Pray with North Korean Christians listening in the darkness

In a country where following Jesus can cost you your freedom—or your life—Christian radio broadcasts are bringing biblical teaching, encouragement and a powerful reminder to underground believers: You are not alone.

North Korean Christian: “Our prayers will chase the darkness away”

Inside North Korea, secret believers are listening to Christian radio in the darkness of night—and praying with remarkable faith. Join them in prayer for protection, strength and a day when they can worship without fear.

“I remember that after the song ‘The Love of God,’ I heard a message read from a foreign believer. It quoted Colossians 1:1-8, where Paul talks about thanking and praying always. The message said that the lives of North Korean Christians match [the lives of believers] from Colossians 1. We also pray day and night in our desperation.”

This encouraging message was part of an Open Doors-supported radio broadcast that reaches North Koreans. And the believer talking about it lives inside North Korea [link to WWL NK profile] —a rare message from a Christian inside the isolated country, which views anyone who follows Jesus as a traitor to the regime and an enemy of the state.

The believer, Myong* continues: “Another message came from Revelation 3:7-13, and it was read after we sang the hymn ‘I’m Rejoicing Night and Day.’ The message encouraged us to keep our faith despite the daily suffering and persecution we go through by holding on to God’s promises and spiritual power. God opens doors through our prayers. Our prayers will chase the darkness away, just like the morning dawn chases away the night.”

Lifelines

Each week, Open Doors broadcasts several Christian radio programs in the middle of the night. For North Korean Christians, it is the safest time to tune in and listen. The programs vary. Some, like the ones mentioned above, consist of worship songs followed by short devotional messages. Others are expository theological studies that follow Scripture. There are also panel discussions and even a program to help parents who are trying to raise their children in the faith despite being unable to speak openly about it.

Programs like these help North Korean Christians understand the Bible and apply it in their own dangerous context. In a country where owning a Bible is a criminal offense and believers cannot attend a church or ask a pastor a question, there is no safe place to learn. Believers cannot mentor or teach one another without fear of being discovered. They can’t come together and study the Bible as a group.

That’s why broadcasts like these are essential. Along with secretly distributed Bibles and Christian materials, this programming is making a life-changing impact in North Korea’s underground church, estimated to be 400,000 strong.

That reality was underscored this week in Washington, where the nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media pointed to North Korean defectors as evidence of what free information can do inside a closed country.

Sarah Rogers, currently undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, made the remarks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, referring to her meetings with North Korean defectors during a visit to South Korea in April. Her testimony came as senators questioned whether reductions in U.S. international broadcasting have weakened that reach, and after a year in which several government-funded broadcasts into North Korea have fallen silent.

Rogers told lawmakers that fragments of American radio had given those defectors their first indication that a different kind of life existed, and that they had risked torture and death, “fleeing toward a freedom they only heard existed here.”

Echoing Rogers’ findings, an Open Doors field worker shares: “We know from people inside the country how vital radios are,” he says. “They are a lifeline to the outside world. For many, broadcasts are indeed the only way to hear about life outside North Korea, but also to hear Christian teaching.”

Hearts full of gratitude

Because of your prayers and support, believers (and seekers) inside the most dangerous country for Christians are growing in their faith. They are learning to share the gospel with their children and others. And they are finding desperately needed encouragement as they pray and walk with Jesus.

North Korean Christians pray often, and they pray long. They may well pray more for you than you pray for them, and their prayers come from hearts full of gratitude. By God’s grace, you are already connected to them, and together we play a small part in what God is doing in and through North Korea’s underground church.

Myong shares a prayer of thankfulness and blessing: “Thank you for your radio programs. Sometimes the signal is interrupted, but usually, we are able to listen to the programs without a problem. We pray that God will anoint all those believers who have sent us a message of encouragement. We pray that the Lord will bless all fellow Christians in the world this year.”

*Top image is representative only