The church was also crowded with media personnel recording the significant and almost unexpected return, writes Paul Estabrooks, a Canadian freelance writer and author of Escape from North Korea, at www.worldwatchmonitor.org.

Sam Shim, operations manager at Lim’s church said, “Everyone was excited when we heard the news that he was freed … There was crying, joyful crying.”

Looking happy and healthy, Lim told his congregation about his experiences in the labor camp. Overwhelming loneliness was the emotion he remembers most, Estabrooks said.

“From the first day of my detainment [late January 2015] to the day I was released, I ate 2,757 meals in isolation by myself. It was difficult to see when and how the entire ordeal would end,” Lim said through his English interpreter.

“During the winter, I had to dig holes that measured one-meter wide and one-meter deep. The ground was frozen. The mud was so hard that it took two days to dig one hole. It was incredibly challenging. My upper body was sweating. My fingers and toes were frostbitten. I also worked inside a coal storage facility, breaking apart coal,” he said. “In the spring and summer, I worked outside, eight hours a day, in the scorching sun, under the constant watch of two guards.”

Lim reported the hard labor took a toll on his body, causing him to lose 50lbs (23kg) and be hospitalized four times -- the first time for two months.

‘Not one day of gloom’

Lim said he knew people were praying for him and that daily the feeling of loneliness and isolation turned to “peaceful solitude with God.” (Photo via Assist News Service)

“While I was laboring, I prayed without ceasing. I did not have a day of gloom,” he said. “My moments of discouragement, resentment and grumbling turned into courage, joy and thanksgiving.”

Lim said that, after almost a year, friends from his church in Canada sent him a Korean and an English Bible.

Estabrooks reported that, remarkably, in a country ranked by the Open Doors World Watch List as the world’s hardest place to practice Christianity, the guards allowed him to keep them. He said he read through the Korean Bible four times and the English Bible once and memorized more than 700 Bible verses.

Every Sunday was a rest day, so he said he spent his 130 Sundays worshipping -- for eight hours every week. During that time, he also wrote five new hymns in Korean, some of which were sung by his congregation in Mississauga on Sunday, with tears streaming down their faces, Estabrooks said.

Lisa Pak, an assistant to the pastor, said: “Pastor Lim was not allowed to write anything during his imprisonment, so he worked hard at memorizing details, thus the awareness of how many meals he ate alone and how many Sundays he worshipped God alone.”

Estabrooks stated the whole process started in 1997 when the church that Lim pastored became aware of the hunger and lack of food in North Korea.

With the Canadian government’s awareness, the church began a ministry that grew to millions of dollars of charitable investment in North Korea. They created orphanages, homes for senior citizens, noodle and tofu factories, as well as farming and educational programs.

Lim visited the country more than 110 times in supervising this process. He said he is still unaware of why, suddenly, in January 2015 he was arrested, charged with “defaming” Kim Jong-un -- which he denies -- and sentenced to life in a labor camp.

“He loved North Korea,” said a co-pastor, adding that the congregation was “shocked” when Lim was detained.

Lim said he is also unaware of the reason he was suddenly released on “sick bail.” Sweden’s diplomats helped facilitate his release, as Canada does not have an embassy in North Korea. Lim said he only knew 15 minutes before his release that he was going home.

Lisa Pak, a spokeswoman for the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Mississauga, said the church has no plans to continue its work in North Korea.

“We did a full stop on all Korean activity and always had intended it to be a gift to the North Korean people. We have no plans on returning there,” she said.

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