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 secret believers: You are not alone.

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.

Christians’ 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 programmes vary. Some 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.

Programmes 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 offence 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 secret church, estimated to be 400,000.

“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 a rare message from a Christian called Myong* living inside North Korea, which views anyone who follows Jesus as a traitor to the regime and an enemy of the state.

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.”

The prayers of Christians

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 secret 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.”

Open Doors seeks to strengthen secret believers in North Korea through networks outside the country. This includes emergency relief aid, Christian materials, Christian radio broadcasts and shelter, and training for those who’ve fled the country.

Please keep praying with Myong and thousands of North Korean believers like him. And please, consider supporting this work to keep the transmitters running and the teaching reaching the people who have no other way to hear it.

*representative name used for security reasons

please pray

• Pray that radios and hidden receivers will not be discovered, and that the broadcasts will help secret believers grow spiritually.
• Pray for those who prepare and transmit these programs, for clarity in their teaching, for strong and stable signals, and for protection over everyone involved.
• Pray that Open Doors’ work among the secret believers will be protected and will bear much fruit, and that the day will come when the church in North Korea can worship without fear.

please give

• Every HK$200 could provide a Bible and discipleship materials to believers, so they can meet God in His Word.
• Every HK$415 could help provide safe housing and relief aid to a refugee fleeing extreme persecution.
• Every HK$630 could help train a leader to care for other believers who have fled persecution.

*Any excess funds from this appeal will be used to strengthen other persecuted Christians where urgent help is needed.