Megumi's disappearance

"I'm off now. See you later." -- Those turned out to be the last words Sakie heard her 13-year-old daughter Megumi say before she disappeared like a wisp of smoke on her way home from junior high school on Nov. 15, 1977. From that day on, life has been a never-ending struggle for Sakie, now 88 years old.

Twenty years later in 1997, suspicions that Megumi might have been abducted by North Korea came to light. Another five years passed and North Korea notified Japan that she had "died" without providing clear evidence..

Sakie then caught wind of information that Megumi's daughter and granddaughter live in North Korea. In 2014, she and her husband Shigeru were able to meet them in Mongolia. Sakie continues to believe that Megumi and other victims of North Korean abductions are "definitely alive."

This account of Sakie is based largely on a series of interviews with her. It attempts to elucidate what has kept her going through shifting emotions of sadness, surprise and blessedness while being at the mercy of North Korea and its political whims.

The Yokotas were living in Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast when Megumi suddenly disappeared. "Where are you, Megumi?" They searched for her for years, along with police, but no clues were found.

Crushed by a sense of guilt, Sakie said she "thought about suicide many times." It was the Bible that gave her the emotional support she needed in her days of grief.

"And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'" (Job 1:21)

This is the first verse from the Bible that captivated Sakie. She felt the profoundness of the destiny determined by God, who transcends human knowledge and encompasses all the blessedness, sorrows and suffering in the world. For Sakie, Job, who is depicted in the Old Testament as a faithful and "righteous man," resonated with her as she faced many hardships.

Abduction by North Korea floated as possibility

Close to 20 years had passed since the disappearance of Megumi, a cheerful girl who loved to sing, when the Yokotas received "hard-to-believe" information. It was at the end of January 1997. "Accounts" given by a North Korean agent-turned-defector to South Korea gave rise to the possibility that she had been abducted to North Korea.

In March of that year, the Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea was formed, with Shigeru as the inaugural leader. Thus began a decades-long fight to bring back the abductees.

"I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul," (Psalm 131:1-2)

Sakie felt caught in the vortex of international conspiracy. Over and over, she traced the words uttered by David, the king of ancient Israel, as he prayed to God.

The king's awareness of his own sinfulness and limitations, as well as his willingness to surrender to God, tugged at Sakie's heartstrings. His words released her from an unsettled state of mind and gave her the peace and courage needed to wait for God's grace.

"Death" notice from North Korea

On Sept. 17, 2002, nearly 25 years after Megumi's disappearance, a historic first-ever summit meeting took place between Japanese and North Korean leaders. Then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted Japanese nationals had been abducted and apologized to then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Kim revealed that five of the abductees were alive but claimed, without clear evidence, that eight including Megumi were "dead." Despite the shocking news, Sakie kept up her hopes of being reunited with her daughter, saying, "I believe she is alive."

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Sakie saw a parallel between her feelings and the words of Paul the Apostle, who persecuted Christians but later converted and worked to spread Christianity before being martyred. Why does a "weak" homemaker like her have to go through such a hardship? She thought of the pain her daughter must have been feeling in a neighboring country. "When I am weak, I am strong."