This month I took a leave of absence from social media to pray specifically over this verse. This verse has been something I have been pondering in my heart for at least the past year and a half, but the seeds for this verse were planted much earlier than that. The implications of what this verse mean is staggering from the world’s perspective. Jesus said “in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

“In his joy he sells all that he has” – this phrase isn’t taken lightly. This man found something worth giving everything for. He discovered a treasure that nothing he had could compare to. It was worth it to sell everything to have it.

What he discovered changed everything. His priorities, his values, his world changed. There was a cost, it cost him everything he had, but it was worth it. Quite simply, if I were to summarize this parable I would do it simply by saying this:

Jesus is worth it.

He’s worth more than anything this world can offer us, and He is our treasure. If we believe that, how is this reflected in our lives? What did this mean for me? In my life? In my ministry?

This was not an easy question to answer. It goes back about four years ago, to a Bible study I did called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. I’m very thankful for the authors that God has placed in my path. Just coming away from a life changing weekend, I could have picked up any book, but God was gracious to me. He led me to this one. Not only a book to read, but to dig into. Ever had a book like that? Many of us have have “that book”. The one that causes them to re-think everything they thought they knew. I could have picked up any book, but He led me to one that was going to shake the foundation of sand I was standing on, and He exchanged it for a rock.

One of the most challenging things I read in this book, was a quote from John Piper. I didn’t know anything about him, but this spoke volumes into my life.

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?”

My response was immediately devastating on so many different levels, but mostly because during this time in my life the answer would have been an overwhelming – Yes absolutely, if I had all of those things I would have been content with heaven without Jesus.

To say that God did a work in my heart by the end of this study would be a gross understatement.

It wasn’t long afterwards that God led me to the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John MacArthur, A.W. Tozer, David Platt, and yes John Piper. The man that God used in a quote in Crazy Love to truly shape my thoughts around what a relationship with Christ should look like. It would be several years later before God would use something written by John Piper to stir my heart.

Over the four years since God used Crazy Love to radically change my heart, I began at the same time to struggle with “churchianity” “Sunday Christianity” “Christian Atheism” all pointing to the idea of “believing in God” but living as though He doesn’t exist. This all came to a head in January of 2011, whenever I read Desiring God by John Piper.

Piper shared his struggle as a Pastor explaining what it truly means to “believe in Jesus”. He mentions the state of the church and how easy it is for anyone to say they believe. Our world is full of people who “believe in Jesus” yet they live as though He doesn’t exist. So John simply began to rephrase the question “Do you believe in Jesus” to this:

‘Do you receive Jesus as your Treasure?’ Not just Savior (everyone wants out of hell, but not to be with Jesus). Not just Lord (they might begrudgingly). The key is: Do you treasure Him more than everything? [Believers] say with Paul, ‘I count EVERYTHING as loss because of the surpassing worth of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord’ (Phil. 3:8).

Do you treasure Him?

Which brings me back to the original intent of this post.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44)

I have been asking myself about this joy. How has it been made manifest in my life? What does this look like for me? As I began praying I felt as though God has been leading me away from the comforts of my life into unknown territory. The fasting away from social media has been fruitful. It has been productive and I’d like to share with you some of the things He has been revealing to me during this time.

The tagline for my site “be the domino God uses to touch the lives of others” has been shifting. God revealed some things to me, and asked me this question instead. “What if you were showing them something good, but perhaps not something great? What would it look like if you were to show others that Christ is your treasure? How would that transform your website?”

I wasn’t sure what that looked like. It would radically change everything that I am doing. It would require a name-change, perhaps an entire makeover, even quite possibly a new website all-together.

My first thoughts – what about all of the website hits that my blog is getting? What about all of the work that I’ve put into it? If I had to change, would it mean that all of that would be gone? Reasonable questions right? So I began praying.

God soon asked me another question “What is it that you really treasure here? Is it your stats? Your page counts? Your time invested? Is it more important to treasure those things than Myself?”

Ouch. But I continued to struggle. To a point where God had me doing some serious self-examination. Here is something I read through a week long journey through prayer.

Trials from the Lord will reveal to believers what they love and appreciate the most.

A big part of the reason for the Lord’s testing Abraham at Moriah was to show him what he valued most in life. The question God wanted Abraham to answer was, “Do you love Isaac more than Me, or do you love Me more than Isaac?” And the Lord was prepared for the drastic test of taking Abraham’s son’s life if that’s what was necessary for Abraham to give God first place in everything.

So for the past few weeks, I have been chewing on this from John MacArthur as well as this below from John Piper

God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display His supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan not to be made much of, but to make much of Him in every part of our lives. Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain.

Some of the things that came from that time…

“For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your blog from Me.” Do I treasure Him or simply what I write about – about Him? Does the success or failure of my blog determine what God is showing me? If I am struggling over the change, what is the root cause of that change? Would I be willing to dig a little deeper and get a little bit more personal with what I am writing about? Am I just wanting to talk about Jesus as my treasure, or am I willing to let other people see it as a reality?

If God wants me to do something entirely different regardless of what that might look like or what it might cost me, will I be willing? If He says do it, will I be obedient?

The other morning, God woke me up at 4 am to take me through an adventure through His Word. He led me through the book of Philippians where Paul said “I count everything as loss, compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Yes indeed, everything, including my blog in comparison to knowing Christ my Lord, my God, my Savior.

“Old things have passed away”

So I would like to introduce to you, the demise of my blog, the end of “Be the Domino”, but the beginning of something new.

Treasuring-Christ.org

Being the Domino God uses is a good thing, but treasuring Him and helping others to treasure Him above and beyond the treasures of this world is a far greater pursuit. Development work has already begun on the website, and the transition phase has begun.

For now, you can follow us on Facebook at : http://www.facebook.com/treasuringHim

A consolidation of all of my facebook pages, will be coming over the next couple of weeks.

To start with, what are the fiery darts? Satan is known as a liar and also he is known as “the accuser”. When he is on his daily routine of destroying, robbing, and dividing, his main weapon of choice is known best as…words.

When accusing the saints he will no doubt pull out these darts and fire them our way. Satan is accusing the saints with lies that are designed to cripple us and fill us with a great deal of condemnation. His lies are normally dressed up like truth and look similar to genuine concern, but when it comes down to it, they are designed to misrepresent the character and nature of God, or to somehow disqualify us from being a son or daughter of God.

Here are some examples…

“You’re never going to be a good christian”

“You are filthy”

“You are just like your father”

“How can God bless you when you’re like this”

“How can you change the world, look at you”

“You need to try and please God”

All of these things, some of which are subtle examples, others of which are obvious, are questions or lies that may come along to a lot of believers.

When you actually “take the clothes off” of them it leads you do a deeper question. Who am I?

Jesus said “who do you say that I am”. Some said prophet and others said

teacher, but one said “You are the Lord”. In response, Jesus said “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but the Father has revealed this to you”. So for starters, we need to see who Jesus really is, because if we can see who Jesus really is, then we can discover who we are in and through Him.

Satan comes in and tries to see if we know who we really are. For example, when Jesus went in to the wilderness to be tested, I didn’t see Him lining up 17,000 sick people to see if He could pass the test of healing them in 2 minutes. No, that was not the test at all. The test was Satan saying “If you are the Son of God…,” then it would follow with some instruction. Satan was questioning Jesus: “Are you really the Son of God? Prove it!”

Today Satan’s game plan with the Saints has not changed. I suppose if the test was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us, right?

So, back to the armor of God. Here is a passage from Ephesians 6:

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The armor is deeper than just armor. The helmet of salvation is placed on your head for good reason. Your mind is the most common place where the enemy comes to convince you of your lack of eligibility for salvation. When Satan attacks your mind and comes to you saying “You’re not even a christian, there is no way God loves you after that,” you need to remember that you are saved by grace, not by performance. Your salvation is maintained by grace, not by performance. Jesus said “It is finished.” So you need to remind Satan to go take up the fight with Jesus because it’s in Jesus’ authority that you are saved.

They say conviction draws you to God, and condemnation takes you away from him. I totally agree with that statement. God’s staff is comforting. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher, but He is also the comforter. Conviction is always going to make you feel like you will never succeed because already your eyes have shifted from Jesus onto yourself. Conviction will say, “Be healed, be delivered, come to Me with your burdens, go and sin no more”. Condemnation will say stuff either about who you are or who God is:

“I’m filthy”

“I will never have a good relationship with God”

“I feel so useless”

“God cannot possibly use me like this”

Condemnation is like poison for your heartCondemnation is like poison for your heart – it creeps in and before you know it you have fortified your heart against the truth of God’s love. Satan all of a sudden seems to be a far more powerful entity than he has the authority to be. All this happens not because Satan is powerful, but because his lies unfortunately are believable to so many.

The breastplate of righteousness is our main protection from the arrows of condemnation. The pieces of armor are placed there for a reason. You need to remind yourself that your righteousness was bought by the blood of Jesus, not by how well you are performing. As a believer, you are the righteousness of Christ Jesus! Wow! What an amazing promise. So even though Satan will try and show you a mirror with dirt smeared all over it, look to Jesus because in Him you are a new creation. Paul said there is neither male nor female in Christ. That is amazing, he was so wrapped up in who he was in Christ that even being a man didn’t matter anymore in the Kingdom.

In history, shields were often used as an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon. I love that faith is the shield. Through faith we not only stand our ground but we take ground. Faith is the gift that God gives us to enable us to be pleasing to Him. The Bible says “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Lots of people take this in weird directions, like, the more faith you get the more pleasing you are. That’s the thing, even a small mustard seed’s worth is enough. This is not about how much faith you have, its simply about how God gives His kids His kingdom. So by faith we receive grace, and through grace we receive the righteousness of Christ. Now wait a minute, the righteousness of Christ! If we are as righteous as Jesus, how pleasing is Jesus to the Father?

I remember the Father saying, “This is my Son, in whom I am WELL PLEASED.”

This is why without faith it is impossible to please God: without faith, you don’t receive grace. Without grace, you don’t receive the righteousness of Christ. So this is the way that we get our standing as sons and daughters of the Most High. The revelation of this enables us to take ground, not just stand our ground. Through this process Jesus has given us authority, and this means we can do what He did – take ground.

All of this is walked out wearing the shoes of the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace. Walking in the peace that the Prince of Peace has given us. When fear shows it self, normally dressed up in an outfit looking like “concern, or being worried”, we need to remember who Jesus is, what He has done and His love for us. His love, perfect in every way, destroys every arrow of fear that comes our way. So we can walk without the fear of what might be, and walk instead in the peace of Him Who Was And Is And Is To Come!

I know this was a long blog, but I hope it brings some clarity to this portion of scripture in a practical and applicable way for you. It has helped me a ton over the last couple of years. So remember who Jesus is, and who you are in Him.

What a depressing thought. If that were true then there is no hope or reason for living. Thieves couldn’t stop stealing, drug addicts could never break the habit and prostitutes wouldn’t stop answering to their pimp. They might stop for a time but then they’d fall right back into the addiction, habits and patterns eventually no matter how badly they want to.

The thing is, there is hope. Lives can be altered not just for a brief moment but also for eternity. Change, real life-change is possible.

It’s where the change comes from that makes the difference. My teacher was right about one thing: we might make behavior modifications and change the way we live our lives, you know, clean things up. We promise God we’ll do better, we’ll stop partying, stop cussing, stop sleeping around, stop doing whatever it is we feel guilty about, but in the end, if left to our own, we’ll go right back to the way we’ve always done things.

We might look clean for a little while, we read our Bible more, go to church, try the whole talking-to-God thing, but it’s never enough.

God has to make the change. And the good news is that He specializes in life changes.

When we get frustrated enough with our lives and the depressing cycle of sin and the emptiness it always brings all we have to do is turn to God. Repent and believe is the Lord’s cry for each of us. All we have to do is look at the bloody and beautiful cross to see His Son’s agonizing death and realize the extent of His plea for our souls. He wants our hearts. He wants to make them new.

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.” – Ezekiel 36:26-27

When we repent of our sins and believe what God said He takes our hearts of stone that were hardened from birth to His truths, His love and His presence, and replaces it with a living, breathing heart of flesh. He makes what is dead to Him and softens it where we can now experience His life and relentless love and when that happens everything changes.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

So, I respectfully disagree with my teacher. Change is possible. Lives can be forever transformed and hope is always present. All we have to do is repent and believe; God does the changing.

“O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” –Psalm 130:7-8

This is a direct answer to prayer is it not? Now here is another cool part of how awesome my God is! In the middle of our prayers to have Him check and recheck our hearts, God answers in MORE ways! He confirms in MORE ways, so we see HIM in MORE WAYS!!!! I can hardly sit right now! Gods generosity in giving us opening our eyes and hearts, even when we’re asking “God, are you sure this is the way you want us to go?” He floods us with His merciful and grace filled answers! Divine appointments abound. Scripture that confirms is everywhere (and we notice it! That in and of itself is the Holy Spirit inside us!) Phone calls that were set up days before are for the specific time God planned. Brothers and Sisters gather to pray and encourage. Wisdom is shared, Gods word is never closed. Songs even are orchestrated to play right when we turn on the radio, even Spotify on shuffle.

I have a friend, who shared with me just the other day about how God was encouraging her and her husband with a specific song, and it was something they heard ALL THE TIME on the radio. Like a direct message from our Father, strengthening our weak bodies. Yes I am there. Whitt is there. Others are there too. We are weak, we are weary. We have been under attack and the breathing is hard and our hearts and knees hurt. But God is faithful.

Can I share with you some amazing verses?

Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe! help my unbelief!”

This parent, who loved his son, sought Jesus to heal his son. His desperation lead to complete honesty and transparency. He also knew Jesus was the giver of faith. YES. Lord Please help MY unbelief!

Romans 12:9-19 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

We were investigating our hearts for verse 18. Have we done everything possible in our power to live at peace with everyone without compromising Gods Word and calling? The message also was this. Let God fight the battle for us.

Luke 6:26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

Luke 9:26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Silence is one way to avoid persecutionBoth of those verses in Luke were referenced in a devotion Whitt read this excerpt is: Silence is one way to avoid persecution. Some other ways are to approve of the worlds standards, laugh at its jokes, enjoy its entertainment and smile when it mocks God. If you never confront sin or tell people Jesus is the only way to heaven, or if your behavior is so worldly no one can distinguish you from unbelievers, you will probably be accepted and won’t feel the heat of persecution but beware! The last thing anyone should want is for Christ to pronounce a curse on them or be ashamed of them. That’s an enormous price to pay for popularity!

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This was also from the devotion Whitt read: If you take a stand for Christ and manifest Beatitude Attitudes, you will be in direct opposition to Satan and the evil world System.

Ephesians 6:10-20 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Paul explains our wrestling. It’s not against the humans who might deliver the cause of wrestling. But it is against the enemy himself. The god of this world, of whom our victory has already been won. My dear friend mentioned to us last night, how much easier it is to live out Romans 12 when we know it’s not them themselves that is the issue, but the spirit of which they are acting that we need to battle and pray for. Armor on! Praying all times.

These are just a few of the verses God has showered us with. I pray we lay aside everything that entangles us, and have endurance to run the race, looking to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith! (Hebrews 12:1-2) and I pray we count it ALL joy! When trials come to us, remembering that trials produce steadfastness, and when it’s all complete we will be lacking nothing! (James 1:2-4) I pray we will count everything in this world as rubbish, because of the worth of knowing Christ, the power of His resurrection, and share with His suffering (it even says “By any means possible”) (Philippians 3:8-10)

There was a quote from Secret Church that has been with me since. “Suffering becomes a gift when Identification with Christ is my goal” Yes. Praying for that to be my perspective!

God is SO good to us! Be encouraged as we have been encouraged my friends!

John Piper is his book Desiring God started to reshape this question.  His struggle began years ago with this question, and I have found myself over the past couple of years wondering about it as well.  Piper says “We are surrounded by unconverted people who think they do believe in Jesus.  Drunks on the street say they believe.  Unmarried couples sleeping together say they believe.  Elderly people who haven’t sought worship or fellowship for forty years say they believe. All kinds of lukewarm, world-loving, church attenders say they believe. The world abounds with millions of unconverted people who say they believe in Jesus.

Now before we get any further and you start thinking that I am speaking heresy, let’s look at how we reshapes the question.  In our world today, being a Christian means no more to the world, than being a social status, if you don’t believe me, check out someone’s Facebook profile.   The question means very little to the world today, Piper saw this twenty years ago whenever he wrote his book.  So he started to reshape the question to show others what “believe” in Jesus really means.

“Do you receive Jesus as your Treasure?”

Do you treasure Him? Do you treasure your time and your relationship with Him? Listen, not just Savior (everybody wants out of hell, but not to be with Jesus). Not just Lord, (they might submit begrudgingly). The key is: Do you treasure Him more than everything?

Do you rejoice with Paul to say “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8)

That changes everything doesn’t it?

The 31-year-old was born in Pyongyang, North Korea. She was part of the nation’s secret underground church, and her story has never been told until now.

“Growing up I was told by the authorities that there was no God in this world,” Kim recalled. “We were ordered instead to worship Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the leaders of the country.”

Freedom of religion is guaranteed under North Korea’s constitution, but it’s never encouraged.

“We met every Saturday evening,” Kim said, explaining what it was like being a believer in North Korea.

“My family gathered in the back room of our small apartment,” she continued. “We had to be very quiet. We whispered when we prayed, sang songs or read the Bible. We often covered our heads to muffle the noise.My parents often asked me to stay outside the apartment on Saturdays to make sure no one was coming while the family prayed inside. We couldn’t allow anyone to know what was going on.

We had one Bible in the house. My grandmother, who was a believer from the Japanese Imperial times, had a Chinese Bible. She translated the Bible by hand into the Korean language on pieces of paper. That’s how we read the Bible. We found strength in those pages.

My father was a tailor in town and the police suspected something was going on,” she recalled. “We believe they planted listening devices in his shop and on his clothes.

In 1994, police discovered that Kim’s father was operating a secret underground church. They raided the house, arrested him along with an uncle, and both men likely ended up in one of the six labor camps dotting North Korea.

“The day my father was arrested I was at school, but I’ll never forget that day. He hugged me before I left for school and like every other day he reminded me to be careful,” Kim said.

“Every morning at the breakfast table he would tell us that one day the government will come and arrest us for being Christians. He warned us of the price we would some day pay for our faith. I remember him saying often that ‘Even if I face death I will follow Jesus,’” she added.  Kim doubts that her father is alive.

“Everyone knows what happens when government agents arrest Christians in North Korea. They never make it out alive,”

Some 200,000 prisoners are being held in political prison camps in North Korea.

Please pray

For the families of those who are imprisoned that God would grant them strength and courage in supernatural ways.

For the testimonies of those who are suffering for their faith to be used to draw their persecutors to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

They and three generations of their families (men, women and children too), potentially hundreds of people, will be sentenced to execution as an example by the Pyongyang government or at least to slave labor in one of the Nazi-style death camps in North Korea if China repatriates them as it says it will do.

The South Korean government has appealed to China to no avail so far and is now pressing the United Nations Human Rights Council. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that “South Korean diplomats are expected to call for the safety and humane treatment of North Korean refugees living in hiding in China.”

More than 20,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since a famine hit their homeland in the mid-1990s. Almost all of them traveled through China, with the help of Christian missionaries, human rights activists or smugglers. But Beijing considers them illegal migrants, and the Chinese police often round them up for repatriation.

Those who are sent back are treated as “traitors” and are incarcerated in re-education camps, where corporal punishment, forced labor and other human rights abuses remain rampant, according to North Koreans who have survived the camps and defected to South Korea.

Please pray for the following and let’s trust God together for this mountain to be moved (Matthew 17:20):

• That the North Korean refugees and their families still inside North Korea will be protected from harm.

Giving thanks, North Korean refugees waiting for papers that will allow them to immigrate to the U.S. gather for a holiday meal at a shelter run by the Durihana Mission. Durihana, a Seoul-based Christian organization, has arranged safe passage for more than 700 defectors in the past ten years

Police crackdowns can net hundreds of victims. Lacking legal documents, Black eluded official questioning during his harrowing 40-hour rail journey by pretending to be asleep or intoxicated.

Shortly after the death of Kim-Jong IL, China began to deliver food aid to children who were dying of starvation. This picture is heartbreaking on so many levels. I often wonder how someone leading a country could not be moved by the depth of this situation.

North Korean soldiers parade through Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008.

Young Koreans hold up colored display cards to form a background image for a performance of North Korea’s Mass Games.

The North Korean regime commemorated his death with elaborately choreographed ceremonies broadcast on state-run media that showed crowds of mourners beating their chests and wailing with grief in the snow-covered streets of Pyongyang.

North Korean farmers, working in a field, are seen through the window of a train heading to North Phyongan Province, about 35 miles south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea’s west coast.

North Koreans pay their respects in front of two portraits, one of founding leader Kim Il-Sung (left) and the other of his son Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang.

North Korean children suffering from malnutrition rest in a hospital in Haeju.

A North Korean woman prepares a meal in her house at the Soksa-Ri collective farm in an area damaged by summer floods and typhoons in South Hwanghae province.

Please continue to pray for the people of North Korea.  If this post has moved you in any way, please share it with others and invite them to pray.

Take 5 minutes to pray for North Korea

• Praise God for the faith of Christians in North Korea. Pray that they will be able to share the good news with trusted friends and family. Pray for grace, mercy and perseverance for persecuted Christians.
• Praise God that some food aid is reaching the country. Pray that it will get to those who need it, and that the Bread of Life will accompany it.
• Praise God that some medicinal aid has been accepted by North Korea.
• Pray that NGOs will feel burdened to serve in North Korea and help to improve the health system. Pray for the safety and effective witness of Christian NGOs in the country.
• Pray for all those in prison camps in North Korea. Prison staff are taught to regard prisoners as lower than animals and unworthy of respect, mercy or kindness. Pray that God would convict the hearts of prison guards who have been cruel, and that he would pour down his grace and mercy on those suffering in unbelievably harsh conditions.
• Pray that non-Christian prisoners would be struck by the faith of Christian prisoners and hunger to know more.
• North Korea is beginning to open up. Pray for wisdom for the South Korean church in outreach and support to Christians in the North.
• Praise God for how North Korea has tried to open up to other countries. Pray that it would become a country that can be trusted by the international community.
• Pray for North Koreans who have defected to South Korea via China and other countries, that they will be treated with mercy and kindness. Pray for Christians helping to shelter or rehabilitate defectors.
• Pray for reunification under a just government that honors God.

The most common form of trafficking involves North Korean women and girls subjected to involuntary servitude after willingly crossing the border into the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Once in China, they are picked up by traffickers and sold as brides to PRC nationals, often of Korean ethnicity. In other cases, North Korean women and girls are lured out of North Korea to escape poor economic, social, and political conditions by the promise of food, jobs, and freedom, only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements once in China.

In some cases, women and girls may be sold to traffickers by their families or acquaintances. Women sold as brides are sometimes re-abducted by the traffickers or are sold by husbands who no longer want them. In some cases, North Korean women are sold multiple times to different men by the same trafficker.

Eighty percent of North Koreans who flee across the Yalu River and escape to Northeastern China are women. Ninety percent of those women will become victims of sex trafficking once they arrive. They flee their homes to avoid devastating poverty and an erratic, oppressive regime. But instead of finding a new life across the border, the women are targeted by traffickers and often sold into marriage. Victims who dare complain find themselves repatriated back to North Korea, where they are thrown into gulags or executed

Bang Mi-sun, who came to the South in 2004, spoke first. She said she fled the North to feed her two children after her husband starved to death in 2002.

“I thought that if I went to China, I could eat heartily and lead a better life than in North Korea. What waited for me was a wretched life,” she said.   “I was sold to a disabled Chinese man for 585 dollars at a human trafficking market and resold to another man.”

Bang was caught by Chinese police and repatriated to North Korea. There, she was subjected to severe corporal punishment and forced labor.   “I was put in a detention camp and flogged. I was battered so badly that I cannot walk well now,” she said.

Please Pray for

• an end to the exploitation of men, women, and children and sexual abuse.
• for as many safe and secure shelters as are needed to provide for the needs of those who have suffered abuse..
• for the Gospel message to reach the hearts of those who are persecuting Christians
• for physical and emotional healing for the abused.