Last week, an official newspaper in Pyongyang called for a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea to bring a formal ending to the Korean War. Since 1953, the peace has been enforced by an armistice agreement, but the nations remain technically at war. “My prayer is that this relationship will grow even stronger, and I pledge to do everything I can to make this happen,” Graham told North Korean officials, according to a statement monitored by BosNewsLife. .
"Peace is important to God," Graham said. He explained to officials and others at a dinner last week how it is possible for people to have peace with God, peace in their hearts, and peace with one another, his organization said. “The key to that peace, he said, is expressed in the Bible in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) quoted him as saying.
He had a similar message Sunday, August 3, when Franklin Graham, son of the legendary preacher Billy Graham, preached in Bongsu Protestant Church the "story of Nicodemus from the Gospel of John,” said the BGEA. He told the congregation how they can be born again “through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ," the BGEA added. Afterwards, the North Korean choir reportedly sang the world famous Christian hymne "Amazing Grace." Graham was accompanied by the conservative US television network Fox News, which plans to air a report on the trip this week.
BILLY GRAHAM
He and his father, Billy Graham, are the only two Americans who have been permitted to preach at Bongsu, the largest of two Protestant churches in Pyongyang. He also spoke there on his first visit to North Korea in 2000, organizers said. "I did not come here as a politician, but as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Franklin Graham reportedly told the congregation. It was a message he affirmed throughout his four-day visit, where he met several officials.
Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, arrived last Thursday, July 31, in Pyongyang. On Saturday, August 1, he spoke with Kim Yong Dae, the Vice President of the Supreme People’s Assembly, who reportedly expressed "gratitude" for Billy Graham’s visits and for the donation of mobile dental vans, the BGEA said.
The first dental clinic was constructed in the United States in 1995 and shipped to North Korea by way of China. Coordinating the design and delivery of the clinic were Dr. Dick Nieusma, a dentist and former Presbyterian missionary to Korea, and Dr. Stephen Linton, of Columbia University, who has acted as a consultant to Billy Graham on his visits to North Korea.
Arriving at the Pyongyang airport Thursday, July 31, Graham recalled his family’s long history in North Korea, going back to 1934 when his mother, the late Ruth Bell Graham, attended a Presbyterian Mission school in Pyongyang. His father, Billy Graham, visited North Korea in 1992 and 1994, meeting with President Kim Il Sung.
"COMING HOME"
"In many ways, I feel like I’m coming home," Graham told dignitaries who greeted him, according to published remarks. "North Korea was so close to my mother’s heart, and she often told us about growing up in Pyongyang."
Graham also attended a children’s performance at the Children’s Palace last week where he praised the children for a spectacular performance and told them he has four children and six grandchildren. "The God who created the heavens and the earth loves children very much," he added. "God loves all the children of Korea."
During a welcoming dinner Thursday night, July 31, Graham was reportedly introduced by Reverend Kang Yong Sop, chairman of the central committee of the Korean Christian Federation. Also welcoming him Thursday were Ri Jong Ro, director of international affairs for the Korean Christian Federation; and Jong Tae Yang, vice director of foreign ministry.
Graham told his audience that he came to them “as a minister of the Gospel and an ambassador for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.” He recalled his father’s 1992 saying that "President Kim pointed outside and said that just as the long Korean winter was about to give way to the warmth of spring, so he hoped that the relations between our two countries would soon move away from the coldness of winter and into the warmth of spring.”
PEOPLE DOUBT
He said in a statement that, "In the years following the late President Kim’s statement to my father, many people in my own country doubted if it would ever happen. But because of recent events we can truly say that a new springtime has arrived in the relationship between my country and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)."
Critics of North Korea have voiced skepticism about the outreach to prominent American Christian leaders, such as Graham, saying that officials are only manipulating the Christian figures to improve its global image.
North Korea has the worst human rights record in the world with thousands of Christians locked up in prison camps, human rights groups say.
There is absolutely no religious freedom in the country as all citizens are forced to worship current leader Kim Jong-il and his deceased father, Kim Il-sung, according to observers who visited the country. Being a Christian is reportedly seen as one of the worst crimes in North Korea.
