Light Brings Salt
Volume 3, Issue 40
Dedicated to the Systematic Exposition of the Word of God
A Christian missionary jailed in North
Korea has done what many prisoners in the communist state never do – he has
emerged alive to tell about his horrific experience. The testimony of a
Korean-Chinese man referred to only as "Lee" to protect his identity
recently was obtained by The Voice of the Martyrs.
The missionary says a woman in his
Chinese church gave him an ID number to use in traveling to North Korea, saying
it belonged to her cousin. When authorities saw the ID number, they immediately
arrested Lee, w! ho later discovered the woman was a North Korean spy. He had
been set up.
Wrote Lee of his prison experience:
"Between March 5 and 19, I was interrogated daily. Because of the beatings
I began to have severe pains in my liver and kidney.”
Lee says at one point the authorities
believed he was near death, so they transferred him to another location and fed
him well to make sure he stayed alive. "Within two weeks I had recovered,
so they brought me back to the interrogation center where I was again beaten
and tortured for another 54 days," wrote Lee.
Why torture a man for weeks on end?
Stated Lee: "My No. 1 crime against the People's Republic of Korea is that
for the past eight years I have been spreading the gospel in North Korea and
bringing people to Christ."
Lee says his heroes are those
Christians who have endured hardship, torture and the loss of their lives – but
who never denounced their faith: "They truly live and die for the Gospel,
and they are my heroes. Though their lives were short, what they've done will
forever shine with Christ."
PERSECUTION:
KRASNODAR, Russia -- When graduate student Dima Belozyorov
took a late-night
study break from his Russian literature assignment and turned on the television
in his Krasnodar apartment, he was aghast to see a documentary disparaging
evangelicals.
The television program that aired in
Designed to sway public opinion against the evangelical community, the
television programs are making an impact. Local officials evicted
The half-hour television messages broadcast throughout
meetings -- all places where they were previously welcomed.
The Russian Orthodox Church considers all alternative forms of Christianity a
threat to its religious authority and to its claim as "state church."
Encroachment into
"The Orthodox Church is exercising 'religious might' and staking out their
territory," said retired military officer Vladimir Gagaryshev. "We
Russians must learn how to exercise our new freedoms. Nothing can change if
evangelicals cower like dogs." (Dabel, World,
How Far Has the Church Degenerated?
The idea came from teaching pastor Chad Hovan, who sets the church's program
schedule. He had been aware of a similar program at
"I think the interest was there partially because of world events,"
says John Kirby, director of operations and communications for the church.
"We wanted our emphasis to be on tolerance-to have a clearer understanding
of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity and what their members
believe."
Adds Hovan, "Our goal was to make this a safe place
for people to compare and explore the world's major religions. It is not an
inherently Christian service. We want each faith to be given a fair, neutral
chance to present their views, and hopefully in the end we'll understand each
other better."
The first Sunday's gathering drew a capacity crowd which
came to hear about the beliefs of Islam. "Those who came discovered a lot
more similarities than differences," Kirby said.
[Professing evangelicals who lovingly embrace false religions of the world in
this manner are committing spiritual adultery and are willing accomplices in
the delusion and apostasy of the last days prior to the rapture of Christ's
true Bride, and the subsequent revelation of Anti-
("in-the-place-of") christ and his false "christian"
church. TBC]
Thoughts from the Founders
On