Speaking for Life in the DPRK
Although I was born in the mid-west, more than half of my life has been spent overseas. Since my parents became professors at a Christian university in Asia, most of my childhood was spent in the Orient. My parents’ service cycled four years at the university and then one year in the U.S. As a result, I only spent five years of my childhood in America before returning to the States for college.
But this diverse upbringing gave me an appreciation for cultures. Not only was I immersed in Asian culture while living in a white American home, but I also attended international school with classmates from all around the world. I had friends from Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Japan, China, and Korea to name a few. Through this third-culture perspective, I learned to accept and value diversity.
Post-college I spent a decade on the west coast. After growing up in a predominantly Bible-belt culture, moving to the liberal west was an adjustment. I taught public high school in inner city Los Angeles. There 85% of my students were African-American, 10% Latino, and 5% Asian-American and white. My ten years in Los Angeles gave me for the first time full exposure to the African American culture. It was both eye-opening and heart-wrenching.
While living close to Korean town near downtown L.A., there were times that I was the only white American around. Stores in our area advertised in Spanish and Korean. Sometimes English was not even posted. My co-workers in Southern California came from diverse backgrounds. I worked under the supervision of a Jew and an atheistic Chinese-American. Other co-workers included a Muslim Pakistani-American, a Buddhist Vietnamese-American, a Muslim Palestinian-American, as well as an agnostic white-American. I was the only Christian in my workplace, and I learned a great deal from my neighbors and colleagues.
Needless to say, due to this diverse exposure, I do not have a typical American perspective. I am a white American-born with global experiences. This has greatly impacted my perspective of the world, including my view of North Korea.
I am also pro-life. I believe that life starts at conception. It does not matter if the child is in utero or already born, the sanctify of life requires protecting. Having five children, three of whom I gave birth to and two of whom I adopted, I am passionate about protecting the lives of all children.
Being pro-life also means that I value children from various backgrounds and cultures all around the world. It means that I value advocating for issues that affect children’s lives today. Speaking for life involves much more than speaking for life in the womb. It means standing for the lives of all children by advocating for racial equality, protecting children from abuse and violence, and providing them timely medical care.
For our family, our convictions on the sanctity of life have led us to treating and advocating for children in the Democratic People Republic of Korea (DPRK) through our nonprofit organization known as Ignis Community. Since 2012, our family has been treating children with cerebral palsy, autism, and other developmental disabilities throughout North Korea. We have built the Pyongyang Spine Rehabilitation Center (PYSRC) and established the first medical specialities in Non-surgical Spine Treatment and Pediatric Rehabilitation for the entire nation. A cohort of more than twenty doctors have been trained in these new medical specialties. Now, instead of doctors telling their parents that there is no hope for their child with a developmental disability, they are equipped to properly treat these children, just as any other valued person.
Unfortunately, politics has put a halt on most of work in North Korea. North Koreans have been dehumanized in the media and through maximum pressure sanctions imposed upon them by the U.S. and the United Nations. Those harmed are the most vulnerable: women, children, and individuals with disabilities. With both global sanctions and the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, like other countries the DPRK economy is also suffering. The economy, more than anything, impacts the local, common people.
I believe in the humanity of all people. We are all created equal regardless of our differences. Politics, cultures, languages, and countries may distinguish and divide us, but that does not take away from the sanctity of each and every life. Join Ignis Community in speaking for life for those in North Korea. Through proper medical care and treatment, we have the opportunity to save children in the DPRK who otherwise would have few chances for a full, normal life. With your help, a child with developmental disabilities in the DPRK can both receive life-transformational medical care and an education and a hope for a brighter future.
