By Sarah Kearney

07/06/2017 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – As the people of North Korea continue to live under the Kim family’s brutal regime, citizens are left in poverty, starvation, and with no hope of what lies beyond their shores. Often, defectors are the primary source of hope for people still living in North Korea. Defectors understand hopelessness and devise creative solutions to help friends and family members still trapped. One North Korean defector’s journey led him to start a school for North Korean defector children in South Korea and send food back into North Korea.

Hyun-Ki, the director and founder of this organization, understands the plight of his northern neighbors and his school for North Korean defectors assists them in catching up educationally and professionally. While the school was founded in 2013, the government recently cut off the school’s funding, leaving Hyun-Ki and his wife with financial struggles.

The financial struggles make it difficult for Hyun-Ki to finish the rice bottle project, a project inspired by a childhood memory. When Hyun-Ki was a child in North Korea, he went to the shore to see a visiting Japanese delegation and saw trash from South Korea spread on the beach. People said that the current from South Korea brought it there. After he arrived in South Korea, he learned from sailors that you can send things to North Korea within three hours by using this current.

This childhood memory sparked the ingenious idea of using rice bottles, transported by sea, to provide North Koreans with food. Hyun-Ki and volunteers fill bottles with rice and launch them into the sea. The bottles are then either picked up by fishermen in the water or found covering the shore, offering people hope in the form of food. After the government pulled their funding for the defector school, Hyun-Ki and his wife could no longer afford to send vital packages of food into North Korea.

That’s when Hyun-Ki and his wife approached us with the rice bottle idea and suggested a partnership to put the plan into action. With the help of our donors, we provided funds for Hyun-Ki to launch 500 bottles in addition to a donation to the defector school.

The sovereign hand of the Lord is at work in the lives of Hyun-Ki and his wife. Their continual faithfulness in service to the Lord and His people is nothing short of admirable. The couple is grateful for ICC’s support during this time and asks for prayers that the rice bottles reach North Korea and for the school’s continual funding.