Silent No More event - Timothy Cho's story

In Scotland the ACN team hosted a North Korean defector at their Silent No More event on 10th September. Timothy Cho shared his powerful testimony of escape, survival, hope and faith in front of a packed parish hall at St Joseph’s Church in Clarkston.

Those in attendance were gripped by what they heard: the horrors Timothy experienced both in his childhood and as a young adult living under the brutal regime, and who despite all that, found hope and peace through God.

The second time Timothy escaped North Korea he found God in an unexpected place. He explained how he first heard of God and the Bible from a South Korean gangster while in prison in China. He asked the gangster how to pray, to which he responded, ‘You put “Amen” at the end of your wishes.’ Timothy’s first prayer was, ‘God, I don’t want to be killed. Amen.’

From that point, Timothy never stopped praying and his faith developed. After China miraculously sent Timothy to the Philippines instead of North Korea, he decided to come to the UK to start a new life. He also shared how being a Christian has allowed him to find healing and forgiveness despite his trauma. After years of indoctrination in atheism and worship of the Kim dynasty, Timothy discovered the hope of Christianity.

‘At first, I thought it was foolish,’ he confessed. ‘But I saw how Christians loved one another. I saw how they prayed even when it could cost them their lives. I wanted that hope.’

Despite Timothy’s trials and the horrors he has witnessed, it was evident that he is filled with hope, and he articulated very well how Faith can survive, even in the darkest place.