———————————————————————- Missions Insider Report by Christian Aid April 16, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 15 Visit our website at http://www.christianaid.org ———————————————————————– John Lindner, Editor ———————————————————————–

1. North Korea Famine Much Worse Than Feared 2. Vietnamese Christians Suffer Greatly 3. Laos: Epilogue 4. Hundreds Turn to Christ in Peru 5. India Mission Practices Stealth Baptism 6. African Missionaries Robbed, Murdered 7. Photo of the Week: Ready for Baptism

Note: Missions Insider refrains from mentioning names that could make the subjects targets of anti-Christian activity. Names are sometimes mentioned of ministries conducting work commended by authorities or located in areas of greater religious freedom. ———————————————————————– 1. NORTH KOREAN FAMINE MUCH WORSE THAN FEARED

Two aid workers report that famine in North Korea is much worse than feared. It is so severe families are committing mass suicide rather than die slowly of starvation.

The workers were Korean Christians living in China who have been in and out of Korea since 1996 and know the situation very well. Their report was forwarded to Christian Aid after visiting North Korea in the last few days.

They said that many families are killing themselves by taking rat poison rather than die slowly from starvation. “There had been incidents of this before, but mass suicide has become more frequent and widespread now,” they reported.

In the past, North Koreans have looked forward to some kind of food distribution honoring Kim Il-Sung’s birthday on April 15. This year there was nothing.

Even members of the army seem desperate. They break into any house they think might hold food or anything valuable and take what they want. The aid worker watched while members of the army robbed one house in broad daylight, taking the family’s bicycle. “All were well armed,” the worker said, “and the residents could not even protest. There is no law in North Korea now.”

When the aid workers went to the railroad station, they saw people fighting over a pile of ashes to warm themselves. “Their faces looked black and bloodless from starvation,” the worker said. “They could not walk straight. They all said that half the residents of their city would perish this year if they did not get help.”

The situation is so destitute even farmers have no seed to plant. Nobody is working. The markets are empty. Nobody has money to buy anything.

Things are much worse than the 1996-1998 famine, which was thought to be very severe at the time. “Nobody can predict what will happen this spring in North Korea,” the contact in China said. “The aid worker who saw and reported these things is a strong Christian, but could not complete the report by phone and hung up, crying.”

Please pray for the people of North Korea and that ways will be found to aid them in their misery.

———————————————————————– 2. VIETNAMESE CHRISTIANS SUFFER GREATLY

Vietnamese authorities continue their clampdown on house churches in their country. A Vietnam observer who wishes to remain anonymous names 12 ways authorities are persecuting Christians:

1. People are fined for converting to Christ, or for seeking to convert someone else (witnessing).

2. Christians are bypassed in the distribution of government rice. They are told they must renounce their faith if they want to get state rice.

3. If a family becomes Christian, its electricity is cut off.

4. Christians are watched. In some places, they are barred from visiting other Christians or from having home meetings. In many places police try to strike fear into Christians to keep them from meeting together.

5. Authorities seize and destroy Bibles and hymnals.

6. Hundreds of churches have been confiscated or torn down. In Dac Lac Province, there used to be 417 churches. All but two have been shut down.

7. Authorities are aggressively going after pastors and church leaders. About 70 are in prison, and many others are under house arrest. In some cases, both the pastor and wife are under house arrest so neither one can do anything for the ministry. Moreover, anyone who tries to visit them is also put under arrest.

8. Even if someone else steps forward to preach, local authorities will insist it’s illegal to preach.

9. Authorities gassed Christian villages in the North in late December, killing several children, causing pregnant women to miscarry, sending several to the hospital, and rendering over 100 unconscious.

10. Authorities have burned down the homes of Christians in some villages to pressure them to renounce their faith.

11. Some Christian children are dismissed from school; other schools will not accept them.

12. Christians are labeled as criminals and treated worse than animals. They have been beaten, sometimes to death. In some cases they are prodded with electric cattle prods in their mouths and on other parts of their bodies until they can’t control themselves. Then the authorities mock them and say, “Look at the crazy Christians.”

The reason for the brutal activity, according to the observer, is that authorities saw how evangelicals boasted they were partly responsible for the overthrow of some governments in Eastern Europe, and Vietnam authorities fear evangelicals will do the same in Vietnam if given the chance. Also, Vietnamese authorities equate being a Christian with being an American, and America is their number one enemy. Therefore, to be a Christian by definition is to be pro-American, which is treason.

Pray that God will act sovereignly against the oppressors of His people in Vietnam, and that authorities in other nations will hold Vietnam accountable for its human rights violations. At the same time, we are to “pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

———————————————————————– 3. LAOS: EPILOGUE

Word has been received that the information sent out last week about Christians being arrested in specific places has troubled Lao authorities who want to look good to the international community. Christian Aid has learned that Lao national authorities are now questioning local officials to learn how this “unauthorized” persecution took place. The Christians in Laos are hopeful. Please keep praying.

———————————————————————– 4. HUNDREDS TURN TO CHRIST IN PERU

A Peruvian evangelistic mission saw 600 people come to Christ in recent crusades.

Marino Huatangare, founder and director of New Life Evangelistic Mission in Peru, told Christian Aid that his ministry conducted seven evangelistic crusades in the last six months, drawing an aggregate attendance of more than 6,000 people. Of these, 600 made professions of faith, and 250 new believers took the additional step of public baptism.

The ministry began as a radio program in 1985 and so many people responded that the leader began a church-planting ministry three years later. Today it has 300 congregations gathering over 20,000 Peruvian believers, including people from the Ka ±ari tribes, others of the Peruvian Andes, and the Aguaruna tribal people along the Amazon River.

To learn more of this evangelistic, church-planting ministry write and put MI-415 245-NLEM on the subject line.

———————————————————————– 5. INDIA MISSION PRACTICES STEALTH BAPTISM

A mission leader observing 40 years of service in the North India mission fields says his missionaries in India are meeting the challenges of increased hostilities by practicing stealth baptism.

In one western state, a missionary baptized 35 new believers inside a well in the dead of night. In another village the local Christian worker baptized six believers in a secret location.

“We take these precautions to avoid unnecessary attention to this big event,” the missionary said. “Opposition is growing, but God’s work will never stop.”

In an eastern state, the group’s missionaries baptized 116 people in the last two months. In 40 years the mission has planted 1200 churches gathering 30,000 believers and has 800 missionaries on the field.

For more information write and put MI-415 646-NMM on the subject line.

———————————————————————– 6. AFRICAN MISSIONARIES ROBBED, MURDERED

An African ministry that has national operations in several countries reports that two of its ministries were recently attacked.

One missionary in Central African Republic died after being attacked by machete-wielding rebels in March. He was to have been married this month. Details were not available.

Armed robbers attacked the ministry leader in Nigeria on Saturday, March 22 and stole a large amount of money he had withdrawn from the bank to pay expenses for a conference on indigenous missions that was beginning the next day. They also stole his laptop and the mission van; the van was found later by police and returned to the ministry.

It is not thought either attack was persecution oriented.

The ministry began in Nigeria in 1982 by a group of students and has spread to several African countries. It now has missionaries in Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo and The Gambia and has sister missionary organizations in Central African Republic and Namibia. For more information write and put MI-415 550-CMF on the subject line.

———————————————————————– 7. PHOTO OF THE WEEK: READY FOR BAPTISM

http://www.christianaid.org/pow/pow-4-15.asp

These women have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, have been instructed in the Christian faith, and now present themselves ready to be baptized. Some states require appearance before a magistrate to ensure force or inducement was not used. Most Christian leaders in India make candidates for baptism sign a statement saying they are doing this of their own free will. Baptisms used to be public, gala affairs. Nowadays, because of anti-Christian sentiments, some baptisms are done in secret. See story number 5, above. Pix-652-IET

———————————————————————– Mission Statement:

Missions Insider is a free weekly email report from Christian Aid Mission, your link to the world of indigenous missions. We seek to establish a witness for our Lord in every tribe and nation (Matthew 24:14) by supporting highly effective native missionary ministries based in poorer countries overseas, or where believers are persecuted. Christian Aid has contact with more than 6000 indigenous ministries that have a total of 300,000 missionaries on the field or ready to go when support is available.

———————————————————————– Permission to Republish

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