"These students developed and acted in the play which was performed during Underground University graduation ceremonies," explained Seoul USA's Eric Foley. "It was fascinating to witness their unique interpretation of the traditional Bible account of the birth of Christ."
As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, some North Korean defectors remind us about the reason for the season. Attendees of Seoul USA's Underground University recently performed a unique North Korean-style dramatization of the Nativity story.
"These students developed and acted in the play which was performed during Underground University graduation ceremonies," explained Seoul USA's Eric Foley. "It was fascinating to witness their unique interpretation of the traditional Bible account of the birth of Christ."
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As Americans gather to pray this Sunday (November 3) during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), they should remember Christians in the world's most persecuted country. Rev. Eric Foley, CEO of Seoul USA, says instead of praying for members of the North Korean underground church, Americans should pray with them. "They don't ask God to deliver them from persecution. They pray they'll remain strong and faithful in the midst of their suffering." Foley says Americans may be surprised to learn that North Korean Christians often pray for people of the USA and South Korea. "They pray for us because they feel we are persecuted by our prosperity and it distances us from God. They pray that we will remain faithful to the Lord." Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will join North Korean defectors to testify before the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea, when it holds its latest public hearing in London on 23 October. The Commission was established “to investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea following a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2013. At the public hearing the Commission will hear testimonies from a range of witnesses, including human rights defenders and North Korean defectors. There will also be a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea on 24 October. Starting next Monday, the North Korean underground church will lead Christians around the world in 100 days of worship in the common places. Daily, through Dec. 31, Christians are invited to follow the lead of their North Korean Christian brothers and sisters to do what led to their persecution in the first place: gathering together in small groups for daily public worship in the common places of life—their homes, schools, workplaces, parks, libraries, bus stops and more–using the historic four pillars liturgy of the North Korean underground church. Rev. Eric Foley, CEO of Seoul USA, says while Americans are pledging to join in the effort, their goal is not to evangelize others. Kingstone Media CEO Art Ayris calls it his "Columbus and the New World moment" -- the first week Kingstone Christian comics launched a mobile sales app -- and he saw six downloads from . . . Saudi Arabia. (See a complete list of 93 new nations touched by Kingstone Comics: on.fb.me/15qV3j2) It's just one more example of how a Florida pastor's passion to reach new audiences with the Gospel through comics and graphic novels has exploded into worldwide demand, taking the Christian message to multitudes of people around the globe, often in hard-to-reach nations. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemns Laos’ deportation of nine North Korean refugees to China from where they were forcibly repatriated to North Korea. CSW fears the refugees, whose number includes at least one child, could face detention, torture and even execution as “illegal defectors”. The nine North Koreans, all aged 15 to 23, arrived in Laos around 10 May and were on their way to South Korea when they were caught by the Lao authorities. According to reports, the South Korean embassy in Vientiane requested that the refugees be transferred into their custody. However, on 27 May the embassy received the news that the group had been deported to China. On 29 May, a senior South Korean foreign ministry official said they judged that the refugees were repatriated to North Korea on 28 May. A new song aimed at drawing attention to North Korea’s dire human rights crisis and inspired by the story of North Korean escapee Shin Dong-hyuk and the work of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), has been released by UK-based band Ooberfuse to mark North Korea Freedom Week.
The song, Vanish the Night, begins with a message from Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in a North Korean prison camp: “Don’t forget us”. North Korea on Tuesday urged all foreign companies and tourists in South Korea to evacuate, saying the two countries are on the verge of nuclear war. Spokesman for the Voice of the Martyrs USA Todd Nettleton says, "They encouraged foreign embassy workers in Pyongyang to exit the country prior to April 10 because they could not guarantee their safety after that date. It's hard to know what to make of that, but definitely it is an escalation of what we've seen in past years." Pyongyang's ominous threat raised fears that it will conduct some kind of missile test on Wednesday, which risks retaliation. The United States, South Korea and Japan have all raised defenses. However, analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely. North Korean church leaders are asking Christians worldwide to pray for their country amid increased war threats and combat preparation by North Korean military officials. Prayer for beleaguered believers in North Korea is more important than ever, says Open Doors, an organization that supports persecuted Christians in 60 countries. According to underground Christians, there is a war-like atmosphere in the country: "We are to meet the decisive battle with a gun in one hand and a hammer in the other," summarized a Christian leader about the message the North Korean people recently received from the "high command." North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country. North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea, which has one major ally, neighboring China, threatens the United States and its "puppet," South Korea, on an almost daily basis. |
Walter Blackwood
Associate Pastor with The Bridge Community of Faith in Kelowna BC Canada. Archives
May 2017
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