North Korea continues to punish Christians

North Korea: April 15, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)

North Korea sentenced a U.S. Christian missionary to eight years of hard labor.  His treatment shows the plight of believers in that reclusive country.

Carl Moeller with Open Doors USA says, "I think any time a government has no vested interest in playing by basic human rights rules around the world, you're in very dangerous places because they just don't care what the world thinks."

Brother John  supervised the work of Open Doors in North Korea. He agrees, noting that "North Korea is a country close to my heart. Nowhere in the world are Christians persecuted with such hatred and violence. Nowhere are people so misled by the ‘father of the lie' than in North Korea. I love every North Korean. I pray desperately that they will know that it is not ‘father' Kim Il-Sung who is taking care of them, but Jesus Christ."

North Korea Freedom Week (NKFW) will be held April 25-May 1. The event will have a different look this year because the North Korea Freedom Coalition, which sponsors the event and of which Open Doors is a member, is holding most of the activities with other groups in Seoul, South Korea, instead of Washington D.C., as in the past.

They've partnered with several other organizations and South Korean radio broadcasters to start a campaign called 50,000 for 50,000. Moeller explains, "That is 50,000 people signing up through social networking sites to send an encouraging message to Christians in North Korea."

The spiritual encouragement is vital, and Open Doors is making it easy. Moeller says this campaign is accessible to everyone with an internet connection. "I can be at my computer and send a prayer message that will be read in the North Korean dialect over the radio to North Korean believers."

There's still time to sign up. With the verse "For where two or more are gathered in My name, there I will be also" (Matthew 18:20) in mind,  Moeller says, "Picture the Christians, huddled in secret in a dark place, tuning in a radio broadcast and literally hearing people around the world praying for them."

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