North Christians have asked Open Doors for more help, especially in the form of prayer. Church leaders told the international Christian organization for persecuted Christians that the North Korean state has called for another period of ‘100 days of combat’. This mobilization means that practically everyone has to work actively for the state. Whoever is found on the street without a valid reason will be sent to a labor camp.
“In this period the people don’t get the opportunity to keep themselves alive. In the Hwangae province it’s normal again to see dead children on the street”, according to local Christians.
The communist North Korea of the Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il hasn’t been capable of feeding its citizens. In the nineties millions of North Koreans died because of a severe famine. The current hunger starts to look like more and more like the atrocities just before and after the year 2000, said Open Doors’ co-worker brother Simon.
“Unfortunately, there are no media teams inside the country to register what’s going on. Parents die or leave their children, because they can’t longer bear to see their sons and daughters starve. Many groups of orphans roam the country. If they are caught by the police they are sent to an orphanage. Most of them die there because of maltreatment and malnutrition. To keep themselves alive, many North Koreans illegally trade at night. The next day they have to report back to work.”
150 days of combat
On September 17th a period of ‘150 days of combat’ ended. Five days later the North Korean government announced another period of 100 days of combat. During these mobilizations the controls are very strict. Every movement of the citizens is followed and restricted. To go from one place to another requires a permit.
Open Doors’ work was limited in the past few months because of these ‘combat periods’. “It was much harder to spread bibles, Christian books, food, medicines and other emergency goods among the Christians”, said brother Simon. “That’s why we waited for the 150 days to end. After that we wanted to pick up on our projects full steam.
Now that the first period of mobilization is followed by a second we were in doubt what to do. The North Korean Christians also held a secret prayer meeting. They came to the conclusion that it was important not to avoid danger. The local Christians wanted to continue with our projects. We agreed.”
Pray
Brother Simon continued: “We hope that many individual Christians and churches in the free world want to pray each week for North Korea. North Korean Christians greatly depend on this prayer support. They are very brave. Secretly they share their faith with others.
Also they support other North Koreans, Christians and non-Christians, with practical help. We know of a woman who doesn’t have enough food herself and still puts aside some food for people who need it even harder.
Wherever you live, North Korea is only a day of travelling away. But if we pray, we can immediately stand next to a North Korean Christian, encourage him and protect him.”
