Saturday April 10, 2010

Scripture of the day: Joshua 1:7

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

There is quite of lot of resistance during the preparation period of this new mission trip. The contact moments with our contactperson went smooothly.

It took us about a half year to prepare for this trip. This trip we go as representatives, ambassadors of Jesus Christ, of the Kingdom of God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

A prayer group of individuals, organizations and churches support this mission.

Daily, we proclaim Isaiah 61 over the nation of North Korea for three months. It’s Gods promise for a new time for the Korean people.

We testified about Jesus Christ in many different ways in North Korea. With our guides (5 individuals), contact persons (3 individuals) and co-travelers we were able to speak freely about our faith in Jesus Christ.

Corrie gave her book with Biblical paintings, Bible scriptures and her own life story as a gift. They really gave attention to the book and one guide even asked Corrie if she wanted to make a painting for him. The others also asked questions about it.

Hans read a testimony in the church about the reconciliation between the Korean people themselves and God. They translated this testimony literally into the Korean language even the Bible scriptures. It’s also video taped so it can be watched still by many others.

On a hill, located along a river that goes through Pyong Yang, with views over all the city, we prayed for the Korean people, especially for those in prison and proclaimed Bible scriptures.

At many occasions we have chances to talk about faith. A special moment was when Billy Graham gave his present, when he visited North Korea. It’s a globe with a dove above every continent. The guide told us that it symbolizes worldpeace. We complemented it by saying that for Christians it is the symbol for the Holy Spirit, who is poured out in the world.

Several times we were able to give out our business cards with information about our weblog www.samenindenaamvanjezus.nl (www.togetherinthenameofjesus.com for English translations). But also our pin of a Christian businessman organization was good for questions.

Many of the places we visited in North Korea were the same as previous travels, therefore we want to refer to those reports for more detailed descriptions. For security reasons we don’t describe here specifically personal conversations with people about the gospel.

Today we go to Schiphol airport, but it turns out that they do maintenance on the railway. So someboday brings us to Roosendaal (half an hour drive). We are led to the right railway track as it were and therefore we even have time left when we arrive at the airport. There we pray in the prayer room. Talking to a German woman about our travel to North Korea, she is very surprised that we can confess our Christian faith openly. We give her our business card with the weblog www.togetherinthenameofjesus.com so she can read it. The flight goes very successful, even though the nine hour time difference is still a strange feeling.

Sunday April 11, 2010

Scripture of the day: Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

This scripture was very encouraging to us in our preparation period and at the moments when there was a lot of spiritual warfare and discouragement.

Meanwhile, nine hours further in time, around 12:30 we arrive in Peking. Everything goes smoothly, we are warmly welcomed and arrive in our hotel at 2pm.

At night we meet our travelguide to North Korea in the hotel. We are warmly greeted, again.

Sunday April 12, 2010

Scripture of the day: Revelation 21:5-7

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

It’s difficult to sleep that night because of the hard beds and our jetlag. Mankind trusts on experience, while we need to completely trust in God.

And even though we go for the third time, everything will be new again. The victory must be achieved. God is behind us, supports us. The beginning, the Alpha God is before us, the end, the Omega and God is with us. Precisely we will follow His lead.

We meet our travelguide again in the morning. He is going to arrange the visum for North Korea for us. Then we take a nap to get some additional sleep and in the afternoon we buy a warm scarf and coat for Corrie because of the cold.

It turns out to be a quiet day, but at night we are attacked heavily. We ask our prayer group to pray for us more. After this we have slept for a short amount of time.

Dinsdag April 13, 2010

Scripture of the day: Hebrews 11:1-3

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Heavily tired we start our traveling day to Pyong Yang with the rest of the travelers. The Spanish tourguide, his assistant from Norway, a Spanish student politicology, an Italian professor, a Norwegian artist, a Bulgarian businessman and us two.

A steady flight to Pyong Yang and a warmly welcome.

Corrie gives her book with Biblical paintings as a gift.

In the evening we have the usual welcomes dinner. It somewhat passed us, we know the story. We certainly feel and experience the prayer support very clearly: we have a great night of rest.

Wednesday April 14 2010

Scripture of the day: Jeremiah 51: 15-17

“He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. “Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

We visit the Kim Il Sung’s birthplace.

We bezoeken het geboortehuis van Kim Il Sung. There is a spring sun still relatively fresh and already warmer than yesterday. And certainly warmer than the icy cold of last year.
We visit a university with technical training. We are guided in the electronic library.

That evening we go to the river. It turns out that they have a gigantic fireworks show. A composition of music, singing and visual effects. It’s in perfect harmony. The show is more than one hour long. On our way back it’s really hard to not loose sight of each other in the crowd of people.

Today we spoke and shared again about our faith with people.

At night we are tired.

Thursday April 15 2010

Scripture of the day: Jeremiah 31:8-9

See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble,

Today we visit the mausoleum. We feel a heavy attack, but we keep our focus on the cross of Jesus. When we pass the glass coffin where the body of Kim Il Sung lies, a burden falls off from us.

Outside children celebrate a national festival. It’s a happy face. Then we go to a war cemetery. This we have seen on a previous trip.
Furthermore, we visit a flower show today and an orchestra performance for the birthday of Kim Il Sung. We end the day with a visit to the Karaoke club, a happy night.

Friday April 16 2010

Scripture of the day: Hebrews 4:15-16

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The weather is pleasant by now. Today we go to the border between North and South Korea. The information is the same as two years ago. In the afternoon we go to the Korean wall. This is designed to stop escape attempts. Afterwards back to Pyong Yang. A bus trip of three hours on bumpy roads.

Saturday April 17 2010.

Scripture of the day: Revelation 11:12; 12:11

Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Today it’s cloudy and fresh, but not really cold.

We travel north to the Mountains. Then we visit the building where they show all the gifts. Maybe we see Corrie’s painting or the designed flag that we gave as presents on previous trips. Than we see the present Billy Graham gave in 1992: a world globe with a dove above every continent. We can explain the meaning of it. For the world it’s a symbol of worldpeace, but for Christians a symbol of how the Holy Spirit is poured out on the world. It is a beautiful witness.

Sunday April 18 2010.

Scripture of the Day: Psalms 146:1-8

Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

A promise to give justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry, for a nation where many are oppressed and hungry.
Today we go to a church, where we share a short testimony about forgiveness and reconciliation afterwards. We concluded with prayer. The testimony is added as attachment.

In the afternoon we pray for North Korea in the Moran Park on top of a hill, that’s located next to the river that pontoons Pyong Yang.

We visit the church, it is the same as last year. There are video recordings.
The translation device doesn’t work, but we receive our signal exactly on time that we must raise our hands if we want to say something.
The testimony, which is about the reconciliation between people and between God and man, is read aloud. And fully translated into Korean. Also Corrie’s closing prayer is translated.
We feel God’s approval on the whole. He has a pleasure in it.
It’s nice that they made TV recordings, so that the message of reconciliation can be spread further.

After the church service we visit the spy ship Pueblo. We saw it last year too. In the afternoon we go to Moranpark. There is a high hill from where we oversee the whole city of Pyong Yang. Its sided at the Toedong river. There we proclaim Isaiah 61. We pray for and bless the Korean people.

The people in our group are curious about what we do. It’s a testimony of Gods love for the Korean people. Afterwards we are very tired. Today we had heavy spiritual warfare.

We also visit the arc the triumph and some stores today.

In the evening we talk much about the news about the volcano eruption in Iceland. We pray that the wind turns and the volcano calm down.

Monday April 19 2010.

Scripture of the day: Matthew 7:7-8, 13-14

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Today we visit a war museum, beer factory and a gallery. Corrie buys another new coat, for the Chinese one broke already. We close the day together with a drink in a bar.

Vandaag bezoeken we een Oorlogsmuseum, bierfabriek and a gallery.

The make preparations for the trip back.

Tuesday April 20 2010.

Scripture of the day: Nahum 1:15

Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news,
who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you;
they will be completely destroyed.

Today we fly from Pyong Yang to Peking. This goes successful. At the airport they inform us that our flight to Amsterdam is canceled. The first opportunity to fly back will be May 10. Eventually, we keep our faith that we are able to fly back tomorrow. So we return the offered ticket for May 10 back.

It only works out once to get contact with the Netherlands. We get an encouraging report that they will fly again. A lot of prayers and waiting.

Closely we follow the path of God the narrow path, and to not go along with the crowd.
Later we hear that our prayergroup losts us, but we go for the roads that God paved, for us its through the air.

Wednesday April 21 2010.

Scripture of the day: 1 Peter 5:8 and Proverbs 3:5

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

After a good night of rest we go to the airport at 9am.

Indeed there are flight again to Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin. Though, our flight is canceled. The alternative is waiting in Peking for 3 weeks.

We led the Holy Spirit lead us and decide to fly to Seoul. From there to one of the Western European countries, preferably to Amsterdam.

The path is narrow and we ought to trust the Lord completely.

At the Seoul airport we are sent to the KLM office. After searching for a little bit we find it and yes it is possible to fly to Amsterdam. But the tickets are expensive. We are referred to a travel agency. After searching for a while, we are led to an Asian travel agency. The agent finds two tickets available for the flight to Amsterdam. The next problem is that they don’t accept creditcard. So we need to pay cash. Also at the first bank we find they don’t accept creditcards. The travel agent also comes with us to the next bank. Here the creditcard does work. Only there is a limit to the amount of money we can withdraw. At the counter we don’t get further then 70% of the amount of money we need. According to the banker the other cards don’t work either, but the Holy Spirit tells us to persist. And yes, with four cards from which we can withdraw money we finally have the right amount of cash. Ten minutes later we have our tickets.

We are very thankful for the travel agent that he was willing to work with us that much.

We thank God for His precise guiding. Now we have to book a hotel. Finally, the woman from the information desk helps us to reserve a hotel herself for us. After half an hour by shuttle we arrive at the hotel. There in our room we proclaim the testimony from Pyong Yang. That needs to be proclaimed in South Korea too.

Words of forgiveness and reconciliation. We ask a lady at the counter to listen to the proclamation but halfway she tells us to stop for she is not further interested. But we do get the address from a church in Seoul. We will send the testimony from the Netherlands with the question to read it aloud during one of the services.

After dinner we prayed together extendedly and then we went to sleep.
Contact with the Netherlands is not possible because our cell phones do not work in South Korea. We let it rest.

Thursday April 22 2010.

Scripture of the day: Isaiah 40:31

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Today on time to the airport. After we have prayed and thanked God extensively for leading us so much and will lead us further this day.
Yes, it is always the narrow path that must be followed closely.
At the airport we are asking for an indication that all is well and soon we see a board with giant letters that state that our flight is on time.
We can check in about 1,5 hour. We will first look for a breakfast.

The check-inn goes according schedule and at 1:45pm we sit in the plane with destination Amsterdam.

The man next to us started to talk first about the faith to act against it. What has Christianity brought us. We give him a book about the Holy Spirit. He starts to read curiously and becomes more and more enthusiastic. It becomes clear to him that he was on the wrong spiritual track. Yes, he has accepted Jesus into his heart.
Is it for this one that we make a detour home??

In the evening, ten hours back in time, we arrive at 6.00pm in Amsterdam. Through our liaison we quickly inform everyone of our return. And we roll in our bed around 10.30pm. It’s great to be home.

Attachment:

This is the testimonial for the mass in Pyongyang on Sunday.

We come with love for the Korean people and to tell the Korean people that God loves them. We are visiting Korea as ambassadors for Gods Kingdom. God is so sad to see how Korean families have to live separately one from another. In 2006 we visited the Korean border between North and South Korea. In 2008 we were in Pyong Yang and again visited the border, but now on the North side. In the New Year message the government of the DPRK has spoken about reconciliation between the Korean people. That families can hold each other in their arms again.

Words of believe, hope and love, and the most important of them is the love. In the name of God we may encourage the Korean people today to speak words of reconciliation and to take responsibility to really accomplish this reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

he is: or, let him be

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

committed…: Gr. put in us

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

One of us shall the testimony closed with a prayer.