As for me, the law had been harsh and difficult with regard to my past. I don't know anybody else, as for me, I dont want any longer drawn into the past. I dont want to live isolated and bullied from outside the world. Freedom is more valued than anything else. Once you have lost the freedom, you would be in great trouble in many ways.
After I became a Christian, I read the book of Exodus in the Bible and found something in common with the Soviet system. This book tells how God miraculously led the people of Israel out of Egypt, in which they were enslaved, where they were exploited as they could be. Moreover, the Egyptians scoffed at them, treating them like low-class people. Unable to withstand such severe torment, they howled to God for help. And God heard their moaning and cries. Then, He decided to bring the people of Israel from slavery into the Promised Land, called Canaan, where freedom and peace awaited them. In the end, when God actually brought them out of Egypt and having them gone through the Red Sea on dry ground and seeing the Egyptians that pursued them drowned in the sea. Seeing how Pharaoh's army perishes in the water, the Jews began to glorify God, His Majesty, and power. They joyfully sang praises to God that He was their protector, and the deliverer. Less than a few days after they were liberated from the bondage of slavery, finding themselves in difficulties, they all rebelled against Moses, and began to murmur against him and against God.
No sooner had they been liberated from the hands of their enemy then they started complaining to God that they happened to be in difficulties. They all rebel against God and Moses. They began to grumble at him and God, saying that in Egypt there were a lot of things watermelon, garlic, meat, but there is nothing but manna from heaven. They stated that they want to return again to Egypt. Less than a few days after the release, finding themselves in difficulties, they all pounced on Moses, and began to murmur against him and against God. How come quickly they forgot that they were in bondage, where they were treated like low-class people.
After all, God knew that they would want to return to Egypt. He knows us better than we do ourselves. Although there were many paths leading to the land of Canaan, but God chose this path- through the Red Sea-there is no turning back. Therefore, he chose this path, dont you think there is similarity between the people of Israel and of the Soviet Union. Prior to this, we have had abundance of food in the Soviet Union, such as meat, sausage and so on, but after the collapse of the country, there is nothing. So we have forgotten that during the times of the S. Union, there was not what we had had after its collapse freedom of speech and free movement abroad. Freedom is a gift from God that we are freed from political dependence.
Chance for citizenship
During the period when Stalin was in power of the Soviet Union, back then the Koreans were given the chance to take USSR citizenship. A large number of Koreans took the opportunity to be naturalized as soviet citizens. However, my parents, out of special feelings of motivation, basically preferred to hold on to statelessness persons, hoping that someday they would return to their homeland. According to the parents, every day they lived with the hope that someday representatives of their country would come to take them home. As time went by, the children were born to them, but no matter how much they waited, their expectations have not been met! Although their dreams did not come true, they continued to hope for the best that someday there would be a chance to repatriate to Korea.
Then the relationship between the two countries deteriorated sharply after the passenger plane was shot down en route from the United States to Korea. More than 200 passengers have been killed in this tragedy. My parents constantly listened to the Korean news on the radio, and said that they would soon allow Koreans living on Sakhalin to repatriate to Korea. They said that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Moscow is about to .
As time went by, the leaders of the country changed, but there was no warming in relations between the two countries. Soon after Gorbachev came to power, the Sakhalin people were allowed to move freely around the Sakhalin Island. Prior to coming a new leader to travel across the Island a permit was required from a Visa department. Along with this, finally, the long-awaited day came, which had been expected for so long. While waiting for this day, many have grown old, and some are no longer alive. Before the new leader came to power in the country, life had been very harsh on Koreans. Because of the refusal to accept citizenship, it had been difficult for my parents to move around. This problem extended to us, we inherited this problem from our parents.
. Although we lived in Soviet Union and studied in a Soviet school, we were deprived of many rights to be used. Many of the benefits did not apply to us and we could not do what other people could have done it. In a word, we lived like foreign guests. Without the permission of the passport department, it was strictly forbidden for ethnic Koreans to freely move from one place to another, it was possible only within the territory we were registered. Even when I went to the summer camp, I had to take permission of the passport department whereas other children could freely do it without it.
The law had been very harsh in relation to Koreans who did not take citizenship. And in case of violation of the passport regime, illegals were expected to be punished very severely, up to imprisonment for serving in labor camps. Because of these problems, we ethnic Koreans have had difficulty living there. There have been such cases when we moved without the permission of the passport department, hoping that everything would be ok.
Due to the strict passport regulation, we had to avoid the law enforcement agencies. I remember I was traveling by train to another place, suddenly a passport control procedures began, out of fear that I would be caught, I hid in the toilet and sat there holding my breath until the passport control procedures was over. And sometimes out of fear, because of the sudden appearance of the police on the train, I had a desire to jump off the train on the move. Thats what the matter is all about. In fact, I know many people who have served their sentences in labor camps because of the passport regime violations. To make a long story short, it is impossible to describe everything in detail what we had been through because we were regarded to be foreigners. .
`Not of their own will, but of imperialism.
Many foreigners were interested in how fate decreed that a lot of Koreans ended up on Sakhalin Island. In order to tell everything, it will take a long time. But I'll tell you as much as I know it.
Most of the young Koreans are of draft age, including my father ended up on the Sakhalin Island not by their own will, but by the will of Japanese imperialism. You are probably all aware that Korea had been under the Japanese colony for a long time. In order to carry out their treacherous plan, the Japanese authorities mobilized many young Koreans to serve in the Japanese army during World War II. In addition, many people were forcibly taken out of Korea to be used as force labor. According to the old people, I learned that they were driven into coal mines so that they would extract coal under the terrible conditions at that time. And when Japan lost the war to the Soviet Union, most of the Japanese returned to their homeland, and the Koreans have been left there to fend for themselves. The remaining Koreans hoped that they, too, someday return to their homeland. While they were waiting for that day, they had to take root there, live, have children and then raise grandchildren.
As an adult when I read the book and learned the story of my people, how the Japanese had treated them brutally. The first thought that crossed my mind was that they had committed an unforgiving sin before the Korean people. After I came to know Jesus as my savior and God who loves and forgives. With the love of Christ, I was able to forgive the Japanese for their sin and all that they had done to my nation. Actually, I realized that there are no things that cannot be forgiven. Anything can be forgiven, but it takes a time. In other words, everything has its time. Time to love, forgive, cry, etc. This is very well and clearly written in the book of Ecclesiastes. Yes, it is true; we must forgive and love, as Christ did. After all, we were all created by one God and we are all brothers and sisters because he from one nation created all the nations throughout the whole earth. It seems that we are all different;
In fact, we are all the same, only we are different in appearance.
There is no bad nation on earth, but there is sin that makes a nation proud and bad. Therefore I hold no grudge against Japan and its people. It turns out that the Japanese and Koreans were descended from the same ancestors. Frankly speaking, I have learned this truth from my Japanese historian teacher when I studied Japanese at university. Most of the people living on the Japanese islands are considered to be of Korean descents. They are just like us belong to the same blood group, which was confirmed by DNA analysis, but the Japanese were brain washed because of politics.
One day when I was returning home from seminary, I met by chance a Japanese man who was standing at a bus stop and waiting for the bus, but he did not know that buses did not run at that time due to the restriction of bus traffic.
At first, I thought he was one of us local ethnic Korean, but turns out that he was Japanese, and he looked a little upset. Then I had a strong desire to help this man, get out of this wilderness. Out of pity, I asked him if he needed help, he said he was waiting for the bus. I knew that the buses were no longer running after 4 p.m. Then I decided to have a conversation with him, it turned out that he was Japanese. To be honest, I had never met Japanese so close in Sakhalin before, because the island was closed to foreigners.
He spoke English with a Japanese accent. Having learned that he was Japanese I had compassion, besides had no grudge against them, I decided to give him a lift to Dolinsk. Because of this, I arrived home late, for which my wife was greatly offended by me all day. However, I was so happy that I was able to help that man get to the next city where traffic was available. Upon returning home, I was so happy that I was able to help the Japanese solve the problem of transportation. This did not happen by accident, but God gave me a chance to exercise my faith. Faith should be shown not in words, but in deeds.
After I dropped him off, he said that he would just want to talk to me. Then he gave me his contact phone number, and with a smile said: give me a call if you are in town. It was a good opportunity for me to practice my English. At that time, I was already fluent in English, but not as good as it should. In addition, he asked me to call him in case I was around his area. This was the first time I have practiced my English especially with a foreigner. Before we parted with each other I shared my testimony what made me believe in Jesus and how my life had been transformed into an image that God wants me to be. It was not easy to start a conversation about God; he was a completely unknown person to me, who may not be interested in this topic.
While I was driving him, all the way I thought about how I could start a conversation with him about God. Hearing my testimony, he was deeply moved and eventually accepted Jesus. He was the first Japanese to accept Jesus into his heart as Lord and Savior. After that, we met more than once in the city when I went to study seminary. Once he invited me to his apartment, and treated me well with different kinds of foods. By the time I got to his place the table was pretty packed anyway. There was a different kind of food that I was not familiar with. And then after a while, he flew home. After that the line went dead.
Through the love of Christ, I've learned to forgive and bless people even if they don't deserve it. I am very grateful to God that I can forgive and love and experience the abundance of God's love, which I do not deserve. This is simply the grace of God manifested through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The love of God is poured out on me regardless of whether I want to or not. This is nothing other than the promise of God given to our spiritual progenitor Abraham. God forgave my sins, and in confirmation of this, he gave me peace and joy. How can we not forgive those people who have wronged us like He can. Jesus still forgives and is ready to accept anyone who repents of their sins.
When the commander Bonaparte Napoleon was defeated, finding himself alone on an uninhabited island, he realized the truth about Jesus and his love. His love is more powerful than the weapon with which he tried to conquer the world. He wanted to conquer the world with arms, but Jesus conquered the hearts of people with his unique love and justice.
Through this story I came to a conclusion that Christianity is not just a fictional religion, as some claim, but the truth that leads us to the true God. All who believed in Jesus Christ were reconciled with the Heavenly Father on the basis of the sacrifice of the Son of Christ and they become children of God. This is the highest privilege that humans can experience in this life.
For example: let's say that the president of a country has a son. To him, the president is just a father, but to others, he is an inaccessible person. Despite the fact that not every citizen has access to this president, the president's son can easily enter his office, even ask his father for money. That is the attitude of a person to God, just like the son to the president. A son can at any time turn to his father for help, so can we. All we have to do is to ask in prayer to meet our needs. God is always ready to take care of our needs.
I remember by any chance, in Australia I got a book Escape from Buchenwald written by Zinchenko. After God orchestrated his escape from the concentration camp, he became a famous Christian who has traveled extensively around the world by preaching the gospel. . In addition, he has made a huge contribution to missionaries. The book was very exciting that I was able to read it in one breath.
The story of this book focuses on how God miraculously saved this man whose life was hanging by a thread. He could have been killed at any moment, but only thanks to the intervention of God he was able to escape from the concentration camp. If you come across this book, I highly recommend that you read it, it's worth reading it.
The Collapse of the Soviet Union. 1991
In the early 90s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country found itself in a very difficult economic situation. As a result of it, most of cutting- edge enterprises closed down, and at the same time the vast majority of people have lost their jobs. A new wave of change has begun abruptly throughout the country.
At that very moment for the first time in the country the first and the last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected. In order to lift the country out of the fallout of the crisis, he began a new political reform of the country so called a perestroika and glasnost. In connection with the new political reform, freedom of speech came to the country and some restrictions on movement around the country have been removed.
The Sakhalin Island that had been considered as a strategically important military objective for many years was classified. Therefore, in this regard, no one could cross the border of this island without the permission of the Soviet government. Only the inhabitants of the island with Soviet nationality could freely move around Sakhalin and from the island to the mainland and back. As for the rest of the citizens of the USSR, they could not cross the border of the island if they so wish. As for me, although I lived and was registered in Sakhalin, I could not move freely out of the Sakhalin Island as well as travel through it since I did not have Soviet citizenship.