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A Regime Opposed to Religion
Kim Duk–Soo will never forget November 20, 1950. That was the day North Korean communist troops found him hiding with his father in a cellar.
Kim, now the administrator of Presbyterian Hospital in Taegu, S. Korea, has difficulty telling his story, even after all these years.
Hundreds of thousands of N. Korean Christians made up a human wave escaping the North for the freer South. And each has a similar story of deliverance from a regime opposed to religion in general, and Christianity in particular.
“When we heard the soldiers coming, I was sure we would be killed,”
says Kim, his eyes filling with tears.
“My daddy told me we could not tell a lie to save our lives.”
Kim’s father had pastored the same church for 42 years. He had helped his wife hide their children by covering them with rice bags and dirt. But after two days of hiding, Kim uncovered himself.
Just then, Communist troops approached the house. Kim and his father ran to the backyard to hide in the root cellar.
“I told God I would serve him all my life if I got out of the root cellar alive.”
Kim Duk–Soo
The soldiers found Kim and his father and took them off to a makeshift prison. They were to be executed the next morning.
A Life For A Lie
That evening a N. Korean captain approached Kim.
“Are you a Christian?”
He asked. For a fleeting moment, a life for a lie seemed the only logical decision. But the young boy remembered his father’s instructions.
“I am a Christian,”
Kim admitted.
The captain drew closer and whispered,
“I am a Christian too. I used to be a Sunday School teacher before the war. You must escape tonight. I will help you.”
Kim fled that night, having to leave his father under heavy guard awaiting his imminent death.
Young Kim reached the American army base at Taegu, which is today a large and beautiful S. Korean city of 2.5 million, about the size of metropolitan Portland.
While “hanging around” in Taegu, Kim discovered an organ and began teaching himself to play.
An American he remembers only as captain Shoemaker learned of his musical interests and had a small organ shipped from the States.
For the next 10 years, Kim played that organ for chapel services at the base.
On a recent Mother’s Day at First Presbyterian in Taegu, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” reverberates from 2,000 Korean voices.
As he has done for many years, Kim is playing the organ.
“I should have been killed after the Communists found me, but God sent that Christian guard to help me escape. When I play the organ at church, I am doing it for God.”
Kim Duk–Soo
Moment of Truth:
God has many ways of setting people free with His truth. And that makes Satan furious. Don’t you love making the devil furious by trusting the God Who is truth?
Keep an eye out for our next set of blog posts coming soon!
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