Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 141 | Wed 11 Jan 2012
REMEMBERING NORTH KOREA
By Elizabeth Kendal
North Korea is an example of how quickly and totally circumstances can
change. On 8 January 1907, 960 men registered for a week-long men’s winter
Bible Study conference in the First Church of Pyongyang. The evening
sessions, which were open to the public, attracted up to 2000 each night.
A worship service was held on the Sunday, 14 January 1907. After the
preaching the session was opened up for prayer. Missionary Graham Lee had
already asked a few men to be prepared to lead, but before they could do
anything the entire congregation erupted in spontaneous prayer. Missionary
Samuel Moffett noted that though the sound was like ‘the falling of many
waters’ it was not chaotic, but absolutely harmonious. Even after the
meeting ended and everyone was dismissed, multitudes remained on the site
confessing their sins to one another in tears and deep repentance. The
Great Korean Revival had begun and it swept Korea in much the same way
that the Great Awakening had swept America and revivals had swept Wales.
The event — also known as the Korean Pentecost — caused Pyongyang to be
known as ‘The Jerusalem of the East’.
In 1910 Korea was invaded, occupied and annexed by Japan. The intensive
religious persecution suffered at the hand of the Japanese contributed to
the forging of a strong Christian Korean nationalism. Whilst World War 2
saw the Japanese expelled, the north of the Korean Peninsula came under
Soviet communist control. Hundreds of thousands of Christians fled to the
US- controlled south to escape communist repression. After the Korean War
(1950-53) ended with a ceasefire and the division of the nation into North
and South along the 38th parallel, some 200 Christian congregations with
some 300,000 believers subsequently disappeared from the North.
In line with its policy of Songun (Military First), North Korea’s
mismanaged and scarce resources are directed first to anyone with links to
the military. While the system benefits the military, guaranteeing their
loyalty, virtually everyone living outside of Pyongyang struggles to
survive with virtually no food or electricity or anaesthetics and so on.
Today North Korea is regarded as the worst persecutor in the world. There
is an ‘underground church’, but it is gravely imperilled. Possession of a
Bible is treated as treason because only the Kim family may be worshipped.
Witnessing Christians are publicly executed while their whole family, to
three generations, is purged from society in Auschwitz-type concentration
labour camps where starvation and unparalleled cruelty are the norm and
life is short. Many tens of thousands of Christians are believed to be
suffering in North Korea’s ‘Hidden Gulag’.
North Korea is so tightly closed to the outside world that very little
leaks in and even less leaks out. Radios and TVs are all pre-tuned for
North Korean propaganda and brainwashing and the borders are tightly
monitored. Even Western intelligence only learnt about the death of the
‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il the same way local North Koreans did: via a
North Korean news broadcast, two days later. Some analysts are warning we
should expect a period of increased repression, complete with purges, as
the regime of the ‘Great Successor’ Kim Jong-un consolidates.
In the absence of news, it is good to have some special dates in our
diaries to help us remember North Korea and focus our prayers. For
example: 8 January was the birthday of Kim Jong-un (the ‘Great
Successor’); 14 January, the anniversary of the Korean Pentecost; 27 July,
the anniversary of the ceasefire (known as ‘Victory Day’ in North Korea)
and 9 September, Independence Day. (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
significant dates.)
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT —
* God, who alone is Sovereign, will use Kim Jong-un for his own divine
purpose. ‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the
purpose of the LORD that will stand.’ (Proverbs 19:21 ESV)
* the Holy Spirit will again visit North Korea with revival power: may
the Spirit reach deep into the halls of power to set free those enslaved
to and blinded by sin; may the Spirit reach broadly across the land so
that multitudes amongst the destitute, starving, incarcerated, infirm,
grief stricken and hopeless might find a Saviour who not only forgives
sins and saves souls, but who answers prayers and for whom nothing is
impossible. ‘But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is
impossible, but with God all things are possible.”‘ (Matthew 19:26 ESV)
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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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REMEMBERING NORTH KOREA
On 14 January 1907 the Holy Spirit visited Pyongyang with revival power in
an event that culminated in repentance and conversions on an unprecedented
scale. As the birthplace of the Great Korean Revival, Pyongyang became
known as ‘The Jerusalem of the East’. Today the situation in North Korea
is the exact opposite. The regime’s policy of Songun (Military First)
ensures that all military families are well provided for, securing their
loyalty, while the situation beyond Pyongyang is appalling. Citizens must
worship the Kim family. Possession of a Bible is treason. Many tens of
thousands of Christians are incarcerated in North Korea’s ‘Hidden Gulag’.
Please pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in North Korea. Pray
for deliverance from evil.
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We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.
For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.
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