All around the world Christians are praying for a spiritual breakthrough and regime change in North Korea. For the fourth straight year, the isolated communist nation remains atop the Open Doors World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. The annual list ranks countries according to the intensity of persecution Christians face for actively pursuing their faith in Jesus Christ.
"The isolation of North Korea has enabled the leaders to brainwash the population and teach them unquestioning obedience to their authority. Kim Il Sung (the ‘Great Leader’) and his son, Kim Jong Il (the ‘Dear Leader’) have instituted a personality cult in which they are worshipped. No belief in a higher authority is tolerated and being a Christian is viewed as one of the most serious crimes. Even the word for God has been abolished in North Korea."
"Before the Communist regime was installed, the North was a centre of revival and Pyongyang was known as the Jerusalem of the East. Most Christians fled to the South during the Korean War, or were martyred. Kim Il Sung, the ‘Great Leader’, ordered that three generations of a Christian’s family must be eliminated. A few believers have managed to hold on to their faith despite the horrific persecution. Many Christians have been publicly executed and others have been taken away to camps where they are subject to barbaric abuse and treated as sub-human. They will never be allowed out of the camps, alive or dead, and are worked to death in brutal
conditions and terrible deprivation. Christians suffer especially cruel treatment in these death camps as they are under ongoing pressure to renounce their faith. They are subject to frequent torture and abuse and are also forced to do the most gruelling and dangerous work, both by guards, as punishment, and by fellow prisoners, who despise their faith as insanity."
"The persecution of Christians in North Korea may be the worst anywhere in the world. It is important that the Church should be aware of the terrible situation of its brothers and sisters who are holding on to their faith at such dear cost. It is hoped that through this awareness, the Church will be rallied to pray fervently for North Korea."
"As the Church worldwide lifts up North Korea in prayer, it will join with many South Koreans who have been praying earnestly for their brothers and sisters in the North for many years. Pastor Yonggi Cho, the pastor of the largest church in the world, endorses this call to prayer, stating: "We have been praying fervently for North Korea for many decades now, specifically praying for the peaceful unification of the two Koreas. We have many young pastors preparing for the ministry who are planning to enter North Korea when this door is open. It would be deeply appreciated if you would join us in prayer for North Korea. God is not willing that any should perish without Him."
Please join me and thousands of other Christians in praying for our North Korean brothers and sisters!
Links
Pray for North Korea
Soon Ok Lee's web site (Soon Ok Lee is a Christian lady from North Korea who survived the prison camps in her home country and wrote an impressive testimony: Eyes of the Tailless animals.
Open Doors
Voice of the Martyrs
Overview of postings about North Korea on my old blog
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