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The Believers of Nampo City
One hundred and two people living in Nampo City, Pyong An Southern Province in North Korea had become Christians by listening to radio from South Korea. After enduring in their faith as Christians for two years, they were arrested.
They were either secretly executed or sent to Yo-duk prime security labor camp. This was the largest underground church arrest that was made where all the 102 believers were caught after one year of undercover investigation conducted by a political officer sent by the central government.
It all started when a Nampo City security officer overheard a college student who attended the naturally developed underground church talk about the Bible.
All of the 102 Christians were detained in Nampo security detention center and the guards were surprised to see their fearless faith.
According to the guards on duty, when the siren sounded off at noon, all of the Christians in the camp would stand up and recite the “Lord’s Prayer.” At first, the guards would beat them with rifle butts but they still could not stop them from praying.
Forty out of the 102 people were secretly executed for believing in Jesus (while the reason given for execution was for illegally watching South Korean videos). The other 62 people were sent to a political prison camp and never heard of again. (These facts were first told by a former North Korean security guard who defected and had looked at the confidential files, and later confirmed with a Nampo security officer.)
There was a man in his 50’s, named Lee, who lived in Nampo city who heard the claims of Christ and became curious. The more he heard about Jesus, the more his faith increased.
He started to listen to the radio broadcast and for four months, he copied the sermons down on paper. It quickly amounted to 700 pages. He also managed to get his hands on a Bible and compared notes for five months to deepen his understanding of the Bible. He experienced unspeakable joy and deep spiritual understanding.
He shared the gospel message with his wife and two sons (who were in their 20s), as well as Bible stories with his close relatives and friends. He never mentioned that he shared the Bible or the gospel. They all responded that they had never heard this truth before and, experiencing how this truth began to light their path, they began to share the gospel with others. Within a few months, the number of Christians grew to fifty.
By this time, Lee began to confess that he was sharing the Bible and the gospel. Those who were immersed in God’s grace did not leave the faith in spite of the danger of public execution for propagating God’s Word. They were already experiencing a sharing faith community of help and trust in one another like the early church in the book of Acts.
Lee boldly installed a radio for his church to listen to the broadcast together. This created a ripple effect and the underground church grew to more than 100 people. Lee wasn’t an evangelist or pastor but through his faith, led this little flock of faithful believers into a genuine Christian faith community.