Jesus, we need to always be ready to kill the Japanese." I smirked at the line because I assumed I did not understand it clearly. Then I heard the same words in English spoken by our guides behind me as they were translating. I am pretty sure that was not what the passage was eluding to in Matthew that he was reading. But yeah, that really happened. WOW! I wasn’t about to ask our North Korean authorities as to whether or not if the church was a real thing or just a show for us. The team debated back and forth as to whether or not the service was real or not. Coach Hayes chimed in and said, “Of course it was a real church.” As we all quietly looked at him. I asked, “Why do you think so?” With a proud little smirk, he said “Well, I looked around the sanctuary while the preacher was talking and I noticed most of the people were asleep. What more proof do you need?” We all chuckled at that and started preparing for our first basketball game. |
AuthorLuke Elie Archives
June 2018
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