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Advent Prayer - North Korea

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Published: Friday 09 December 2011

Advent Prayer - North Korea

Project(s): 86-642

Country: South and East Asia, Korea, North

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman.Galatians 4:4

Bakeries supported by Barnabas are brave ventures in a country where sharing the Gospel can costs lives

North Korea is a nation in desperate need. The strict communist regime oversees a country that is cut off politically from the rest of the world. The population is shockingly poor, and suffering is rife. Most people do not have enough food for each day, and many die of starvation. Religious activity is tightly controlled and everyone is expected to adhere to the official ideology of Juche (self-reliance).

Christianity is particularly feared by the authorities, but remarkably the Church is growing. There are thought to be at least 400,000 Christians in North Korea, who live under constant threat of imprisonment, torture or execution if the authorities discover their Christian faith. Those who are considered to have acted against the state ideology may see their whole families placed in prison labour camps, notorious for brutal treatment and torture of inmates, sometimes to death. In May 2010, three leaders of an underground church were executed and 20 Christians sent to a prison labour camp following a raid on a house.

Christians also share in the poverty, malnutrition and shortages suffered by the general population. A Christian bakery ministry provides bread for hungry children (including Christian children) as well as jobs for North Korean Christians. Barnabas Fund supports this ministry, providing money to purchase ingredients such as flour along with fuel and other utilities for the bakery and wages for the staff. Bread rolls are given away free to children aged 4 to 13 in local schools. These bakeries provide a much-needed source of work and food in dire circumstances.

Pray that our suffering brothers and sisters in North Korea will remain faithful to the Lord as they endure harsh and repressive conditions. Give thanks for the growth of the churches, and pray that the Lord will continue to sustain the hundreds of underground fellowships that exist in the country. Pray for the families of those who are in prison camps and for those who mourn the murdered leaders. Pray that all Christians will continue to meet together and share fellowship and encouragement with each other, and that the Lord will grant them protection.