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Pray for the Nations

With a blog dedicated to topics around faith and freedom, it seems only fitting to include posts about nations and people groups who are facing persecution, oppression, human rights violations, and in need of humanitarian aid.

Each month, we’ll look at a specific nation that’s facing Christian persecution, human rights violations, or humanitarian conflict and disasters, and take the month to pray for that country.

We’ll briefly look at a broad overview of the human rights violations and persecution of Christians occurring in the chosen country for the month in order to pray for those issues.

I say briefly because the amount of injustice occurring in such nations would fill volumes of books to address in detail. Whereas the point of these posts is to highlight and bring attention to the oppression, injustice, and suffering occurring and to pray for these nations together.

At the end of the post is a list of prayers that we can pray for those experiencing trials and injustice, as well as specific prayer topics gathered from the Voice of the Martyrs interactive map of persecuted nations.

Nation of the Month – North Korea

As I have a heart for the people of North Korea, this first month we’ll look at the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Oppression and Human Rights Violations

The South Korean Ministry of Unification has recently published its 2023 Report on North Korean Human Rights. I strongly encourage you to check it out for a more comprehensive look at the humanitarian crises and human rights violations occurring in North Korea.

North Korean residents are not guaranteed the fundamental freedoms and rights provided in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

While many are already aware of the issues present in the DPRK, the below information is a short summary of the freedoms denied in North Korea.

A Short List of Human Rights Violations in North Korea

• Right to life
• Right to be free from torture or inhuman treatment
• Right to liberty and security
• Right to freedom of movement
• Right to privacy
• Right to freedom of religion.

Right to Life and Right to be Free From Torture

Arbitrary executions, including public executions, are frequently carried out, without due legal process being followed.

Many citizens are detained and unjustly sent to prison and labor camps where they face terrible living conditions, physical and mental torture, inhumane treatment, and even forced medical experimentation.

Citizens can be detained and tortured for actions hardly deserving of the level of punishment carried out by the DPRK.

Right to Freedom of Movement

Citizens are also not allowed to freely travel within the country, nor participate in international travel unless a pass is received from the government through a difficult and tenuous process.

Right to Privacy

The right to privacy is also denied.

North Koreans are carefully monitored for any sign of dissatisfaction with the government or thoughts of defecting.

Within apartment buildings and towns there are people specially tasked with watching their neighbors and reporting to the government on their actions.

North Koreans are subjected to randomized, unannounced searches of their houses for anything deemed by the North Korean government as illegal, including South Korean goods and content.

Further Injustice

North Korea is organized by a type of caste system known as Songbun.

Songbun is a system of ascribed status that places citizens into one of three categories (core, wavering, or hostile) based on their direct ancestors, their family history, and the behavior of their relatives.

People’s lives are dictated by the socio-economic and political background of their family line and whether they have family ties in South Korea.

One’s Songbun classification is rarely changeable and effects the level of opportunity (including education and employment opportunities) one is able to receive.

It even impacts the level of food one receives, with the lowest class, Hostile, receiving an inadequate amount of sustenance.

Christian Persecution

Although Christianity was blooming in Korea during the early 1900s, North Korea has become one of the most repressive regimes when it comes to religious freedom.

The DPRK requires all North Koreans to follow the religion of Juche, an ideology that requires complete worship, dedication, and subservience to the Kim family, and is the basis on which the communist-dictatorship is founded.

Even though there are “Christian” Bibles in North Korea, they are modified to fit the Kim family narrative and rule.

Citizens in North Korea have absolutely no religious freedom.

Even “superstitious practices” are not tolerated, according to the 2023 report from the Ministry of Unification.

Anyone who follows Christianity or anything other than Juche is considered an enemy of the state and faces harsh persecution not only for themselves but also for their family.

Christians are also sent to prison or labor camps if they are discovered or even suspected of following something other than the state religion.

There they face the same possibility of brutal torture and unimaginably horrendous living conditions. Not to mention the ever-present danger of execution.

Humanitarian Crises

These are only small portions of the denial of human rights occurring under the DPRK, but the entirety of the situation is so grave, it could not be addressed wholly in a simple blog post.

In addition to the overall oppression of human rights and denial of basic human dignities, the people of North Korea also face the threat of starvation.

Famine and lack of adequate resources is a common concern in the North.

Although the DPRK may receive humanitarian support from outside nations, any funding received is typically spent on the military instead of providing for citizens.

Let us Pray

Please join me in praying for North Korea.

We’re told in Proverbs 28:5 that the evil do not even understand justice and in Proverbs 29:7 that the wicked one does not understand the importance of an individual’s rights. Pray that God will open the eyes of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and those serving in his regime to the spiritual darkness they’re living in, that they will come to know the value of life, and the importance of guaranteed human rights. A regime change and a change in ideology would open the door to quicker improvements in multiple other issues facing the people of North Korea.

We know that God seeks justice for the persecuted and that there is a time for judging the wicked (Ecclesiastes 3:15, 17) and that vengeance is His to repay (Hebrews 10:30). Pray that God will bring justice quickly to the persecuted and suffering in North Korea, and that they will be comforted and lifted up from their oppression.

Pray that the Word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be honored through the working of underground church in North Korea, and that they may delivered from wicked and evil people who try to imprison them and inhibit their efforts (1 Thessalonians 3:1-2).

Pray that there will be missionaries and humanitarian groups always willing to reach out, assist, and care for North Korean nationals (Matthew 9:35-38). Pray that there will be people who continue to pursue justice for those suffering from human rights violations in the North (Deuteronomy 16:20).

We know that God upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry (Psalm 146:7). Pray for those suffering from the effects of famine, those who are starving and desperate for food, that God will provide for their physical needs. Pray that their harvests and farming efforts will be multiplied and bountiful. And once physical needs of hunger are met, pray that North Korean’s will come to know the real Source of life that will satisfy their every hunger and thirst (John 6:35).

Pray for the safety of North Korean defectors as they risk their lives for freedom. Pray also that the successful defectors meet kindhearted and merciful people and organizations that will provide for and guarantee their safety, enabling them to start a free life in a safe country.

The Bible also directs us to remember those in prison and the mistreated, as though we were in prison with them facing the same suffering and mistreatment (Hebrews 13:3). Throughout this month, let’s be sure to remember our fellow Christians imprisoned in North Korea, citizens wrongly detained and subjected to torture, and those that are facing oppression due to their family ties and history.

VOM Prayers

The Voice of the Martyr’s website also has some prayer requests for us to keep in mind as we lift up the nation of North Korea in prayer.

• Pray for engineers responsible for keeping the daily gospel radio broadcasts on the air.
• Pray [for protection and safety for those] who secretly listen to the audio Bible every night.
• Pray for those who have family killed for their faith.
• Pray for South Korean missionaries who are imprisoned in North Korea for their gospel work.
• Pray for Christian workers who distribute audio Bibles inside the county.
• Pray for pasters who minister to North Korean refugees and victims of sex-trafficking in northeastern China.