If your enemy is hungry

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:20, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them.”  This wasn’t original to Paul; he was quoting Proverbs 25:21.  That sounds nice, but can we really do that?  Should we really do that?  Recently I had the opportunity to share in an American Baptist mission experience where we were precisely doing that!

I was invited to be part of an ecumenical delegation to North Korea with the Asia Pacific Forum of North American Churches.  The United States is still in conflict with North Korea, the Korean War having ended with an armistice that suspended the fighting but which did not bring peace.  The stand-off across the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea from South Korea is one of the global flashpoints.  President Bush referred to North Korea as part of the “axis of evil,” and North Koreans refer to the United States as “imperialist aggressors.”  The U.S. has nuclear weapons in and around North Korea while the North Koreans have recently developed their own nuclear weapons and have medium-range nuclear-capable missiles.  How do we live out Christ’s admonition to “love your enemies” amid the complex and dangerous tangle of U.S. and North Korean relations?

Massive flooding and drought combined with the secretive society in North Korea produced a famine situation in the mid-1990s in which an estimated 2 to 3 million people died.  International food relief was started, including a project by Christians to open a noodle factory to provide food for children and the elderly through the Korean Christian community.  Yes, there are Christians in North Korea!  There are underground churches, but there is also the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) which is officially registered with the government.  They claim about 10,000 members dispersed in 500 churches, mostly house churches.  Our ecumenical delegation worshipped in two churches in Pyongyang, the Bongsu Church and the Chilgol Church, each with their own building and with young, growing congregations.

In partnership with the KCF, International Ministries participated in the noodle factory project, providing funds to buy high quality flour for the production of noodles.  These noodles supplement the government food rations, helping to counter chronic malnutrition among children and the elderly.  This noodle factory was the first social ministry project for the KCF, and it has given them a visibility and credibility in the larger society.  They have built on its success by opening a bread factory nearby.  The Bongsu Noodle Factory and Bongsu Bread Factory are named to explicitly connect with the Bongsu Christian Church as a tangible witness for the love of Christ.  This social ministry has created space for the good news of Christ to be shared.

As we “feed our hungry enemy” we give a face to the enemy.  This works both ways.  In the land branded “the axis of evil” we saw Christ in many of those we met, and in those who weren't Christians we saw both wonderful reflections of humanity and the heartbreak of poverty and repression that should call forth our compassion from the heart of the crucified one beating within us.  I also delighted in giving a face to the enemy of the North Koreans.  The U.S. is constantly vilified in North Korea, never stated without all sorts of nasty rhetorical flourishes (except by our KCF hosts).  So we wanted to give a face to that enemy, a face of someone with love and joy and a desire for peace.  I worked hard to make that contact as often as I could with all kinds of people.

There may be a critical moment developing for a new opportunity for truly ending the Korean War.  The US government will be changing, no matter who wins the election.  The framework for an agreement hammered out in the mid-1990s is still in place.  The people-to-people contacts have started developing a bit more space for building a consensus and push for peace and possibly even some form of reunification.  Offering to remove the threat to North Korea from the U.S. (a peace treaty, pledge of nonaggression, and removal of nuclear warheads from the Korean peninsula) in exchange for nuclear disarmament by the North Koreans, and letting a pressure for peace swell up between the Korean people (and it's there!) could allow something creative and positive to happen.

Meanwhile, as American Baptists we will continue to work with the Korean Christians in the north to provide some small food assistance to help the nutritional needs of children and seniors.  Feeding the hungry on the other side of political divides is the least we can do.

If you want to see my North Korea trip pictures, you may go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benslchan/sets/72157604918093242/.

Having been to so many of these places and witnessed the suffering of the people and the incredible relief our support brings, I say thank you!

In Christ’s hope and peace,

Daniel Buttry