The Next Generation
The younger generation of North Korean refugees is the future generation who will be leading the Northern part of the Korean peninsula after reunification.
The Challenges
Several sources have reported that one of the biggest obstacles for North Korean refugees’ life in college is their lack of comprehensive English language skills. This disparity is shown on the right.
While still in their homeland, North Korean refugees never received official, high quality English language instruction. In fact, North Korean elementary schools do give English education, and many people give up on their education, causing them to miss the opportunity to learn most of the basic skills needed to prosper. As a result, when admitted to top tier colleges in South Korea, they simply cannot follow the classes in which 1/3 of the lectures are given in English.
In North Korea, my middle school class consisted of about 50 students. The school demanded us to give all kinds of funds, so I just had to give up on schooling from then.
Lee (21)
Also, even though some finish all their official education track, the majority of their curriculum teaches the decrees of the Kim’s Family. This, along with the absence of freedom to travel inside or outside of the country, North Koreans simply have no awareness of needs for the education in and the usage of English.
“I just don’t have any chance to go overseas and use English, so I found no motivation to learn English.”
Kim (24)
Our Solution
NGI carries out its mission of rebuilding young North Korean refugees to become the next leaders of God’s Kingdom by helping them fulfill their physical, societal, and most importantly, spiritual needs, helping to establish successful resettlement in South Korea.
We firmly believe that God intends to establish them as spiritual leaders, like Nehemiah, who will rebuild Pyeongyang, North Korea, once called Jerusalem in the East. We believe that the young North Korean refugees will live new lives of hope towards the future, which is truly possible through the restoration of their souls and lives, in the Truth and Freedom through worship and devotional time, and by re-igniting their lost dreams through English education and counseling.
With this in mind, NGI carries the heavy, yet glorious responsibility to provide education, counseling, and guidance in rebuilding their lives so that they can be the next generation of God’s Kingdom builders, for His glory, and for the good of the people of North Korea.
Introduction to NES program