November 2006

And to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:8b

Dear Friends around the world,

It was just five days after North Korea had tested a nuclear bomb. I and Sue, with four overseas Korean Christian leaders and a long-time American friend, Robin, arrived in Pyongyang for a week of visiting the projects of the Lighthouse Foundation and trying to comprehend the North. None of our group had backed out, but due to the tension two-thirds of a scheduled large group from the United States didn’t show, and we were invited to a fine orchestra concert because of that. If visitors speak to a person in the street, someone may be get in trouble, but we didn’t notice a lot of tension or animosity when we took a 40-minute walk on the streets of Pyongyang.

From the way we were greeted at the airport and other places by our guides and by North Korean officials, it was clear that Sue has built close relationships on her 35 trips to North Korea and that the help that comes through her is much appreciated. At the Taedonggang-ku milk plant and bakery, we were served a traditional feast for Sue’s sixtieth birthday. Among the items on the heavily laden table was a pair of live pheasants. We witnessed the donated mini-tractor used to produce soymilk on site from home-grown beans. We left the pheasants at the Mi Rim orphanage and farm and stopped to talk with a few of the 471 older orphans who live there.

At the Sariwon milk plant we saw and tasted delicious bread and soymilk that are being provided for more than ten thousand children. At the nearby Hwanghae Province Orphanage, we were impressed by the brightly painted murals on white walls and the choreographed motions of the 4- and 5-year olds as they sang. The lady in charge told us that despite receiving Lighthouse-supported soy milk and bread twice a day, some of the newly admitted children were so malnourished and sick that they hadn’t survived. At the end of that long day, we had a fine meal hosted by the city official in charge of commercial operations.

The newest Lighthouse project is to rebuild and equip the 6,000-square-foot first floor of an apartment building to make a treatment center for disabled people and shops to employ the physically challenged as barbers, beauticians, tailors, shoe repairers, and seal carvers. Most of the building materials and shop and bathhouse equipment have been sent from South Korea. When we saw it, the first floor was gutted and there were holes where windows and doors had been. Many pipes were scheduled to be replaced. We’ve heard recently that it is almost complete. Of course, in the Sue Kinsler tradition, soymilk and bread will be served to the disabled. The opening is set for spring 2007.

We were able to do some sightseeing. When we climbed Moran Bong, the highest part of the Pyongyang city wall, I remembered visiting a zoo there when I was 6 and having a picnic on the Taedong River below. There was an inscribed stone by the gate through which visitors cross the river. It said that in 1866, for good reason, the ship “General Sherman” had been burned and all on board killed when coming ashore. It didn’t mention that missionary martyr Robert Thomas was among them.

In 1892, the Rev. Samuel Moffett, pioneer missionary to Pyongyang, was surprised while examining Park Choon Kwon, a candidate for baptism. Park confessed that it was he who had executed Thomas, who had given him his Bible, which Park read and believed. We pray that in a similar way, giving soy milk and bread will lead those we met to the Bread of Life.

I will conclude with what our friend Robin wrote about our trip.

Our team of seven moved with united hearts, and we laughed, joked, walked together and shared meals, making friends with our guides and all we had the opportunity to meet. Our prayer was for our heavenly Father's love to grow in the hearts of children and staff, the hurting and the helpless, and for peace to spread across the nation as gently falling rain.

Yours in Christ,

Arthur W. Kinsler

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249