Dying for Jesus in North Korea

... from Mission Network News, January 10 , 2007. (But the saga continues to this day in 2025 in the "Hermit" Kingdom of North Korea.)

North Korea (MNN) - We've heard the stories. Thousands of North Korean Christians have been killed for their faith. Many more are in work camps. Today another chilling story    [A prominent Christian worker] says North Korean Christians are becoming increasingly uneasy about possessing a Bible. He brings sobering news from their worker there.

"A man that's known to be an 'evangelist.' - He's probably not an evangelist to anyone other than his family members -  was caught with two of our Korean New Testaments in his possession and he was executed for that."

This is just one of many stories coming out of North Korea.

"A North Korean Army General who became a believer and was trying to evangelize some of the people in his unit, was executed by a fellow officer."

Another story included a woman who was washing clothes, "She bent over to rinse her clothes. A New Testament fell out. Somebody reported it and both she and her grandmother were quickly executed."

There seems to be no sign of the persecution easing any. "What you have is a leader [Kim Jong Il then, Kim Jong Un now]  who is proclaiming himself to be god. It's prescribed that they daily worship him.   And, refusal to do that and being caught worshiping God just brings that kind of governmental response. And, as best we can tell the tempo of that is not lessening."

[The worker] says it's obvious what that increasing pressure on Christians is doing to Bible smuggling. "It becomes more and more difficult to get a person to risk their life to carry those in to North Korea." With rivers frozen, it's a perfect time to smuggle Bibles into the country.

"Despite the oppression, there are positive signs," he says. God seems to be working. "In response to a very, very oppressive government (and) human injustices, people are looking for an answer other than their own government. And, I believe that's awakening the resilience of believers in North Korea to say, ‘we have another answer. There is another way to believe.'"

The Gospel is getting in. It's only a matter of time before God's people will be free. Your prayers will help.

Bob.

Thanks for your visit! Go to https://www.icommittopray.com/ for regular updates on the persecuted church. Check out my books at Amazon.com. Send me a message at bobdiakonos7@gmail.com