When Hyeon Soo Lim walked through the front doors of the Light Presbyterian Church and looked at a crowd he hadn’t seen since he was taken captive in North Korea in early 2015, the room erupted into applause and chants of “our pastor” in Korean. Lim, dressed in a black suit and tie with his hair closely shorn, raised both hands and smiled. And the crowd yelled louder, craning for a photo or a glance of the pastor they had been praying for.“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Junghwe Kim had said minutes before, positioning herself next to a potted tree in the hopes of taking a photo of the 62-year-old Lim. “Oh my god,” she said expectantly, clutching her phone and smiling, as all around her, people held hands and waited, giddy and excited. She talked of her prayers and her fears, and how happy she was that North Korea, which normally “does everything bad,” did a “very good” thing in releasing her pastor. “I hope he’s recovering.”More than an hour before Lim arrived, church members stared out the window at the parking lot where Lim was due to arrive, waving at the phalanx of photographers and reporters who stood underneath a banner with their pastor’s smiling face and a message: “Welcome home Rev. Lim” Anna Shin, who has been praying for Lim since the church found out he was captured during mission work in North Korea in January 2015, said she was “way too excited” for Sunday’s reunion with the congregation. She said the pastor is known for his sense of humour and his ability to connect with all ages.Lim will not give the Sunday church service, but is expected to thank the congregation, according to church spokesperson Richard Ha.Outside the church before the service, Lim told a group of reporters that he’s proud to be a Canadian.“We are extremely happy,” said Lim’s son, James, addr ...
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