A FORMER policeman described how he was involved in the arrests of 11 Church members. Two of them were tortured to death during interrogation, while the others were executed, he said.
God is no respecter of persons. Each person has a value more than the worlds riches and Jesus died for each person. The lesson that we learn in North Korea is that Christians lay down their lives and become martyrs, be they an apostle, or pastor, or a believer. We are rewarded and judged each based on our own works in relation to the gifts God has given us. As believers in Jesus Christ we are all disciples, and all have the same standing, yet leaders have a greater accountability before God.
Jesus had reminded His disciples about leadership many times. If you want to be the greatest become the least and servant of all. Don’t lord over people. Wash feet. In the end all of us are simple servants of the Lord.703
The North Korean Church cannot afford the luxury of having para-church ministries and organizations as we see in many other countries of the world. There are no head denominational men or gifted leaders on specific Christian subjects. Each Church member in North Korea is a generalist who understands and walks in normal Christianity based on the Bible.
The abundance of Christian denominations simply speaks of division and the unhealthiness of the Church worldwide. The local Church, if healthy and Biblical does not need the existence of denominations. The body of Christ is one and is self-sufficient with its gifting and callings.
God has made the body of Christ in such a way that each member supports the other. As we learn from Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and as we learn from each other we become more balanced and not extreme in one doctrine or another.
Believers in the North Korean Church take turns teaching the verses they have memorized by heart. Thus sermons are preached from the heart, in the power of the Holy Spirit, by these precious saints and remind us of the early days in the Book of Acts where unlearned men taught the Word of God as moved by the Holy Spirit.
In our modern Church age we need to relearn the lesson the Lord taught the Corinthian Church. There was over-dependence on personalities and gifted leaders which was creating divisions in the body of Christ:
“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”704
As part of this principle we also want to remind readers that North Korean believers are part of the body of Christ worldwide where we need to care for other parts of the body. Scripture reminds us that if one part of our body in Christ is hurting then all parts are hurting. It is the responsibility of Christians in non-persecuted nations to pray for sisters and brothers in nations where persecution is rampant.
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”705
“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”706
Pray for them, intercede for them, help them, write to the government for them:
Here are specific things to pray for:
i) “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your Word.”707 (through the filling and power of Your Holy Spirit.)
ii) “Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and through the Name of Your holy Servant Jesus”708
iii) That God would give them forgiveness and love.
iv) That God would provide Bibles for them.
v) That they would be able to find someone to fellowship with.
vi) That their friends and neighbors would discover Jesus through their witness.
vii) That they would remain strong under torture and not deny Jesus.
viii) Pray for the leader Kim Jong Un to accept Jesus as his savior.
ix) Pray for North Korea to become a nation more open to Christianity.
x) Pray for faith, strength, and courage for them to endure.
xi) Pray for comfort in tribulation.
xii) Pray for the torturers that they may become Christians.
xiii) Pray that the North Korean Christians would bless their torturers, pray for them and do good to them.
xiv) Pray for North Korean Christians to remain strong in faith and to believe in a God of miracles, knowing that God knows best.
xv) That they might not be led into temptation.709
xvi) That God would deliver them from evil, according to His will.