| |
What We Do/HHK Action Points
Today, HHK channels its efforts into food aid, sheltering
North Korean refugees, assisting the underground railroad, and
creating advocacy.
HHK continues to support food deliveries inside North Korea in
situations where reliable monitoring can be assured. We also
channel material resources to feed, shelter, and clothe North
Korean refugees in China. This combined approach is aimed at
reaching the most vulnerable North Koreans who both remain
trapped inside North Korea, as well as those who have fled to a
less-than-safe haven in China. HHK also supports a number of
"secret orphanages" for North Korean children in China,
providing shelter, food, clothing, and a rudimentary, basic
education as they hide from authorities. In cases where no
viable alternative exists, these young refugees are transported
along the “underground railroad” to safety in surrounding
countries for eventual resettlement in South Korea. In every
shelter and rescue operation, the recipients of HHK assistance
are clearly told that the motivation of our work was best
expressed by the Apostle Paul when he declared, “The love of
Christ compels me.” (2 Corinthians 5:14)
The Ton-A-Month
Club
 The Ton-A-Month Club was launched by HHK
in 1996 as a relief effort for the famine stricken North
Korean civilian population. The Club was initially formed
around the Peters’ kitchen table in answer to prayer about
how to respond to the desperate nutritional needs of the
most vulnerable segments of the North Korean population.
The answer that came to that prayer was the ancient
proverb, “When thy enemy hungers, feed him. (Proverbs
25:21. Through consultation with the International Red
Cross representative in South Korea HHK was able to narrow
down the four most vulnerable categories: the elderly, the
handicapped, orphans, and single mothers. Efforts were made
to deliver at least a ton-a-month to feed the neediest, in
areas that were sufficiently monitored.
Since 1996, HHK has undergone many transformations, always
seeking the best response to current conditions.
At present, our food aid project channels resources to fund a bakery run by Christian workers on
the Chinese side of the Sino-North Korean border. Baked
bread is then transported by trusted workers across the
border to North Korean orphanages and schools.
Although HHK is unable to be the sole sponsor of this
bakery, as donations fluctuate from month to month, it can
be accurately stated that many months of the year HHK
provides resources enough to enable the bakery to provide
up to 48,000 enriched raisin bread rolls per month to North
Korean children.
Sheltering
Refugees
 North Korean refugees who manage to escape their
regime’s totalitarian rule and perpetual hunger hide in China.
Their relief is short-lived however as they fear being captured
and sent back to North Korea where they will face brutal
interrogation and time in prison, if not execution. Some North
Korean refugees hide in the wilderness, building makeshift
shelters and living under extreme sub-zero degree weather
during the winter months.
Through partnerships with various donors, notably from Scandanavian
countries and the U.S., as well as activists living in
China, HHK has been able to protect hundreds of
refugees so their basic physical needs are met and they are
introduced to the force that motivates us—the love of Christ.
The Underground
Railroad
 Perpetual peril and fear of
capture by Chinese authorities cause a great number of North
Korean refugees to embark on high-risk escape attempts to
nations that border China, then eventually to South Korea,
where they are accepted as citizens. The routes they must
travel on in order to reach state borders, whether by train
or bus, are dotted with security checks. In some cases, taxi
drivers have turned in refugees over to Chinese authorities
in exchange for $40 bounties promised by the government. Even when refugees manage to
make it to a surrounding country, they face the danger of
being kidnapped by local criminals for ransom.
An alternative course of action refugees take is to attempt
to rush into foreign embassies and foreign schools in an
effort to get political protection through formal refugee
status. However, foreign embassies are surrounded by a
beefed-up Chinese security cordon that stand on guard
against such attempts. In failed attempts the refugees are
captured and taken to a detention center, where they await
repatriation to North Korea.
HHK works in partnership with courageous individuals and
groups that risk their lives in aiding the refugees cross to
a third country. Several international activists have been caught and
imprisoned by the Chinese authorities for
participating in this precarious process. At least three of
these intrepid workers languish in Chinese prisons
presently.
Advocacy
 HHK strives to create awareness and shape godly
policy decisions by various governments and the U.N. by
providing selective interviews with the media, by participating
in educational conferences speaking at podiums and pulpits, and
giving testimony at US Congressional hearings (2002, 2004,
2005). Through a strong informal network of concerned
individuals and organizations, word on the plight of North
Korean is reaching governments, churches, and schools.
Won’t you join us in this urgent call?
|
|
