North Korea — Now that this year’s North Korean Freedom Week has concluded in Germany, it’s worth considering the tragic story of Kim Yeo-man and nine other North Korean Christians who were imprisoned in 2008 for allegedly participating in an underground church in Hoeryong City.

These 10 believers essentially vanished since 2008, with no updates about their health or prison conditions.

Kim Yeo-man was said to be the best friend of Kim Sung-sik, another persecuted North Korean Christian. He influenced local politics in Hoeryong City and expressed strong opposition to the savage regime of Kim Jong-il at the time.

These 10 Christ followers were accused of being part of an anti-state Christian fellowship, with the authorities claiming that South Korean Christian organizations were aiding this house church. The group was arrested about six months after Kim Sung-sik’s arrest. Tragically, Kim Yeo-man was discovered dead in his cell on February 16, 2009 — Kim Jong-il’s birthday. Suspicion surrounds his death to this day. The fate of the other nine Christians is unknown.

Despite these countless tragedies and ongoing unexplained disappearances of Christian and political prisoners in North Korea, there is always hope in Christ. Pastor Ju, a North Korean defector who fled persecution, commented about the situation in North Korea.

“The Kim family in North Korea is a group of three-generation hereditary idolization murderous gangsters. They have systematically imprisoned, beaten, shot, starved, and killed millions of their own people for the past 80 years, making the people of North Korea idolize them. The human rights issue in North Korea is a spiritual war to restore the sovereignty of Jesus Christ that was robbed by the Kim family in North Korea. It is the conscience of Christians to pray and act for those who are trapped in idols in North Korea. God’s eyes are not on North Korea, but on our souls who are praying with sorrowful and humble hearts. We are currently carrying out the ‘Manna Project’ to send the Bibles to North Korea so that one day the 25 million North Koreans can all have the Bible. John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free.”

Please join us in praying for the provision for the Manna Project and for many other North Korean Christians imprisoned and who have disappeared with no new information for many years.
Sources:persecution

http://theendtimeradio.com

ഡമാസ്കസ്: സിറിയൻ തലസ്ഥാനമായ ഡമാസ്കസിലെ ദ്വീല പരിസരത്തു സ്ഥിതി ചെയ്യുന്ന ക്രൈസ്തവ ദേവാലയത്തില്‍ ഞായറാഴ്ച നടന്ന പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥനാമദ്ധ്യേ ഇസ്ലാമിക് സ്റ്റേറ്റ്സ് നടത്തിയ ചാവേര്‍ ആക്രമണത്തില്‍ ഇരുപതോളം ക്രൈസ്തവര്‍ക്ക് ദാരുണാന്ത്യം. ഡമാസ്കസിലെ മാർ ഏലിയാസ് ദേവാലയത്തിലാണ് ചാവേര്‍ സ്ഫോടനമുണ്ടായത്. ചാവേര്‍ ആക്രമണം നടന്ന സ്ഥലത്തു നിന്നു പുറത്തുവന്ന വീഡിയോയില്‍ രക്തത്തില്‍ കുളിച്ച് മൃതദേഹങ്ങളും ചിതറികിടക്കുന്ന കുരിശുകളും പീഠങ്ങളും ഉള്‍പ്പെടെ ഹൃദയഭേദകമായ ദൃശ്യങ്ങളാണുള്ളത്.

ഡിസംബറിൽ പ്രസിഡൻ്റ് ബഷാർ അൽ അസദിനെ സൈനിക അട്ടിമറിയിലൂടെ പുറത്താക്കിയ ശേഷം ഡമാസ്കസിൽ നടക്കുന്ന ആദ്യ ചാവേർ ആക്രമണമാണിതെന്ന് വാര്‍ത്ത ഏജന്‍സിയായ റോയിട്ടേഴ്സ് റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട് ചെയ്യുന്നു. സ്‌ഫോടനത്തിൽ 52 പേർക്കു പരിക്കേറ്റതായി ആരോഗ്യ മന്ത്രാലയത്തെ ഉദ്ധരിച്ച് സിറിയയുടെ സ്റ്റേറ്റ് ന്യൂസ് ഏജൻസി വ്യക്തമാക്കി. ദേവാലയത്തില്‍ പ്രവേശിച്ച ചാവേർ തുടരെ വെടിയുതിർത്ത ശേഷം സ്വയം പൊട്ടിത്തെറിക്കുകയായിരുന്നുവെന്നും ഭീകരസംഘടനയായ ഐഎസാണ് ചാവേർ ആക്രമണത്തിനു പിന്നിലെന്നും സിറിയൻ ആഭ്യന്തര മന്ത്രാലയം സ്ഥിരീകരിച്ചു.

ചാവേറിനൊപ്പം മറ്റൊരാൾ കൂടിയുണ്ടായിരുന്നതായി സൂചനയുണ്ട്. പരിക്കേറ്റവരില്‍ നിരവധി കുട്ടികളുമുണ്ടെന്ന് പ്രാദേശിക സിറിയന്‍ മാധ്യമങ്ങള്‍ റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട് ചെയ്യുന്നു. ഡമാസ്കസിലെ മാർ ഏലിയാസ് ഗ്രീക്ക് ഓർത്തഡോക്സ് പള്ളിയിൽ നടന്ന തീവ്രവാദ ചാവേർ ബോംബാക്രമണത്തെ അസന്ദിഗ്ധമായി അപലപിക്കുകയാണെന്ന് ഗ്രീക്ക് വിദേശകാര്യ മന്ത്രാലയം പ്രസ്താവനയിൽ പറഞ്ഞു. സിറിയൻ അധികാരികൾ ആക്രമണത്തിന് പിന്നിലുള്ളവരെ മുന്നില്‍കൊണ്ടുവരണമെന്നും ക്രിസ്ത്യൻ സമൂഹങ്ങളുടെയും എല്ലാ മതവിഭാഗങ്ങളുടെയും സുരക്ഷ ഉറപ്പാക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള നടപടികൾ നടപ്പിലാക്കണമെന്നു ആവശ്യപ്പെടുകയാണെന്നും മന്ത്രാലയം പ്രസ്താവിച്ചു.

സിറിയയില്‍ ക്രൈസ്തവ കൂട്ടക്കുരുതിയെ അപലപിച്ച് ഫ്രാന്‍സ്, ജര്‍മ്മനി ഉള്‍പ്പെടെയുള്ള രാജ്യങ്ങളുടെ വിദേശകാര്യ മന്ത്രാലയങ്ങളും രംഗത്തുവന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഈ മാസത്തിന്റെ ആരംഭത്തില്‍ സിറിയൻ നഗരമായ ഹോംസിലെ സിറിയന്‍ ഓർത്തഡോക്സ് കത്തീഡ്രല്‍ ദേവാലയത്തിനു നേരെ സായുധ സംഘം വെടിവെയ്പ്പ് നടത്തിയിരിന്നു. ബുസ്റ്റാൻ അൽ-ദിവാൻ പരിസരത്ത് സ്ഥിതി ചെയ്യുന്ന സെന്റ് മേരി ഓഫ് ദി ഹോളി ബെൽറ്റ് (ഉം അൽ-സന്നാർ) കത്തീഡ്രലിനു മുൻഭാഗത്ത് സ്ഥാപിച്ച കുരിശിന് നേരെയാണ് വെടിവെയ്പ്പ് നടത്തിയത്. ഇതിന്റെ അന്വേഷണം പുരോഗമിക്കുന്നതിനിടെയാണ് ഇവിടെ നിന്നു 160 കിലോമീറ്റര്‍ മാറിയുള്ള ഡമാസ്കസില്‍ ക്രൈസ്തവ കൂട്ടക്കൊല അരങ്ങേറിയിരിക്കുന്നത്.
കടപ്പാട് :പ്രവാചക ശബ്ദം

http://theendtimeradio.com

A suicide bombing by Islamic State (IS) targeting a church in Damascus has killed 22 people and wounded 63, Syrian state media have said.

The attack on Sunday night was the first major IS operation and the first suicide bombing in Syria since former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December and replaced by an Islamist-led government.

A man affiliated with IS entered the Greek Orthodox Saint Elias church in the old Christian quarter of Damascus during prayers, opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest while inside the church, Syria’s interior ministry said. Eyewitnesses inside the church reported a second gunman who did not blow himself up, but also shot at the 150 or so worshippers present.

“People were praying safely under the eyes of God,” said Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed. “There were 350 people praying at the church.”

Videos of the church’s interior show splintered pews overturned by the force of the blast and the bloodied corpses of congregants splayed out across the church. Nearby residents reported hearing a large blast and then the sound of sirens as security forces attempted to establish a cordon around the area and civil defence personnel headed towards the church.

Issam Nasr, who was praying at the church, said he saw people “blown to bits”.

“We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,” he said.

The attack came after months of low-level IS activity and propaganda, as the group attempted to exploit the security vacuum created after the fall of Assad to reconstitute itself. Syrian officials have said the group was able to seize weaponry and ammunition left by fleeing Assad regime soldiers to bolster its caches.

The Syrian government, led by former leaders of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have been carrying out anti-IS raids throughout the country since taking power. While still a rebel group, HTS had been fighting IS in areas under its control, viewing it as a source of instability and radicalisation for rival rebel groups.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, IS has attempted to use the apparent moderation of the former Islamist rebels who now lead the country as a recruitment tool for disaffected Islamist fighters.

IS social media channels and propaganda published pictures of the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meeting the US president, Donald Trump, in Riyadh in May, describing it as an apparent betrayal of his jihadist roots.

Syrian authorities have stressed religious minorities will be protected under their rule. Security personnel usually are posted at each entrance of the city’s Christian quarter, inspecting cars as they come in.

The Syrian minister of information, Hamza al-Mustafa, said: “This cowardly act contradicts the values of citizenship that unite us all. We, as Syrians, emphasise the importance of national unity and civil peace, and call for strengthening the bonds of fraternity between all components of society.”

The Damascus municipality said security services were investigating the circumstances of the bombing. Syria’s foreign ministry described the event as a “desperate attempt to undermine national coexistence and to destabilise the country”.

A statement from the office of the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he was outraged at the “heinous crime” and condemned it in the “strongest possible terms”. The office added that the envoy also called for “a full investigation and action by the authorities”.

Though nominally in power of most of Syria, the country’s new government has struggled to extend its control on the ground over the country. Syria is still full of militias, some of them more radical than others. The country’s defence ministry is in the process of folding militias into a unified national army and disarming those who refuse to join its ranks.

Since the territorial defeat of the so-called caliphate of IS in Syria, it has been mostly the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that have been leading the anti-IS fight. Cooperation between the SDF and the new Syrian government in fighting IS has been growing but is still in its infancy.

The US, as well as the other members of the anti-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria, have cited the resurgence of IS in Syria as one of their key concerns for the country.
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Nicaragua — In late December 2023, Nicaraguan Pastor Jose Luis Orozco Urrutia’s faith started being tested.

He and 12 others associated with the Evangelical Christian organization Mountain Gateway were charged with money laundering and other spurious charges.

On March 19, 2024, the Fifth District Criminal Court sentenced Urrutia to 12 years in prison and fined him $80 million. The others arrested also received prison sentences and hefty fines. Their lawyers were barred from speaking with them or examining any files related to the case.

A month before their arrests, 250,000 Nicaraguans attended a Mountain Gateway worship gathering. Members of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (SNLF), led by President Daniel Ortega, considered the event a threat as Christian beliefs often challenged the SNLF’s efforts to merge Marxism with Christianity. Nicaraguan Christians also oppose the political party’s attempts to oppress free speech and religious freedom.

Since 2018, Ortega and his wife, Rosalia Murillo, have targeted religious organizations, the Catholic church, and whoever speaks against the government and seeks to influence the country.

Urrutia looks back on his nine months in prison as a time that stretched his faith and made him depend on God like never before.

In “La Modelo” prison, the Mountain Gateway pastors and staff were given dirty water to drink and occasionally ate garbage. They weren’t allowed to see their families or possess a Bible.

Still, they prayed, fasted, and ministered to one another. Eventually, more prisoners were added to their cell, and they shared the gospel with them. The pastors even led some police officers to Christ.

“They [police officers] believed they were going to silence our mouths and put out our fire by putting us in that place,” Urrutia said. “We were in a maximum-security cell, but the fire didn’t go out, the fire got bigger than the problems.”

Toward the end of their imprisonment, Urrutia said he felt that God was encouraging him that his story would change soon. Then the Mountain Gateway pastors and staff were released with another 124 prisoners.

“The Lord had told me, ‘Don’t be afraid, José Luis. A wind will blow from the north, your chains will break, and the doors will open,” Urrutia recalled.

Today, Urrutia and his family are rebuilding their lives in Austin, Texas.
Sources:persecution

http://theendtimeradio.com