If we truly believe that we are living in the last days, then we should take note of what the North Koreans are doing, because it is something that all Christians could learn from.

The North Korean government controls all information, from the television, to radio, to newspapers, to the Internet. All information is controlled. North Korea has been “fact-checking” news sources long before Twitter and Facebook learned how to do it.

This is why many believers in North Korea secretly make their own radios to listen to illegal broadcasts that are not “fact checked” by the government. Many of the North Koreans that BTJ has worked with in the past have been able to smuggle radios from China across the river, but many live too far inland and are simply not able to. So, they make their own radios.

Homemade radios might not seem like much, but when the government controls everything that you are allowed to read, watch, and listen to, an illegal homemade radio can be a huge blessing.

Radios have often been a way for believers to share the Christian message in illegal countries. Like North Korea today, many Christians in China found refuge in their radios during the 1960s, 1970’s, and 1980s.

Illegal radio ministry even has its roots in Back to Jerusalem. The first chairman of the board for Back to Jerusalem, for instance, was a man named Elon Svanell. “I remember in the early days, we were not allowed to broadcast the Christian message,” Elon shared with me one day in Stockholm. “So we set up an illegal antenna on Tranholmen, a little island in Stockholm, and broadcasted the Gospel message from there over pirated radio waves.” Elon said that was the early days of IBRA radio: a Christian ministry that now use several creative ways to get the Gospel into closed nations.

When governments control information by “fact checking” the Christian message, pirate radio waves become a great way to get around government controls.

For those wondering how to learn from the North Koreans, here is a simple way to make a homemade radio with only these NINE everyday items.

1. Toilet paper tube
2. Safety pin
3. Thumbtacks
4. Razor blade
5. Wire
6. Board
7. Antenna
8. Lead Pencil
9. Ear phones

To make this simple radio, there is a YouTube video that you can watch for the step-by-step instructions.

 

Step 1:

Wrap wire tightly around around the toilet paper tube 120 times.

Step 2:

Take a piece of wood and attach the toilet paper tube (with wire) at the top.

Step 3:

Attach 4 paper clips on the board with thumbtacks – 1 on left side and three on right side like diagram below.

Step 4:

Heat up razor blade with a flame until it changes colors from the heat and fasten razor blade to board.

Step 5:

Attach safety pin to pencil and position so that pencil is just above razor blade.

Step 6:

Attach wire from each end of coil to paper clips

Step 7:

Attach wire to Antenna and place in open, elevated area

Step 8:

Attach wire to grounding paperclip and ground to larger, grounded conductor

Step 9:

Attach headphones to wires for earphones.

This simple radio does not require batteries or an outside power source, so it can be a perfect tool for believers during times of extreme persecution.