The Hardest Place to Be a Christian
Several years ago, I read a book that revealed to me the hardest place on the planet to be a Christian. The horrors I read in this book impacted me deeply then and continue to do so today.
An organization called the Voice of The Martyrs produced a series (Restricted Nations) of books and the book I am referring to in this post was on North Korea. It remains one of my most recommended Christian books.
If you are unaware of the immense challenges Christians face in North Korea, I will give you a summary of the consequences believers face for doing things we commonly do as part of our Christian faith.
Actions/Consequences - North Korea
Gathering – North Korean Christians are unable to legally gather and worship together as Christians do in many other nations. Doing so would lead to being sent to a labor camp where conditions are unimaginably dreadful. The experience consists of torture, hard labor, starvation, and for many, death.
Evangelism – This is forbidden and will for sure lead to being sent to a labor camp, but death is also a high probability if caught sharing your faith in Jesus with others.
Bible – The Bible is banned in North Korea. If one is found in anyone’s possession, they face being sent to a labor camp or death.
Singing Christian Hymns – Something as simple as this will lead to being sent to a labor camp.
Prayer – This is illegal, both individually and collectively. A video surfaced a few years ago of a small group of North Koreans gathering secretly to pray. The group was discovered, possibly filmed by a spy pretending to be a believer. The entire group was executed.
All of the consequences I mentioned above will occur to any individual who engages in the things I have listed, but what I didn’t mention was the fact that these forms of punishment will also be enforced on the individual's immediate and extended family to the third generation, even if they had no knowledge of or participation in the activities.
Christianity is considered a threat to the Kim dynasty and the current ruler Kim Jong Un will do whatever necessary to stamp out any sign of the faith within the country, however, there is a fake church in the capital city that in all appearances seems like a real church but has been created to make it seem as though there is religious tolerance within the county but it is all a carefully crafted show.
Despite the risks, there are an estimated 200,000 – 400,000 Christians in North Korea. A small number in comparison to the total population of 25 million, but still a significant number. They are an underground church doing everything in secret.
North Korea has been #1 on Open Doors’ World Watch List for several years now as the hardest place in the world to be a Christian. A very sad reality that should serve as a warning to us who live in much freer societies, because North Korea was once a great place for Christians to be.
Pyongyang was once called the Jerusalem of the East because from this city Christianity expanded throughout Korea. Many churches existed within the city and numerous protestant missionaries were sent from it. This began to change in 1905 due to Japanese occupation. The occupation concluded with the end of World War II.
After the war, the nation was split in half. The North was under Soviet control and Kim Il-Sung was made leader. Despite having grown up in a Christian family, he destroyed any positive sentiment toward the faith and considered it a threat to his power. His Son (Kim Jong-il) continued hostility regarding Christianity after his death and the current ruler, his grandson, has intensified Christian persecution.
Seeing how this nation went from being the Jerusalem of the East to being the most dangerous place to be a Christian on Earth should be sobering to us. Things can change in a short period, no matter where you are and the freedoms you enjoy today, may come to an end in the future.
Considering all of this, let's commit to praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ in North Korea and for the leader of that nation to come to faith in Jesus. I believe that Pyongyang can become the Jerusalem of the East once again someday.
The book that I referred to at the beginning of this post.
