North Korea Ministries:
Emergency Flood Relief
In
our Latest News page, you
can read the full report of current
needs in North
Korea .
Flood damage has created tremendous
problems crops destroyed and many
left dead and homeless.
Public water supply systems were destroyed
and flooding has contaminated or submerged
water sources and wells. The
sanitation system has been choked
with debris. Tens of thousands
of people whose homes were destroyed
and belongings lost are reported to
be living in evacuation centres like
tents, schools or other public buildings
or in the houses of friends and neighbours.
People in the affected areas do not
have access to clean drinking water
and are now at risk for serious waterborne
diseases and infections. As
the rains and humidity continue the
threat of disease is growing and hundreds
of thousands of people are subject
to very poor hygiene and living conditions.
We
have been urged by our North Korean
counterparts to send antibiotics,
food, and to help in all other possible
ways. We fully expect
that due to food shortages and the
various stresses of the floods, more
people will succumb to tuberculosis
and other diseases and these facilities
will see a significant influx of patients.
In
coordination with our partners, we
are making immediate preparations
to send a 40' container filled with
medicine, food, blankets and other
urgently needed goods. As funds
are available, we are also looking
into providing a variety of other
urgently needed goods, including small
greenhouses for use as temporary shelters
in the short term, to be converted
to growing vegetables later after
immediate housing needs have been
met. Over the longer term, food
will also be a serious concern.
Thank
you in advance for your prayers for
those in need in North Korea . If
you would like to help with some of
the serious medical concerns today,
you can give online via this
secure site or through our office.
100% of your giving goes to the designated
project. Thank you so much.
Other NK Ministries
What:
(1) To help provide food to the most
needy.
(2) To help inside North Korea with
acute medical needs.
(3) To participate in a network of
prayer for the country and to share
the Good News among those who have
never heard.
AsiaLink partners are working among
in a variety of ministries and areas
to help North Koreans.
Why:
Newsweek magazine (7/01) described
North Korea as “the worst of
the worst”. In rural areas,
people forage for individual grains
to eat. The mountains have been stripped
bare of anything that can be used
as food. The few aid workers who remain
tell of orphanages crowded with shrivelled
babies. Persistent rumours of cannibalism
filter across the border into China
where a growing number of refugees
shelter following their suicidal flight
to relative safety.
The Church has been decimated and
persecuted. No one knows how many
believers remain, though some do and
gather where and when they can in
caves and clandestine hideouts.
Confidentiality is a must for any
Christian ministry in this land. Any
North Korean Christian who is known
to the authorities will be imprisoned
in terrible conditions and many do
not survive. Many have already died.
Underneath it all, many North Korea
people remain unquestionably friendly,
displaying huge kindness in trying
circumstances.
Cost:
Various ministries are taking place
where reporting and news will be necessarily
limited.
Suggested amount £25 per month
Medical work is ongoing and needs
change. Sometimes hospital beds are
required, other times, flatpack greenhouses
or medical equipment.
Suggested amount £30.
Prayer:
Ministry among North Koreans is highly
risky. Pray God's protection on mission
activities every day. Many believers
have been imprisoned or executed.
Ask God to sustain the North Korean
Church and bring grace and growth
during this most intense of persecution.
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Christianity was first brought to Korea by itinerant evangelists from China and then seeped in even further through traders and explorers. Christianity however stands directly opposed to the foundations of traditional Korean society which depends on ancestral worship to provide legitimacy for the state rulers. Several purges killed thousands of believers in the 1800s. After 1945, many Christians headed South as the North Korean government began converting Churches for secular use. In the 1950s there were 300,000 believers in the country. Today, there are probably just a few thousand. An estimated 100,000 believers are in prison camps. Those who do meet together, do so in tiny groups, in secret and in great fear.
Most people have never heard of Christ.
Christian teaching has been obliterated
by a nightmare of repression, demands
for total conformity and isolation
from the outside world. Some Christian
agencies have been allowed to help
with food relief programs but never
with permission to share the Gospel.
There
are some believers inside North Korea.
Their lives are severely restricted
and their presence a secret. Many
Christians have been placed in prisons.
Between 250,000 and 300,000 North
Koreans have escaped into China. They
live in appalling conditions and face
forced repatriation by the Chinese
authorities if discovered. Many long
to make the arduous journey to South
Korea, or settle in an alternative
country. It is extremely dangerous
for refugees to travel across China
without the ability to speak the language
and without even a passport.
The 23 million living in North Korea are taught there is no God. They are required to worship the deceased (but still reigning) former President, and now his son.