The Panorama program reporting on North Korea this week showed poverty and greyness - a bottling factory with no bottling going on; a collective farm with no crops or animals; a smart new hospital with no patients ; but most of this is already known. Real insights come from escapees over the border in South Korea and from experts and analysts. North Korea is a secretive, dangerous place, with brainwashed people - often in the dark because the lights don't work. What we don’t hear in the media is the 200,000+ North Korean citizens, including many of our Christian brothers and sisters, suffering under brutal conditions in six confirmed labour camps for political prisoners. Three examples are:- Camp 14 - where 50,000 prisoners will work until death. Camp 22 - the size of Los Angeles used for human experiments. It also holds about 50,000 prisoners. Camp 25 - controlled by secret police and believed to hold felons, religious leaders and spies and their families. Very few North Koreans survive detention camps. See: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june152012/korea-religion-pk.php

Pray: for God in His mercy to touch the lives of North Korean people, for His protection to be over believers and God's workers in the underground church. (Ps.64:9-10)

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/apr/15/panorama-inside-north-korea-review

‘Seoul USA’ has launched balloons filled with Bibles and Christian literature into North Korea for 40 years. In April they began attaching GPS tracking devices to the balloons to refine their effectiveness. Seven days after the first GPS tracking launch North Korea began blocking GPS signals from South Korea. Jamming disrupts passenger air flights and ships. The jamming signals are coming from somewhere near the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. This is precisely the area where Seoul USA's payloads have been shown to land. The jamming reveals just how concerned North Korea is over the balloon launches. North Korea doesn't fear military might. Economic sanctions don't slow them down. The economic situation in N Korea is dire, for internal reasons apart from external sanctions But the spread of the gospel is a direct and serious challenge to the message that Kim Il Sung is god and deserves the unquestioned allegiance of the people. To halt the spread of that message it seems that North Korea will stop at nothing.

Pray: for a softening of hearts and minds of North Koreans to God’s truth; may now be the season of fruitfulness from this 40 year ministry. This may be one peripheral form of Christian witness to N Koreans, but there are many more effective ones, not least from Yonggi Cho's Church (Ps.95:7b-8)

More: http://vomcblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Open Doors has confirmed the death of two Christians in North Korea. According toOpen Doors the ministry one Christian was recently shot while he was on his way back to China for Bible training. The other died in one of North Korea's notorious labour camps. The first North Korean became interested in the Christian faith and after studying the Bible he became a believer. He eventually chose to return to North Korea. ‘He wanted to come back to China to study the Bible more' says an Open Doors worker. It is heartbreaking that he was killed’. The other Christian recently died in a labour camp. This man also studied the Bible in China. After eight months he decided to return to North Korea. According to Open Doors, he became a dedicated and faithful Christian. However, North Korean authorities found out about his secret faith and he was sent to labour camp.

Pray: for the nation of North Korea and for the believers there that God would protect them. (Ps.12:7)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.killed.in.north.korea/31491.htm

Christian groups are among the signatories of an open letter to the new North Korean leader appealing for an end to human rights abuses in the country. 24.5 million people in North Korea are ‘living in fear’ of arbitrary detention, disappearance, torture or death. The groups condemn the detention of 200,000 men, women and children for political reasons in prison or labour camps; asking for an end to the incarceration of relatives of political prisoners because of ‘guilt by association’. They condemn the political elite for living ‘like royalty’ while millions suffer widespread hunger, malnutrition and a lack of healthcare. President of ‘Open North Korea’ said, ‘Kim Jong-un should look to his legacy. He has the opportunity to be remembered as the leader who restored freedom to the people of North Korea.’

Pray: North Korea would meet its obligations under international treaties, and grant access to human rights monitors from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. (Ps.45:23-26)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.back.human.rights.plea.to.kim.jongun/29141.htm

The number of Christians in North Korea is unknown. They either hide their faith or face terrible consequences. People have been executed for owning a Bible. Many Christians are sent to concentration camps as ‘political prisoners’ and subjected to torture, abuse, execution or simply worked to death. A reliable source reports that ‘the new young leader Kin Jong Un views the underground Christian church as a source of resistance to his untested leadership, and is repressing Christians even more severely than his father. Another source reports, ‘10% of North Korean Christians who escape to South Korea and return to China to work in Christian ministry are kidnapped from China by underground North Korean State Security and taken to North Korea, tortured for information, and killed.’

Pray: for protection and endurance for the brave underground church living under these extreme conditions, for God to have mercy on Kim Jong Un and change his heart towards defectors in their bid for freedom of speech and beliefs. (Ps.3:8)

More: http://www.releaseinternational.org/media/download_gallery/RELEASE%20MAG%2071%20linked.pdf

An interim petition calling for religious freedom in North Korea has over 20,000 signatures from the UK. Release International presented the petition to the North Korean embassy in London last week demanding freedom of worship to Christians, who face regular harassment and imprisoned for owning a Bible. Recent reports by human rights organisations accuse North Korea of putting 180,000 people into forced labour. There are reports that Christians face torture, starvation and execution in political prison camps. Release International support North Korean Christians who have fled their country by providing safe houses, pastoral support and health care. Those who’ve escaped describe these camps as 'hell on Earth’. Some risk being shot by border guards as they try to flee the country. Signatures are still being collected and the final petition to the North Korean embassy will be presented at the end of the campaign. See www.releaseinternational.org/petition

Pray: for millions to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and for their voices to be heard and acted upon. (Pr.31:8,9)

More: http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/take-action/prisoners-of-faith.php

North Korea has executed 80 people by firing squad for minor misdemeanours, the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported. The wrongdoings include watching television programmes from South Korea or possessing a Bible. The article says the coordinated executions were held in seven cities earlier in November. In Wonsan the local government gathered up 10,000 people, including children, and forced them to watch people tied to stakes being machine gunned to death. Relatives and friends of the victims were also reportedly sent to prison camps. They were executed in Wonsan, Chongjin, Sariwon and Pyongsong, but none in Pyongyang, the capital. Most were charged with watching or illegally trafficking South Korean videos, prostitution, or possessing a Bible. Simultaneous executions across the country could suggest an extreme measure by Mr Kim’s regime to quell public unrest. The common theme of the persecution was crimes related to South Korea or corruption of public morals.

Pray: for democracy to reach the most undemocratic and totalitarian state in existence. Pray for justice where the world's worst human rights crimes are committed. (2Thes.2:8)

More: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/12/80-people-publicly-executed-across-n-korea-films-b/

The letters Open Doors is receiving from North Korean secret church leaders paint a very grey image. Imagine yourself a Christian believer living in a barren land that is silent; no church, no freedom to share your faith, no Bible, and no contact with other Christians. Alone! Is God still here? Does He hear my cries? Why is God silent? Has He forgotten us?’ North Korean Christians deal with this reality.’ Open Doors helps Christians with their most basic needs to keep alive, and are asking Christians around the world to pray for these secret believers and for our co-workers ministering to them in the coming week of intercession.

Pray: for North Korean Christians as they trust every promise of God to be their shield and refuge. (Pr.30:5)

More: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/pray/North-Korea-Freedom-Week