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I'll Cross the River

4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 · rating details · 18 ratings · 6 reviews

DEFECT OR DIE

"Lay still-pretend you are dead," Young Soon told her trembling young son as she lay, bleeding, on the ground, nestling her nursing baby closer.

After reading a smuggled newspaper article about life beyond North Korea, Widowed and pregnant Young Soon is determined to flee her beloved country with son and baby to find food and safety in neighboring China...acr

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Paperback, 287 pages

Published May 1st 2008 by Destiny Image Publishers

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Mar 02, 2010 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hard one to rate. It gets 5 stars for content and about 3 stars for writing. I knew going into it that the author was a journalist, not a novelist, and it reads that way. Her characters are not deeply developed, pretty one-dimensional. But the story isn't the focus of the book. It uses the story to get a message across, and the message is what I read it for.

The people in North Korea are starving to death. Right now. They are trapped in a communist country worshipping their dictator and know no o...more Hard one to rate. It gets 5 stars for content and about 3 stars for writing. I knew going into it that the author was a journalist, not a novelist, and it reads that way. Her characters are not deeply developed, pretty one-dimensional. But the story isn't the focus of the book. It uses the story to get a message across, and the message is what I read it for.

The people in North Korea are starving to death. Right now. They are trapped in a communist country worshipping their dictator and know no other life. They worship the dictator and anyone who speaks against the dictator or the government or is simply "reported" for doing so, or any other tiny infraction, is sent to a hard labor camp, beaten, or publicly executed. Women and children too. Orphans wander the streets with no one to care for them stealing food....they are considered the most worthless members of society by both the citizens and the government. The North Korean mother in the story is boiling grass and tree bark to try and save her fmaily from starvation. She watches the soldiers eat meat and rice yet her family has no rations, no food for months. She knows no other life. Until her brother returns from a military trip outside NK with a faith in the God Who Loves and news about what the outside world is really like. He brings her food and desperate plan to escape.

On the other side of the border in China, a young Chinese woman sets off on a secret missionary journey. While she has food and better conditions, she also lives under a Communist government and her Christian convictions have already bought her prison time. She is the main character of faith and has dream about a baby caught in a river and is called to pray for him though she doesn't know why.

Honestly, it all sounds too crazy to actually be happening in the modern world. Yet the book was written mainly from accounts of North Korean defectors and Chinese Christians, some of whom work for the underground that tries to hide North Koreans when they do make it across the river to relative "freedom" in China. The Chinese government will either shoot them or send them back to North Korea.

It was especially painful to read the North Korean mother's account of watching her children starve, but then you understand why she would risk her life and theirs to get out of the prison of North Korea to give them life. Her encounters with God without ever hearing the Westernized version of the gospel were really powerful for me.

The message really touched me. I was inspired to read it by the Tucson missionary, Robert Park who's been in the news since Christmas for crossing into North Korea demanding that Kim Jong il step down from power and release the prisoners and allow food to be brought in to them (all the food aid the world send to North Korea goes to their military, not the people who need it). Robert has since been returned to the US after 6 weeks in North Korea, after no negotiations from the US but a lot of prayers from all over the world. Honestly, if not for what he did, I would never have given the people in North Korea a thought or been called to pray for them. So I can say my eyes were opened by him and by this book. Not an easy read, but the subject matter is one we shouldn't ignore.(less)

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Mar 08, 2009 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have to say I have loved all three of these books and soooooo hope the author writes another. My heart goes out the the Christians of China and their persucution. And oh, the people of North Korea. My heart if broken for them and I love the info at the back of the book on how to get involved. All three of these books are easy and quick to read but for a Christian it gives you so much more awareness and how to pray for other Nations......

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Jul 28, 2008 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a compelling story of the struggle for freedom, for finding their dreams, and finding hope in a dire situation. I couldn't put this book down when I first read it. It's 3rd in a series of Chinese contemporary culture, weaving together two stories that are fictionalized reality. The story follows a young girl in China who lives for Jesus and wants to spread His love around her country as she faces the threat of imprisonment and abuse by her government. This book introduces a North Korean...more

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Jun 27, 2009 Sarah Honkanen rated it 5 of 5 stars

i just finished this one and loved it. I was amazed at how little i knew about N.Korea and the horrible situations their people have to endure.
was eye opening.
is book 3 in the series.

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Nov 23, 2011 Billi Robinson added it

This book was an awesome picture of the dangers and rewards of a secret missionary life in a traditional governmentally controlled society. Deeply moving and inspirational!

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Aug 03, 2008 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story was really good, but the writing just didn't capture me.

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