Page 11 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians Jan-Mar-2024-125

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there, and they were hanging out of
the window crying out, “Save us!” But
the only thing I could think of was to
save the portrait of Kim Il-Sung.’
(From a young age North Koreans
are brainwashed to believe that the
portrait is worth as much as the life
of the Kim family itself. So, in the
situation he found himself, rescuing
a portrait on a wall became more
important than saving human lives.)
Ahn retrieved the pictures, but
was overcome by the smoke and
flames. He lost consciousness but,
as he later discovered, was saved
by another soldier who entered the
blazing room. He ended up spending
several months in hospital where he
underwent 40 surgical procedures;
and during this time he admits to
having felt suicidal.
Ahn was supposed to be awarded a
certificate for his bravery but instead
received a phone call one day from an
officer asking for a bribe to receive it.
‘I said, “Why are you making me pay
for a certificate that I should receive?”
As I began to argue with him he swore
at me and said, “Do you think you are
the only one who is special? Anyone in
the same situation as you would have
done the same thing.”’
Ahn felt deeply betrayed by the
regime he had served faithfully
and, as a result, began to question
the ideology he had held all his life.
Eventually he decided to defect – a
decision that, to his great surprise,
his father approved of! Ahn spent six
months planning and preparing to
leave, including obtaining poison so
that, if arrested, he could kill himself.
Then in February 2014 he and his
sister began the perilous journey out
of North Korea. They spent a year in
China before Ahn managed to make
his way to South Korea. Sadly his
sister was arrested in China before
she could follow him and repatriated
to North Korea where she was
imprisoned. She was released in 2020
but by then her health was in such a
poor condition that, a year later, she
died, aged just 39. Ahn said: ‘Before
she died she grabbed our mother’s arm
and said she didn’t want to die. When I
heard this story from my mother I felt
a piercing pain in my life. I beat myself
up that I was able to come to South
Korea. I cried for many days.’
‘God touched the scars
in my heart’
After Ahn arrived in South Korea,
he quickly fell into depression.
However, he met members of a church
and through them began attending
services. ‘I can remember when I met
the Lord; one Friday night at a prayer
meeting. I began to cry tears that I had
held in for so long. God touched the
scars that were in my heart.
‘So I began to reinterpret my life in
the light of the gospel. And I began to
dream new dreams in the Lord and
to start a new life in the Lord. I had
been rejected by the North Korean
government and I had lived such a
meaningless life but the Lord gave me
new dreams and new hopes.’
Ahn, who is now married with a
young son, has enrolled at a Bible
seminary and is hopeful that one day
the door will open for reunification in
the Korean peninsula. ‘Then I will go
to preach the gospel in my home town,’
he said.
Meanwhile he wants Christians in
the West to remember that God loves
the people of North Korea, though
they are led by a brutal dictator. ‘You
can forget about all of my story if you
want,’ he said, ‘but don’t forget [the]
people in North Korea. Pray for these
souls whom God loves.’
Ahn, whose hands were
badly burned saving a
portrait of Kim Il-Sung, now
follows Christ
HOW OUR
PARTNERS HELP
Voice of the Martyrs Korea
disciples North Koreans in
the Christian faith; and trains
believers for ministry that
includes evangelism to North
Koreans in third countries,
sending scripture into North
Korea and radio broadcasts.