Underground Christians in North Korea have launched a prayer campaign for their country. They want to reach more people with the Gospel, states Open Doors, the organization that serves persecuted Christians worldwide.
“North Korea Christians tell us that the country is in total crisis”, said Open Doors spokesman Jan Vermeer. “People are dying of hunger. The security services are looking for Christians and searching houses more thoroughly. In the northern border area there is a warlike atmosphere. There are soldiers everywhere; some are hidden. They try to catch people who want to cross the Chinese border river. Besides all this, there are many rumors about Kim Jong-Il’s health and the question of who will succeed him. Because the situation is so tense, the Christians feel that it is time to pray even more for their country. They ask God to give them opportunities to tell non-Christians about Christ.”
To be a Christian in North Korea is to risk your life everyday. The country has been number one on Open Doors’ World Watch List for years. Those who possess a Bible and are discovered will be sent to a concentration camp. Evangelizing is very dangerous, because there are spies everywhere. “That is the reason why the North Koreans started this prayer campaign”, said Vermeer. “Only God can protect the Christians. They don’t want to be exposed. Despite the risks, the Christians want other North Koreans to come to know Jesus Christ as well and start feeling the joy of faith.”
Between 2005 and 2007, Open Doors Netherlands organized a 3-year prayer campaign for North Korea. Even now thousands of Dutch Christians pray weekly or even daily for the communist country, the government, the refugees and the Christians. Says Vermeer: “The North Korean Christians believe that big changes will occur soon in preparation for the future. They hope that churches in other countries are willing to pray for them during their Sunday services.”
Open Doors estimates that about 400.000 North Koreans are Christian. Tens of thousands of them live in hellish conditions in labor camps. It’s unknown how many North Korean Christians participate in the prayer campaign. Open Doors secretly trained 4000 Christians and gave emergency aid (food, clothing, medicines), to 54.000 Christians. Thousands of Bibles, books and other materials were distributed.
