North east Asia

My family and I received a call to serve in North Korea and was located in Northeast Asia for about 7 years.  Because of the Covid pandemic however, we had to stop how we had been doing NK work. We found ourselves at a crossroads of how to continue and go forward. For many of us, Corona and border closures was like a reset, a point where we had to start thinking about how we can re-engage with North Korean ministries in a new and different way. 

Before the pandemic, there were gateway cities or regions outside of North Korea where people gathered from all over the world to engage in NK Work, most of which were outside South Korea (SK). However, because of the pandemic, it seems like God is trying to do a new thing. 

For us, as we found our way to SK, we were hoping to see what doing NK ministries looks like from where God’s placed us in Changwon, a city just outside of Busan. With the heart to continue doing NK work from South Korea, to continue bringing about God’s plans for the Korean peninsula and His people here, we founded HNK in March of 2022. For the ten months prior to the NGO’s founding, a core team was established, contacts and connections with other groups and organizations were made, and time was spent seeking the Lord about the ministries we can both partner with and start. 

Our philosophy in doing NK Missions is to minister to the NK people, wherever they are.  Most of the NK Diaspora Community in SK has not adjusted well.  There are many contributing factors involved for these results, which can be due to differences in ideology, differences social and economic standings, common shared values or community-based living, to name a few.  God has provided us various opportunities to reach out to the North Korean families who often end up facing many struggles even after coming to the South. Our hope is to be part of the solution to help them adjust better to living outside of North Korea and give them opportunities to not just survive, but to thrive in SK and the world. Not only do we hope to engage personally with the North Korean Diaspora communities, but we hope to find ways to get the South Korean and the larger international body of Christ interested and engaged in the what God is doing in the lives of the North Korean people.

There are 4 main areas we want to focus on as we continue to do our work here with our HNK:

1. Serving the NK Diaspora in South Korea

• Teaching English to elementary and middle school NK kids
• Serving elderly NK people through food projects 
• Establishing a community center for NK Diaspora people to promote enduring relationships

2. Raising the Next Generation

• Actively working with South Korean universities to raise awareness about and get students interested in North Korean issues
• Mentoring and raising up the next generation of fieldworkers for North Korea
• Running summer camp programs where NK, SK, and international youth from different backgrounds can come together 

3. Prayer Ministry

• Organizing prayer meetings to pray for the NK People
• Leading prayer walks and inviting the larger body of Christ to participate in praying God’s will for the Korean peninsula
• Creating prayer resources for the church to pray more effectively and intentionally

4. Mobilizing the Nations for the North

• Building bridges to connect South Korean and international with the work being done for North Korea
• Networking with NK NGOs to foster better communication and teamwork
• Sharing what God is doing in NK with the international community

Prayer Requests:

• Our goal is to reach out to the North Korean people with God’s love and reconciliation.  
• God to raise the next generation of leaders from the NK Diaspora to reach their country and to lead the world into global spiritual revival
• Pray for the NK Churches inside NK and inside SK
• For Godly people to come and help us in our work in HNK