The focus of our work in Northeast Asia has not just been humanitarian outreach but also reconciliation. As our family observes the incredible response in America to George Floyd’s tragic death, we join in heart those advocating for peace and healing among all races, ethnic groups, cultures, and backgrounds. While the world is speaking out and standing up for the value of human life, including black lives and all lives, we are reminded of the need to extend reconciliation individually to one person at a time. This is because each and every life matters!

In our context, June 25th marks the 70th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War, a war that is still on-going. In fact, this longest-standing war in U.S. history is still afflicting much pain on the Korean Peninsula today.

In order for us to understand the need for reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula, though, we first have to put ourselves in their shoes. We need to take a close look at what events have shaped their worldview. And what we discover when we lay down our own preconceptions and truly try to walk in their shoes is that their perspective is shaped primarily through trauma.

In 1950, the Korean War broke out, and it was one of the bloodiest wars in all mankind’s history. It is estimated that up to 5 million people died in a short three-year period. Towards the end of the war, the United Nation’s forces led my General McArthur from the United States, carpet bombed the north. Approximately over 1 million civilians died in the north alone, as a result. When the population of North Korea at the time was only just over 9 million people, up to 15% of the population died from the Korean War. The vast majority of these victims were women, children, and the elderly.

As a result, the United States has long been viewed as an enemy nation in the DPRK. The memory of the war is still fresh and alive for North Koreans, kept so by yearly national remembering and commemoration. Besides murals and depictions in schools, hospitals, orphanages and other public buildings in North Korea, there are several large museums and memorials dedicated entirely to the Korean War. In the capital city of Pyongyang, there is a newly built, vast museum to the Korean War as well as a memorial to those who gave their lives in the war. (Excerpt from Discovering Joy: Ten Years in North Korea)

But through humanitarian work and through other creative means of engagement, foreigners are building relationships with local North Korean people. Cracks are forming in the fortified walls that separate the DPRK from the rest of the world. A new spring of warmth and love is flowing into the country, repairing broken trust and building bridges, one person at a time.

Humanitarian work is just one avenue through which these relational bridges are formed. Through humanitarian outreach, Ignis Community uses our unique platform to engage with local, physically rebuild North Korea’s infrastructure, live among and be with the people, and provide assistance to some of the most needed areas in the DPRK.

1.     Repairing Broken Walls

One of the roles of Ignis Community is to literally repair old, worn-out buildings as well as construct new medical and childcare facilities. In the rural region of Rason, Ignis has built ten kindergartens, six early childcare facilities, and six countryside clinics. Most of the original facilities were in poor condition and needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. In certain areas, Ignis Community was able to provide new centers where there were none. And in the capital city of Pyongyang, Ignis constructed for the first time in the nation a specialty treatment and medical training center for children with developmental disabilities.

These buildings are more than just construction projects. They are a physical representation of rebuilding the chasm between relationships and walking in reconciliation in the midst of conflict and brokenness. With each project, brings new people, and as a result, the opportunity to build relationships.

2.     Being with the People

As Ignis Community provides basic necessities, new facilities, and engages in humanitarian outreach to North Korea, we focus on the importance of whole individuals, not just projects. In Pyongyang and parts of Rason, we spend time daily with our local counterparts. Every month we visit rural, remote villages where we support countryside clinics and childcare facilities.

As we visit these centers, we spend time with the directors, doctors, and teachers at each site. We often have time to sit down for snacks or even a meal together. We share stories, our life with one another as we build trust with the same people day after day, month after month. Our focus is not just on delivering goods but also to be with and identify with the people.

3.     Building Relationships, One Person at a Time

From this state of being births new relationships. Each person we interact with matters. Humanitarian work comes from a relational paradigm not just a program-based or project-orientated paradigm. Whether it is a smile or a deep conversation, our goal is to not let a single person go unnoticed.

Through humanitarian work, we also have the opportunity to venture into unfamiliar territory. When needs arise, we step out to visit new locations, greet a variety of new people, travel to new cities and towns, and therefore, bless the people and land of the DPRK.

4.     Providing Basic Medical and Food Assistance

Of course, the nature of humanitarian work is to provide basic necessities to those in need. Every month medicine and medical supplies are delivered to rural clinics in fishing and farming villages. Daily hot lunches are provided to children from the ages of three months to six years of age. Coal and wood for cooking and heating in the winter are purchased in advance every summer. Much-needed treatment for children with cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental disabilities are provided to families who otherwise would have little hope. Ignis Community even has the privilege of providing shoes and clothing to children in the most remote mountain villages of North Korea.

5.     Living Life Inside the Nation  

Finally, most of this is possible because Ignis Community primarily operates from an inside-out mentality. Our team members reside much of the year inside the DPRK. We meet needs as they are seen and expressed by our DPRK counterparts. Many of our team members even live with their children day in and day out in North Korea. We raise our families alongside North Korean families and visit our humanitarian projects with our children. This allows us to relate on a human-level with the local people, and it brings our relationships with them to a closer, more personal level.

This message of reconciliation is one of hope and comfort. In the midst of this broken and painful world, it may seem like we have been given an impossible task. But as we build relationships and focus on one person at a time, we will see the obstacles and struggles in our lives start to crumble, little by little. It does not matter whether or not our context is North Korea, the United States, or elsewhere in the world. Reconciliation is needed everywhere because conflict in rampant in this broken world. The work of reconciliation is not easy, and it is not quick. But eventually, as we build these bridges, we will begin to see glimpses of hope and healing as we extend this message of reconciliation one relationship at a time.