But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14
Korean Family (1950s)
Buried Alive
During the Korean War in the early 1950s, hundreds of Christian leaders were captured and killed, and around 2,000 churches were destroyed. One church leader and his family who were seized in Inchon, Korea, were subjected to a harrowing public ordeal. The Communists dug a large hole and put the pastor, his wife and several of their children in it. He was accused of “misleading the people with the superstition of the Bible” and was told that if he would denounce it before the crowd, he, his wife and their children would be freed. “But if you persist in your superstitions,” the Communist leader added, “all of your family is going to be buried alive. Make a decision!”
The pastor’s children cried out, “Oh Daddy! Daddy! Think of us! Daddy!” He was greatly shaken and started to speak: “Yes, yes, I’ll do it. I am going to denounce…” But his wife stopped him, saying, “Daddy! Say NO!”
She comforted the children with the words, “Tonight we are going to have supper with the King of kings, the Lord of lords!” and led them in singing the Christian hymn, “In the Sweet By and By”. The Communists began to bury them, but they all continued singing until the soil came up to their necks. Many of the people who witnessed their calm confidence in the face of execution became Christians.
There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.
Sanford Fillmore Bennett (1836-1898)