These are the Generations by Mr. and Mrs. Bae

 These are the Generations:

The Story of How One North Korean Family

Lived Out the Great Commission

for More Than Fifty Years

in the Most Christian-Hostile Nation in Human History

Mr. and Mrs. Bae, as told to the Rev. Eric Foley

Published 2012

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This was another interesting true story about escaping North Korea. The other book I read like this was Yeonmi Park's In Order to Live. The obvious difference between both stories was the reason for leaving: Yeonmi fled North Korea because she was starving and wanted food to eat, whereas, the Bae family defected because they were Christians and feared for the future of their children. "Since we discipled [them] as Christians at home, we worried that they may make mistakes outside of the home." Christian lives were severely endangered in North Korea. 

This short book began with a forward by Rev. Eric Foley. He told how North Korea distorted Christianity and used its tenants to lift up the Kims. North Korea is the "most religious place on earth." Its religion is called Juche and means "self-reliance." Once a week 100% North Koreans gather together in "self-criticism meetings." Like Christianity, Juche has a trinity: Kim Il Sung, his wife, and son, Kim Jong Il. At the weekly meetings, the people praise and sing hymns to Kim Sung Il and pray by looking up at images of him. He is the immortal god of the North. His son, Kim Jong Il, was born in a "humble log cabin in midwinter." That night, a new star appeared in the sky. 

Juche is a fraudulent man-made religion and is why the government must work hard to exterminate every Christian. Foley told of how there was an estimated three hundred thousand Korean Christians in 1941 - many persecuted by the Japanese. After Korea's liberation from Japan, the country split between North and South -- the North falling under Communist control. Kim Il Sung was made leader by the Soviets and realized he needed to eliminate Christians in order to establish Communism. Kim blamed the Americans for the Korean War, and proclaimed it proved why religion was bad. Most Christians end up in concentration camps and die there. 

By the 1980s, very few Christians remained. The Bae family (not real name) is unique because they are one of those families. It started with Mr. Bae's grandfather who became a Christian while he lived in China at the time of WWII Japanese occupation. He fled China, during the Cultural Revolution, before the time of Mao, and settled in the area that would become North Korea. His wife (Mr. Bae's grandmother) was also a Christian. And this story is about how they raised up generations of Christians.

Before his grandparents died, Mr. Bae was warned never to tell anyone that they prayed or someone would come and take him away. Since his own parents were practicing Christians, he was taught the "Ten Commandments" as really good advice, not the moral law of God. 

Unfortunately, because his family was from China, they were considered "dirty, bad" people. One day his mother took in and fed a destitute woman, and for being neighborly, the whole family was expelled to a farming village where they had less rations than before. Even the children had to labor hard and suffer. Mr. Bae's mother told him that they were being tested, and they should still live out their faith. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Bae's father decided he had to do something to save his family from starvation, and he taught himself mechanics and became a very essential person in the district. As "dirty immigrants from China," it was "miraculous" that they were able to move out of the village. 

Mr. Bae explained how he desired to join the Communist party as he grew up, which is almost impossible for an immigrant; but he knew if he could manage, he would have better opportunities. After high school he had to serve in the army for ten years. While in the army, he excelled at everything he did. Long story short, he managed to get approval to join the party. About this time, he also found a wife, Mrs. Bae. 

By 1994, Kim Il Sung died. And the Soviet Union collapsed. Electricity failed. And resources for food, too. The famine came. Death, starvation, and more death was all around. 

And then Mr. Bae was arrested for preaching about God to a friend who was struggling in his marriage. He had shared with him the Ten Commandments, repentance, and giving thanks when you have food. These were the things his parents and grandparents had taught him, but it cost him his freedom.

Mr. Bae spent seventeen months in prison, forced to sit for hours without moving. He should have been executed. During that time he thought much about his life, how he had sought excellence and respect from his superiors. He was prideful of his achievements and relied on his own intelligence. All he desired was admittance into the Communist Party. Therefore, he genuinely yielded to God and repented, even grateful for his time in prison. God did not abandon him; he released him from prison INNOCENT of all charges. He even got his job back. 

But now he had a conflict: "What was [he] to do now that [his] faith was in full flower?"

At this point in the story, Mr. Bae told about his mother. She was a courageous woman and was never afraid to talk to others about God. She knew God was with her and she always helped others in need. He said that it was impossible to evangelize in North Korea, "but Mom found a way to do it." 

Next, Mrs. Bae told her side of the story. She told about her own Christian upbringing and how her parents were very generous. Education was very important, too, and Mrs. Bae excelled in school. Then she met Mr. Bae and they married and had children. When her husband was arrested for sharing the Ten Commandments with a friend, she had to manage without him for those seventeen months. Her mother-in-law helped her to pray for him, and though he should have been executed, he was released. That was when the Bae's decided that they should evangelize others, a very risky business in North Korea, to say the least.

Since Mrs. Bae was also very intelligent and had excelled in school, like Mr. Bae, she came to understand God's grace. She said,

Throughout my whole life, I had thought that I was very wise and brilliant and had achieved great things through leadership. I thought I was good enough. But those kinds of thoughts came because I didn't know God. I had only a Juche education. As I heard the Gospel, I came to see that all the honors and everything I had received were gifts from God. Apart from him, I had done nothing. (In other words, she discovered God's GRACE.)

She said that she realized that all of North Korea's ethical education is based on the Bible! They copied and distorted what the Bible taught. From then on the Bae's eyes were truly opened and in their conscience they could no longer participate in the idolatry of the Kims. They began having home church and taught hymns and prayer, repentance and the Ten Commandments. They tithed by giving to others, even if they suffered a loss. They eliminated all sources of idolatry in their family. 

Mrs. Bae said: 

They understood that unbelief was the reason North Korea was so poor no matter how hard Kim Jong Il tried to make it prosper.

Mrs. Bae said that the reason her family decided to defect from North Korea was "for the future of our children." And they left in November 2009, following in the footsteps of her husband who defected first to prepare a way for his wife and children. It was a long and treacherous journey, but she and her two children made it to China. She recalled it being unbelievable that they survived, but she constantly reminded herself that God was with them. God arranged every situation and every person who received them. 

Mrs. Bae spent a short time in a Thailand jail, which she said was much better than living in North Korea. All the while, they evangelized and helped others in need, as best as they could. Finally they made it to South Korea, which is another process, but eventually she was reunited with her husband. Sadly, they tried to help Mr. Bae's parents to defect, but they never made it; they were arrested and taken to a concentration camp. But the Bae's knew that they were living out their faith in every moment and imagined "God loves his people so much that He will even send his. . . eighty-year old messenger into a concentration camp to tell [others] the good news."

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