Although North Korea is known for being a place where Christians are persecuted, the underground believers’ faith is strong and they are surprisingly praying for American Christians
In an interview with Hope 103.2, Voice of Martyrs Korea head Dr. Eric Foley depicted a different picture of North Korea. Christians in the reclusive state are seen as terrorists and are executed or forced into concentration camps, but the local believers are very creative in sharing the Gospel to others.
Foley, who works to change how the West sees North Korean believers, said Americans would be surprised to learn that the believers in the Asian country are praying faithfully for them.
“You pray for us? We pray for you! That's the problem with you American Christians and South Korean Christians!” one defector told Dr. Foley. “You have so much, you put your faith in your money and in your freedom. In North Korea we have neither money nor freedom, but we have
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Foley explained that North Korean believers do not pray to have the same freedom that Americans have because they focus more on praying to be able to mirror Christ in their life. Instead of pitying the Christians in North Korea, Foley urged believers to join them in prayer.
Open Doors USA has ranked North Korea as the top country where Christians are persecuted most. This is the 14th consecutive year that the reclusive state has clinched the number one spot in the said list.
Despite the 70 years of Christian persecution in North Korea, God has not stopped working in the country. In fact, the North Korean regime has allowed 70 Christian foreign organizations to work there since 1995, The Gospel Herald notes.
According to a report from the Lausanne Global Analysis, the activities of the Christian organizations in North Korea have allowed a large part of its population to be exposed to Christianity. The report also explains that the government tolerates these groups because of the benefits they give and because of their
Jameis Winston has threw for 60 touchdowns and 10,000 yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in just three years. He is the second youngest to ever throw for 10,000 yards. Winston has been the heart and soul of the team since his arrival despite the odds he has faced on and off the field.
Although most governments put positive spins on things, normally, they would at the very least give us a glimpse of the truth. North Korea doesn’t do that. Finally, Demick concludes that The citizens of North Korea aren't treated the way they should
In Korea, the people have been taught to love and adore the great leader, Kim Jong Il. In the documentary about Korea, the people thanked the great leader for giving them the gift of seeing but did not thank the people who actually operated and fixed their eye. They are taught that everything he does is right and he never does anything wrong. In Anthem, they were trained at birth to live for each other. They had to say “We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State”(21), every night before sleeping as their prayer. They are also to NEVER doubt or question the council. The citizens in North Korea and in Anthem are taught that whatever the government says is always correct and there is no questioning with what they say. The citizens have no say in their lives. After time, the people will start believing nothing else than what they've been taught to believe. Then they start believing that if they disobey with what they are told to believe in, then they are an evil or bad
Koreans in North Korea form one group of unreached people. People Groups website defines a unreached people group as one where “there is no indigenous community of believing Christians able to engage this people group with church planting.” The inability of church planting amongst this people group and the persecution of Christians in this country creates a major challenge to the spreading of Christianity.
Propaganda, historic inconsistencies, and fear are what keep the most of the people of North Korea believing anything their government says. No one dares to speak out against Kim Il-sung or any of his heirs, and when they do they receive punishment. No one has an option on where to live or where to work, it is all assigned by the government. If a North Korean’s family has tainted blood, they become part of the lowest work class and are not allowed into the top colleges in North Korea. Few continue their education after high school.
Pastor Robert Jeffress has made headlines this week after saying God has authorized U.S. president Donald Trump to “take out” North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but other Christian leaders do not agree with this line of thinking and instead are calling for a calmer approach to the standoff between the two countries.
In the book Northing to Envy, Barbara Demick describes North Korea as an undeveloped country. “You can see the evidence of what once was and has been lost…” (4,Demick) The North Koreas aren’t up to the modern world and still haven’t learned that all humans need rights to be happy. Many aspects of human rights are broken in North Korean society that affect the people negatively, making them feel violated.
Life in North Korea’s high contrast with life in the United States is marked by nonexistent personal freedoms and harsh punishments. One example of restricted freedom in shown in their leader, Kim Jong-un. He, who they address as Dear Leader, is treated like
The government claims that citizens get the full amount of basic rights and claim that DPRK has the best rights in the world ( Federal Research Division, 172-175). Contrary to what they said, the DPRK is one of the most repressive governments on the face of the earth. Their constitution claims that they get freedom of religion, speech, press, and more ( 175-176). The North Korean government instead ignores every single word in their own constitution (United Nations Human Rights Council 3). The Supreme People’s Assembly meets only once a year ( Federal Research Division, 175-176). The current state of modern North Korea is based off the policy of aggression, fear, and governmental brainwashing. (Daily Mail Reporter). North Korean citizens can and will be placed in a labor camp if they do anything that goes against the regime (“North Korea”). Not only can North Korean citizens get placed in a labor camp for going against the regime, but foreigners can and will be placed in a labor camp for committing that crime, too (David Brunnstrom). In the North, the government boasts about many of their so-called achievements and superiority over the others. Their media constantly shows how plentiful and how powerful the country is (“Kim Jong Un's New Year Address”). Videos and images of industry, food, technology, and stocked stores picture the country as a perfect
The citizens of North Korea have little if any rights. They are not allowed to speak their opinions especially about the government. If they speak ill of the government they will be killed. As well as no freedom of speech nearly all property belongs to the state. A modern independent judicial system does not exist due to the ways their dictatorship is ruled. They have no Religious freedom at all, they must practice the religion that their dictator says.
are specifically targeted. Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, is known for having many Christians.
It was a beautiful sunny day and I was walking down Maple Street until I got a phone call from my friend. Once I picked it up, I heard her crying, and she told me her father had passed away. Consequently, her father had died to his sins. It started off like this; he was the president of a very important community organization, and obviously, he had an abundant amount of power, so he decided to use it negatively for others, but positively for himself. Meanwhile, he realized he shouldn’t do these corrupt acts, but it was too late! He got a call from his doctor who told him he’d been diagnosed with cancer. A theme that would fit this scenario and the book, “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell would be: Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
Kim Il Sung created this “dangerous belief system” so that North Koreans would always obey him. Before Dictatorship North Korea was an independent nation, it was a colony full of Christians. Kim Il Sung noticed how Christians worshipped the Japanese ruler who ruled Korea. When North Korea declared as a country, Kim Il Sung changed the form of Christianity and he declared himself as a God so that North Korea will always praise and pray him. Christians revolted against this, so Kim Il Sung annihilated most of them because he did not want his own people suspecting him of Juche and put lots of people in concentration camps and they still reside there. (Juche Religion) Juche originated from Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism was created by Karl Marx, some of the main points in this ideology are that a communist party should be able to perform and play major roles in society. Some other beliefs in Marxism-Leninism are that modern capitalism should turn into imperialism. (Piskunov) North Korea gained inspiration from Marxism-Leninism, which is why this ideology is one of the main ideologies that Juche originated. Some other ideologies that Juche originated were Confucianism. Confucianism was developed in China by a man named Kong Qiu (Confucius). Kong Qiu travelled across the country to spread his teachings, but at that time his beliefs was not popular and some of his beliefs were how to do the right things in life. He
State media sources are tightly controlled so as to prevent the North Korean public from accessing any information that does not come from the country's strict government bureau of information, and this means that many North Koreans are grossly misinformed about the position of North Korea in the world and believe, for example, that their meagre lifestyles are preferable to the terrible conditions in other countries. Visitors to North Korea routinely report tight levels of control, with mobile phones confiscated for the duration of the visit and all movement tracked by an official government-supplied 'tourist guide'.
As Walt Whitman wrote his multiple editions of Leaves of Grass, each edition always had something new, because he would take his experiences and reflect them into his poetry. For example, the first edition that came out in 1855 wasn’t popular, “Walt Whitman’s literary masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, was first self-published in 1855 with less than glowing reviews.” (Woodworth p. 270). Walt Whitman self-published his first edition due to not being able to find a publisher, the book was beautiful with green leather on the front to give the feeling of “laying down in the grass”. The first edition was mainly focused on nature and the solitude that is found within it. In addition, his involvement in the Civil War appears in the later editions, “When the war broke out, he soon found himself working as a wound dresser for the North. These war experiences became the subject of Drum Taps, a series of poems set during the war.” (Woodworth p. 272). His experiences in the Civil War could be read about in the fourth edition published in 1867. The fourth edition mainly focused on the Civil War and Reconstructionism. Furthermore, his background life before publishing has an influence on his writing, “The life familiar to him is the picturesque, free, unconventional life of the people—not the pale, monotonous, artificial life of literary student, aristocrat, or plutocrat. He enters profoundly into all their difficulties, enjoyments, sorrows, and eager aspirations.” (Noel “A Study of Walt