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North Korea is in total crisis. Persecution of Christians is more severe there than anywhere else in the world. Famine holds vast swathes of the nation in its grip and untold thousands live in poverty and misery. The populace are kept ignorant of the outside world and forcibly indoctrinated into ‘Juche’ ideology focusing on the self-sufficiency of man. It teaches a trinity consisting of the father (deceased leader Kim Il-Sung), son (current leader Kim Jong-Il) and the ‘Juche spirit’ of self-reliance. Christians in North Korea are forced to keep their faith secret as all religions are harshly suppressed and those who are discovered face torture, labour camp and even death. Please pray for strength and courage for the estimated 50,000 Christians currently in North Korea’s prison camps. Pray also for secure printing and distribution of Bibles to North Korean Christians, and safe outreach work amongst North Korean defectors in China’s border areas. Pray: that many North Koreans respond to the hope and truth of the triune God, and for Christians to be strengthened. (Mal.4:2)
'North Korea is grappling with an unfavourable situation but the regime’s tight grip on its people will prevent any Arab-style uprising’, South Korea’s defence minister said Wednesday. ‘The state of affairs in the North is indeed inauspicious and anything can happen there,’ Kim Kwan-Jin said in a forum. ‘We may consider whether the Jasmine Revolution could find its way into North Korea,’ the minister added. The impoverished North suffers persistent food shortages and downpours this month battered many areas. United Nations agencies say more than six million people urgently need food aid. The South, which blames its neighbour for two deadly border incidents last year, refuses to provide government aid. Pray: that God would open avenues for Christians to serve where aid and resources are in short supply. (Is.32:3) More: http://www.dawn.com/2011/07/20/n-korea-can-avert-uprising-s-korea-minister.html
Three leaders of an underground house church in North Korea were executed and 20 Christian associates jailed after police raided a house and arrested all 23 believers gathered for a 'religious function'. Three 'ringleaders' were tried, sentenced to death and executed soon afterwards. The other 20 were reportedly sent to prison camp No.15 in Yodok. The arrests and executions happened in May but news has only just emerged. The events were confirmed by North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, a group of North Korean defectors based in Seoul committed to raising awareness of injustice and promoting reform in their homeland. The 23 Christians had come to faith after a few travelled to mainland China on business and came into contact with Christians. Pray: that Christians in North Korea would powerfully experience God’s protective provision as they secretly worship and live in fear of their lives. (Ps.9:12-13)
With North Korea's Kim Jong-Il’s death there is fear and uncertainty. Only God knows what will happen next but we can pray for His purposes to be fulfilled through this event. North Korea is the world’s worst persecutor of Christians, the following statements are from a Prayer Alert INSIGHT article published earlier this year. ‘Those discovered to have any kind of faith or religious belief (and their families to three generations) are executed or sent to concentration camps for life; a North Korean concentration camp survivor told Congress North Korea’s No.1 enemy is God; a nuclear holocaust would be inevitable if South Korea engaged North Korea in war.’ See Open Doors requests prayer for the ‘Secret Christians’ within the government to gain more power and influence, for Christians to share about Jesus without fear of retaliation, and for the 50,000 Christians in prison camps.
Pray: that the change of leadership would bring about a shaking and eventual removal of North Korea’s tyranny. (Ps.10:14,15)
God loves North Korea yet few there know of his character. The Church in North Korea exists within a climate of fear and oppression whilst its political leaders teach a religion of self-reliance and isolation from the nations called Juche. Christians in the UK are signing up to pray for North Korea over the next two years with Project Cyrus, an initiative of BMS World Mission. North Korean Christians face imprisonment and torture if their faith is discovered by the authorities. BMS are looking for individuals to intercede for a new freedom in North Korea that allows believers to share the good news of Jesus without persecution. Individuals and churches that sign up will receive free monthly updates, a bookmark and prayer wristband. There are also regular PowerPointsfor church services and prayer meetings.
Pray: that many across the UK will catch God’s compassion and vision for North Korea as they commit to pray regularly for change. (1Tim. 2:1-2)
More: http://www.bmsworldmission.org/support-us/pray-with-us/project-cyrus/sign-a-church
International investigators say they have overwhelming evidence that a South Korean warship was sunk by a North Korean submarine in March, resulting in the death of 46 South Korean sailors. Investigators from US, Australia, Britain and Sweden said they had discovered part of the torpedo on the sea floor and it carried lettering that matched a North Korean design. North Korea rejected the claim as a ‘fabrication’ adding the North would threaten war if sanctions were imposed by the South. But South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pledged to take ‘stern action’ against the North. UK and US Foreign Secretaries describe the sinking of the ship as an ‘act of aggression’ by North Korea that challenged peace.
Pray: and take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that keep North Korea bound and ask God to turn this situation around and open His way forward for the nation (Eph.6:12)
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia_pacific/10129703.stm
North Korea: Thousands of Christians in prison camps
Last Saturday was the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and CSW used the date to highlight the plight of at least 200,000 Christians and other inmates detained in five political prison camps across North Korea. Previously Christian aid and advocacy group Open Doors suggested that the real number of prisoners in dozens of facilities resembling concentration camps may be as high as over one million. ‘Christians are particularly targeted for their faith.’ said CSW. ‘The camps are complete villages.’ said Open Doors.Yet, despite the threat of detention and even execution thousands of Christians continue to worship in secret, rights investigators say. Recently Amnesty International called the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to - acknowledge the existence of political prison camps in North Korea - immediately close all these camps, unconditionally release prisoners of conscience (relatives held on the basis of ‘guilt-by-association’) and release all others unless they are charged with an internationally recognizable offence.
Pray: for an end to the barbaric torture, inhumane living conditions and unjust regime and for God to continue to minister powerfully to our brothers and sisters living in unimaginable conditions. (Ps.7:6-9)
South Korea suspects North Korea to be behind cyber-attacks on computer networks at two major banks and three top TV broadcasters which went into shutdown on Wednesday. Also this week North Korea produced another video showing the United States under attack. The White House and Washington featured in a four-minute video titled ‘Firestorms will rain on the Headquarters of War’ posted on the YouTube channel of North Korea's official website from the state media. The video portrays the United States as a bullying nuclear power intent on bending Pyongyang to its will. ‘Second by second, the fuse of a nuclear war is burning,’ a female narrator warned. ‘There is no limit to the range of our strategic rockets,’ the narrator said. Meanwhile crimes against humanity are committed daily. 200,000 men, women and children are held in prison camps. Religious persecution is boundless. Christianity is ‘public enemy number one’.
Pray: for an end to violent religious oppression, threats of pre-emptive nuclear strikes and continued tensions on the Korean peninsula. (Job20:4-6 &1Ch.17:9)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/
Several hundred South Korean church leaders, along with international intercessors and prayer leaders, will gather near the DMZ, the border between North and South Korea, to pray for the Lord's deliverance and transformation of North Korea, probably the most oppressive and evil situation on earth - Prayer Initiative for North Korea, September 18-22. The link below shows a just completed prayer video on North Korea that will be used in conjunction with PINK. This hard-hitting, heart-stirring video was produced by Ken An and SohMyoung Lee, Korean film producers with the Pan Pacific Film Festival in Los Angeles. Please see it, let your heart be broken, and pray fervently for the liberation of North Korea and reintegration with its southern sister of South Korea. Share the video with intercessors and prayer leaders you are in touch with.
Pray: for His anointing, guidance and unity in the Spirit for this crucial initiative. May we all have God’s heart for North Korea. (Jer.29:11)
More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv6E2ReEbGI&feature=youtu.be
Death camps as in World War II are happening right now in North Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea runs a network of concentration camps where an estimated 1 million innocents have been murdered in silence and 250,000 political prisoners, one-third of them children, are currently being forced to perform slave labour on starvation rations. They are subject to systematic rape and torture, biological and chemical weapon experimentation, and summary execution. Many of them are our brothers and sisters in Christ. To follow the Lord can be a death sentence outright or you could have three generations of your family sentenced to such atrocities in the camps. Dr. Norbert Vollertsen witnessed first-hand the genocidal policies of the regime and spoke recently to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. To read a transcript of his talk click the 'More' link or watch a video message he gave to the South Korea press at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2J-qJ1CqN4'
Pray: that Kim Jong-un would listen to the international human rights demands and liberate prisoners from Political Concentration Camps; pray also for the safety of every North Korean individual regardless of religion or political beliefs. (Ps.92:89)