Meet the Army of Christians Sneaking the Gospel into North Korea

North Korea is one of the most dangerous and secretive countries on earth.

However, dozens of Christian missionaries line up every day along the Chinese border to preach the gospel to desperate North Koreans.

Most of these missionaries are from South Korea, and know their work could get them and their disciples killed.

In recent years, 10 missionaries and pastors have mysteriously died, according to the Rev. Kim Kyou Ho, head of the Seoul-based Chosen People Network. Many believe North Korea is responsible.

But the threat of death hasn't stopped one 69-year-old Korean-Chinese woman from evangelizing on the border.

For 20 years, she has fed, prayed with, sang with, and introduced countless North Koreans to Christ.

"I always pray and I'm with God, so I'm not worried," the woman told the Associated Press.

Sometimes she asks her converts to do the unthinkable – return to the Hermit Kingdom and set up their own secret house churches.

North Korean defectors say Christians are often murdered by the government or sent to hard labor camps.

"I had heard of God in North Korea but I was also aware that believers are taken to prison," one defector told CBN News.

Christianity is viewed as a major threat to Kim Jon Un, who is viewed as a god in the country.

"The Bible and the Christian Gospel is the most destabilizing thing to the North Korean regime," said author Tom Belke. "The Bible teaches that there is a supreme, sovereign God over all men, including the dictator. This Good News cannot be tolerated in North Korea because it undermines the authority of the dictator."
 
However, South Korean Christians are determined to spread the Good News to their neighbors through creative means.

Some believers write the gospel on balloons and send them into the North.

"By sending these balloons, we let our North Korean brothers and sisters know that we are praying for them and the scriptures on the balloons are meant to encourage them," one undercover believer told CBN News.

While it's hard to know the extent and size of North Korea's church, God is moving in the country.

CBN News obtained audio recordings and photographs of secret underground church meetings inside North Korea.

"Father! Father! The descendants of the martyrs in blood are all alive even now," one Christian prayed.  "My Father! I know the Spirit of the Lord will come to restore and deliver."

No one knows when North Korea will be liberated, but the missionaries on its border do know vow to continue sharing the gospel until their neighbors can worship Jesus without fear.