endless summer days

I'm reading a book called "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" by Kang Chol-Hwan.

This boy (now man) was sent to one of the many concentration camps in North Korea when he was nine.

When he was nine he was sent to a concentration camp. He wore rags and worked, hard labor, into the night.

I was eight at the time, running along the beaches of Cape Cod.

Ten years later when he was released, I graduated from High School.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and I can't get certain images out of my head.

Images of me fishing and swimming, eating popcorn and playing cards with my family.... while this poor boy, a world away, was starving, freezing, and eating cockroaches to survive.

These camps are still up and running TO.DAY. Make no mistake that North Korea is a living hell for those who are there.

A year ago I had the privilege to meet a man from Iraq. He now lives in South Korea. He and many others prayed for years and years for Saddam Hussein to be taken out of power. He said "what an impossible request that was for us, yet we prayed." He went on with his story, his voice cracking, tears starting to flow, and said....."Imagine our pure joy when the Americans came and took him out of power."

I tell you this to remind you of the power of prayer. Please keep North Korea in your prayers. Pray that Kim Jung Il reigns there no more and that the many, many people of that nation are freed.

xo
K.