“If you meet God, you will be blessed.”

by The Voice of the Martyrs


At the height of the famine in North Korea, 10 or 11 people were dying of starvation daily in Sister Yang’s village. At times, she had to eat wood and even sand. In 2002, she escaped to China in search of food and a chance to earn some money. It was in China that she first heard about God.

“A woman in China told me about the existence of God and that if you meet God you will be blessed,” Sister Yang said. “I believed in God and returned to North Korea as a Christian. It was then I was overheard praying. When a co-worker asked what I was doing, I didn’t answer. But soon I was arrested and tortured for 30 days.”

Sister Yang was watched constantly by police, and her family disowned her. With no place to go, she again fled to China. But after reaching China, she was kidnapped and sold as a slave to a Chinese businessman.

“I had been raped by my slave owner and was six months pregnant when a friend and I hired some brokers to help us escape into South Korea. But we got lost on the Mongolian border. There, I miscarried and laid the baby in my handbag, which I carried with me. All around us were bones - bones of others who had gone before us trying to escape.”

Sister Yang’s friend died from the cold and hunger. Finally, she lay down next to the bodies of her friend and her miscarried child and prayed that God would save her. Two days later, she was discovered lying in the snow by Mongolian border guards. All of the toes on her left foot had to be amputated because of frostbite.

“My faith has been tested,” Sister Yang said, “but God has saved me and I am living for God. I want to be a missionary. I want to return to North Korea and tell my people of God’s love.”

As we close out another year and begin 2012, we pray that testimonies like Sister Yang's, although very difficult, will strengthen our own faith, helping us face our own trials and to live for God and his purposes for our lives.