I’ve mentioned from the pulpit several times the persecution Christians in North Korea suffer. In North Korea, the only “religion” that is officially permitted is the worship of their succession of leaders starting with Kim Il Sung, followed by worship of his son, Kim Jong Il, and currently of his son, Kim Jong Un. They encourage a disturbing personality cult around these three generations of leaders. Worship of any other kind is seen as treasonous by the regime. For this reason those who profess faith or even own Bibles are sent to concentration camps. North Korea has been labelled the “hermit kingdom” because of its isolation from the outside world.
In an email I just received from the organization “Voice of the Martyrs” they describe the efforts they make to share the gospel in North Korea utilizing weather balloons. These helium filled balloons carry gospel literature and New Testaments into this closed country that is hostile to Christianity. Our own missionaries, Mike and Ellie Sabin with Trans World Radio in Guam, are part of efforts to broadcast gospel programming into this nation. These are extraordinary efforts used to spread the good news there.
North Korea is much in the news these days with recent missile launches and assassination of potential political rivals of Kim Jong Un. Let’s continue to pray for North Korea. We may be tempted to think, as Elijah did in I Kings 19 in regard to Israel, that few, if any, Christians remain. But as we saw even this past Sunday, God is at work. We know there are believers in North Korea. Many are suffering right now. Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in that dark place and pray that change comes at the highest levels- that even Kim Jong Un will put his faith in Jesus Christ.