China pastor violently murdered near North Korean border

The body of a Chinese pastor who led a church in Changbai was found Saturday, April 30.

Witnesses said Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol was found dead about six hours after he left the church. He had suffered an axe blow to the head and had multiple stab wounds in his stomach.

Authorities believe he was murdered by North Koreans, as there had been a standing order from the North Korean government to kidnap him and bring him to the North for interrogation. He had been considered a threat because he helped refugees from the North and encouraged them to return home and share God's love to those they left behind.

Well-loved by his church community, Han established Changbai Church in 1993 in response to a need. While he was still at the seminary, some people requested him to preach at Changbai because there was no church there at the time. Han accepted the invitation, preached and never left.

His ministry to the North Koreans began the same year the church was founded. North Koreans, who suffered from intense famine in 1993, crossed the border in search of food and heard that help was available in a building with a cross – Changbai Church.

"Pastor Han never sought to start a North Korea ministry any more than he sought to start a church in Changbai. He simply responded faithfully to whatever God gave him to do," Eric Foley, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, wrote in a blog.

Han not only gave the refugees food and other goods, he also gave them Jesus. He told them to share what they have known about Him when they went back to the North.

In November 2014, one of his deacons was kidnapped and detained in North Korea for interrogation. Foley encouraged Han to speak out about the situation, reasoning that the most effective way to keep prisoners in North Korea alive was to go loud and public.

The pastor, fearing that the work in Changbai would be affected if he went public with the issue, decided to deal with the situation discreetly. However, he did practice some security precautions as advised by Foley, one of which is not to meet North Koreans who asked for help on his own.

Even though he had been killed, the love of God will continue to spread among those Han had helped: the hungry, sex-trafficked women, orphans, mothers and many others.

"As Pastor Han would describe it, it is a story about how though you may die, God will honor you," Foley wrote. "A story about how God never turns his back on you."

Han was 49 years old. He left behind a wife, a son and a daughter.