A Christian Aid Mission-assisted underground ministry in North Korea plans to send out 24 church planters this year. (Photo courtesy of Christian Aid Mission)
North Korea (CAM/MNN) — North Korea is the world’s worst persecutor of Christians, according to the Open Doors World Watch List. Despite this fact, believers are still risking their lives to further the Gospel. Two dozen secret believers are preparing for the mission field.
An underground ministry helped by Christian Aid Mission, your link to indigenous missions, is planning to send out 24 church planters this year after they complete training. They all know that unless the Lord protects them, they will be killed or banished to hard labor in one of the world’s worst prison systems. Yet, even after counting the costs, they are willing to go.
All North Koreans are required to worship the current leader, Kim Jong-un, and his predecessors. This mandate leaves no room for other religions, and if Christians are discovered, they are subject to torture, labor camps, even public execution.
Despite these ever-present dangers, indigenous secret believers remain committed to the sharing the hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. The ministry supported by Christian Aid has reached, trained, and sent out more than 180 indigenous church planters since 2008. This year, they’ll add another 24 to that number.
Please pray for the spiritual development of these 24 secret Christians. Ask the Lord to give them wisdom and discernment so they can successfully minister in extremely difficult conditions. Pray for softened hearts that can receive the Gospel willingly, despite the danger.
For over 60 years, Christian Aid has sought to establish a witness for the Lord in every tribe and nation by assisting indigenous ministries who serve in poorer countries overseas. Their focus is on reaching the unreached for Christ in areas of the world where there is no witness for Christ, where foreign missionaries are not allowed, or where Christians suffer because of poverty or persecution–such as North Korea.
Christian Aid helps the underground ministry in North Korea pay for living expenses, medical bills, and evangelistic outreach. For $500, you can help train one of these secret believers to become an indigenous church planter.
I CAN’T HELP BUT WONDER IF IT WAS SMART TO PUBLISH THIS. IT GIVES AID TO THOSE PESECUTING CHRISTIANS.
We actually asked that SAME question when Christian Aid Mission posted it on their website. MNN is always caught between these issues: 1. How can we encourage Christians to pray about work in closed countries when we can’t talk about that? 2. How can we do that without putting lives in danger? 3. If we we’re afraid of the ministry being in danger by telling the body of Christ to pray, do we REALLY believe that God is ultimately in control? 4. What is our responsibility of keeping these stories under the radar? We wrestle with these issues every day. I wish I could tell you I’m comfortable with every story we produce. But, I can tell you every story is prayed over and we’re constantly asking God to give us wisdom, protect His church and use these stories to get Christians involved. Thanks for being concerned. Please pray for us daily. We feel the weight of this responsibility.