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Christian mission agencies dispatched hundreds of staff and volunteers. Relief agencies poured in supplies. "The government became dependent on the help from the outside to meet certain needs," says Gary Snyder, a North Korea specialist at the Asia Foundation in Seoul.

After the famine subsided, Christians across the border in northeast China saw the trickle of refugees grow into a steady stream. Christians helped them with food, housing, and medical care. Some of the new arrivals became Christians and, after a period of discipleship, returned to North Korea. In other instances, Christians (ethnically Korean but Chinese nationals) smuggled out refugees. "Many quietly disobey the government in obedience to a higher calling of compassion," said Xu Mei in a recent Compass Direct news account.

Communist leaders in China and North Korea, historically close allies, have intensified their crackdown on refugees and those who aid them. In late 2001, Chinese border guards arrested Chun Ki-won, the South Korean Christian who helped an estimated 170 North Koreans escape to South Korea beginning in 1999.

His arrest touched off a global campaign to secure his release. Americans Doug Shin, supported by Calvary Chapel ministries in California, and Tim Peters of Helping Hands Korea buttonholed political leaders in Washington and around the world to pressure the Chinese to liberate Chun. In August the Chinese government finally freed the 46-year-old, who had spent eight months in jail and had paid a heavy fine.

"I found my mission when I first saw North Korean women in China who had been captured by sexual traffickers," Chun said in an interview with CT. He fears that the North Koreans he was guiding at the time of his arrest may end up back in North Korea, where they face up to seven years of prison or even execution.

The city of Yanji (population 175,000) is the capital of the Korean Autonomous Region of China. Twenty miles from the North Korean border, it is a key gathering point for refugees after they leave North Korea and for Christians who minister to them.

According to Korean missions experts in Seoul, at least 600 Christians are active in refugee outreach in the region. Christianity is a vital force in Yanji. A Presbyterian elder from North Carolina heads the local university. Hundreds of Christian-run schools, Bible institutes, orphanages, and old-age homes operate in the province.

Within the region, some refugees stop at the Doorae Farm. The farm has 1,000 acres of corn, well water, and Bible teaching.

Doorae Farm's motto is "Together we can build." It provides care both to refugees and to some of the 100,000 homeless people in North Korea. Each month, the farm ships a carload of grain, potatoes, and sugar to North Korea from its fields inside China.

James Gang, Doorae's director, told CT that at first the farm gave money to North Korea. "But three-quarters of the time, we had problems," he said. "So, we changed. Now, we pack everything up securely in one train car."

Mr. Yoon, a Chinese Korean who works with refugees, told CT that more refugees are eager to become missionaries. "One young man read through the Bible several hundred times before going back to North Korea," said Yoon, who uses a pseudonym because of security concerns. Young people can go back and forth over the border relatively easily. "They take a bag of food, some Bibles, and something for the border guards, and they are off."

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October 7 2002, Vol. 46, No. 11