North Korean refugee women painting verses from Psalm 23 during our 2022 Fall Retreat
For the better part of 2022, Elim House housed one resident. It wasn’t from a lack of marketing our safehouse to our network in South Korea. In speaking with other organizations and government workers involved in helping North Korean refugees, it was the broader trend this year.
As the entire world recovered from the pandemic, South Korea took several steps to relax their stringent travel restrictions. This enabled our US team to make four separate trips throughout the year. Our missionaries are on the ground at the time of this writing. Having such a low number of residents gave us new opportunities as teams started to arrive in South Korea. With added manpower, we were able to test new ideas to bring refugees together, both past residents and those who were new to our network.
classes and retreats
Refugees joined us for free exercise classes, conversational English classes and overnight retreats. It started out as a means of providing access to classes and getaways that North Korean refugees typically wouldn’t go to on their own. We were overwhelmed by how grateful participants were, not only in being able to attend, but in just being able to spend quality time with other refugees. People shared about their lives to one another and we witnessed the depth of pain and lingering trauma in them. Many of the refugees stepped up to encourage and build one another up. But it didn’t end there. Retreats gave all of us more time together, and there, we all shared, listened, cried and prayed together. We saw community start to form and healing start to happen.
A woman we call Mary attended one of our classes this fall. During a meal after class, Mary opened up about how she suffers from long term effects of trauma. Any loud noise or the sound of sirens triggers panic attacks and her condition is so severe that she can no longer take care of her child. We were touched by her vulnerability with this group but even more amazed when another refugee consoled her and shared about how counseling had helped her deal with her own trauma.
The more events we put on, the more our eyes were opened to the reality that North Korean refugees in South Korea lack community. They are a people who feel like they don’t belong and therefore, stay out of situations that might draw attention to themselves. This includes not going to a local fitness studio or a Subway sandwich shop because they don’t know the right questions to ask. A refugee woman shared after a retreat that she had wanted to try a cafe latte for a long time but never knew how to properly order one and so she just went without. Many have also been burned by religious groups including cults and simply avoid organized religion altogether.
elim community
We are excited at this unique and wonderful opportunity that God has given us. Elim House will continue to house women in need of shelter and protection. We are thankful for two new residents this fall and many other inquiries. ELIM COMMUNITY, which is what we’re calling our community events, will invite North Korean refugees into community by way of classes, workshops and retreats. As we reach more refugees through Elim Community, we hope to create the time and space that encourages friendships to be kindled and a loving and supportive community to be built.
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2
Would you prayerfully consider helping us build this community where North Korean refugees can heal from their trauma and Christ’s love is shared?
