North Korea (MNN) — With modern development comes modern ways for North Korea to target Christians for persecution. However, that isn’t stopping The Voice of the Martyrs Korea from pivoting to find their own new strategies for sharing the Gospel.

During a podcast with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, VOM Korea’s Eric Foley said North Korea has acquired new technology from their international allies. This technology makes it easier to intercept cell phone signals.

Foleysaid, “It matters because the front line of North Korean ministry isn’t the border between China and North Korea. It is in the city of Seoul where 60% of North Korean defectors maintain regular monthly contact with their relatives in North Korea primarily by cell phone.

“When North Korea can tap into those calls sooner, we have to learn how to share the Gospel more quickly. We have to change the way that we train.”

Modern technology may pose new threats, and still, North Korean Christians aren’t backing down. VOM Korea hears of more believers martyred each year for their faith inside the hermit country. Those who have escaped know what’s at stake. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it.

“In North Korea where the Gospel continues to grow, Christians continue to die every month and new baby Christians are born,” Foleysaid. “We have to pray that those Christians can take the place of those martyrs who laid down their lives.”

Please pray for North Korean Christians to have wisdom, courage, and faithfulness amidst new persecution challenges. Ask God to tear down barriers to the Gospel in North Korea.

Foley said, “If all we do is hear an occasional testimony or story, but we really don’t dig into understanding why and we don’t pray knowledgeably, we’ll just say things like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s bad there. We should pray that it gets better.’ We miss, for example, how God uses those situations to accomplish His purpose in ways that can build our faith. But we also miss the importance of praying for these real Christians on a daily basis who are facing new challenges.”

 

Header image depicts North Koreans paying respect to statues of past leaders. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)