Desperate for God

In North Korea, fear shapes daily life. From the rigid Songbun caste system to the Great North Korean famine, this conversation exposes the machinery of fear that has kept an entire nation trapped and why escape often leads to unimaginable danger.

Dan Chung, co-founder and executive director of Crossing Borders and author of A Hard Freedom: The Dreams and Trauma of North Korean Refugees, unpacks the realities of life under the regime, the 1995-1998 famine that may have killed up to 3 million people, and the brutal path refugees take through China, trafficking networks, and the modern-day Underground Railroad into Southeast Asia and South Korea.

Dan shares what he has learned from interviewing hundreds of refugees, including the hidden psychological damage that survives after escape, the way trauma shows up in the body, and why many North Koreans in South Korea still wake in panic, sleep with their shoes beside the bed, or struggle to name what happened to them. He also explains how Crossing Borders helps women and children rebuild through counseling, exercise, community, and Christ-centered care.

Drawing inspiration from his Uncle James, a pastor in Pyongyang who survived persecution and torture, Dan crystallized his passion for helping North Korean refugees, even at the risk of his own life. Dan himself faced suspicion and gunpoint at the North Korean border in China in 2013. That story frames this entire episode: this is not distant history, but a current crisis tragically affecting millions of people today.

If you care about human rights, trauma recovery, global persecution, or what the church is actually called to do when suffering is messy and prolonged, this episode will stay with you. 

Dan Chung is the co-founder and executive director of Crossing Borders, a Christian nonprofit serving North Korean refugees and their children. He is also the author of A Hard Freedom and one of the leading voices on the North Korean refugee crisis.

Can AI play a meaningful role in Biblical counseling? Dr. Eric Scalise addresses the current mental health crisis, the role of Biblical hope, and how AI is transforming counseling and mental health support. He explores Hope for the Heart's extensive resources, including their AI Counselor and Keys for Living Library—key components of their Complete System of Care, designed to provide tangible help for some of life’s most pressing struggles.

Dr. Scalise is President of Hope for the Heart and a highly-credentialed mental health expert with 45 years of clinical and professional experience.

Would you be surprised to learn that only 4% of American adults hold a Biblical worldview? Didn’t this number climb after the assassination of Charlie Kirk? With 34% of adults in the US self-identifying as born again Christians, why is holding a Biblical worldview so rare? How did we get here as a nation, and how do we recover? Dr. Adam Rasmussen, Fellow at the Cultural Research Center and Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at Arizona Christian University, is an expert in these matters, and he joins us for an incredibly thought-provoking and uplifting conversation.

April Fallon is far more than the host and creator of the ultra-honest ADOPTION NOW podcast, ranked among the top 1.5% of podcasts globally. Becoming the dynamic mentor, coach, wife, mother, and advocate she is today required a wild journey marked by heartbreak, adventure, risk, and unmistakable encounters with God.

From being raised by a single mother to graduating from Bible college, from portraying Barbie in New York to serving in Ugandan orphanages and the African mission field — often carrying out perilous assignments — April’s life has taken extraordinary turns. She eventually walked away from a toxic cult leader, became On-Air Talent for TV news, and discovered that her years in Uganda had given her an unshakable passion for ministering to vulnerable children and families.

Along the way, she has witnessed undeniable miracles, the best and worst of humanity, and the profound love of God in action. Those experiences ultimately shaped the heart behind her hugely successful podcast and her mission to tell adoption stories with honesty, compassion, and hope. To understand April’s mission, you must adopt the whole story.

There are many opinions of what a Christian life should look like. But God plants us all in different cultures and circumstances, with different skills and interests. Yet, there often is pressure to conform to a contrived standard of Christian living. The only thing that should really matter is who you are becoming. And following Jesus honestly will take each person down a custom path made exclusively for them: sometimes hard, often unglamorous, always real, ultimately liberating. In retrospect, we see God's miraculous intervention in our lives as we stand at the cusp of eternity. 

Zac Bartelt has lived many lives in one. There is no cookie cutter shaped like him. He was a Green Beret, serving two tours in Afghanistan, and he is a visual artist, musician, counselor, former pastor and NY fashion model. He has managed lifelong depression, yet he is an ardent believer and follower of Jesus. How does this all come together in one person? He expresses feelings most Christians don’t. He is himself, and he is a true believer. He has found Jesus in places many of us haven’t.

Abandoned by his father at an early age, rejected by churches, a victim of a horrific violent assault, a survivor of two intense bouts with cancer, Thomas has faced more adversity than just about anyone. His life has not been easy, and he does not have a pollyanna story to tell. Human love was not adequate for healing. But Jesus has held him together through the struggles, the dirt and the mire. Thomas tells his story with amazing candor, sincerity, and honesty. The transformative power of God is undeniably evident in his life. Anyone who listens to this episode will be moved.

Transformed from lost to leader, from betrayal to healing, from confusion to clarity, Sofia Peckenpaugh has experienced the closeness and provision of God along a journey that would have sidelined many. Her pain and loss have been traded for victory and redemption. Please join us as Sofia tells her story of God’s faithfulness through intense adversity.