The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation has declared 25th June as an International Day of Prayer for North Korea.

|TOP|In an announcement made on 1st June, Rev. S. Douglas Birdsall, Executive Chair of the organisation, stated: “On behalf of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation and the Lausanne Movement, I declare 25 June to be an International Day of Prayer for North Korea and call on the church to pray for North Korea.”

The Day of Prayer will be staged as a climax to the Global Week of Prayer for North Korea, which runs from 19-25 June.

The 25th June is a significant date for the Korean people as it is the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

Throughout the week leading up to the 25th June, many prayer events are planned across the world to highlight the severe repression of religions as well as other freedoms, the imposition of idolatrous worship and the barbaric repression of Christians.

The week of prayer will also give some focus to China, which has refused to acknowledge the existence of North Korean refugees and returns them to North Korea where they face mistreatment, and even death in the most serious cases, tells Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

|AD|The Global Week of Prayer for North Korea is being supported by a huge number of agencies around the world, and amongst events scheduled for the week are daily vigils outside the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, which has been organised by Christian Social Responsibility.

Joining this event will be other vigils across the world, including prayers scheduled during vigils outside the Chinese Embassy’s in London, Washington DC, and Copenhagen during the week.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide expressed it delight at the North Korea prayer initiatives, and welcomed the event.

CSW’s National Director, Stuart Windsor said, “We are delighted that the Lausanne Committee has issued this call to the Church to pray for the absolutely critical needs in North Korea. We are calling on Christians and Churches to adopt the prayer focus on North Korea as we firmly believe this issue should be high on the agenda of the worldwide Church due to the extremity of the repression and the state enforced idolatry in the country. We are trusting for a crescendo of prayer on 25th June that will carry the light and love of God to the people of North Korea.”

The announcement from Dr. Jong Yun Lee, who is Chair of the Asia Lausanne Committee, and President of Save North Korea can be read in full below:


May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The matter of greatest interest for South Koreans is to save North Koreans who are deprived of their religious freedom. For this cause, the Korean Church founded the commission to Help North Korean Refugees (CNKR) in 1999 and has submitted to the United Nations a petition with ten million signatures for recognizing North Korean defectors as refugees.

South Korean Christians have also set up an organization called Save North Korea and are making some significant efforts in this area. Recognizing that earnest prayers must take the highest priority in this work, we have decided at a directors' meeting to stage this movement globally.

1) We have decided to set apart an International Day of Prayer for bringing salvation to North Koreans and ask all Christians around the world to join us in prayer.

2) We have designated 25 June (Sunday), the day that the Korean War broke out, as the International Day of Prayer for North Korea.

3) We hereby request assistance that all Christians around the world join us in prayer for salvation of 25 million North Korean souls by declaring the upcoming 25 June as the International Day of Prayer for North Korea.

4) We propose the following prayer needs:
a. Freedom of religion be granted in North Korea
b. North Korean defectors be recognized as refugees so that they will be guaranteed the freedom of residence, and
c. The divided Korean Peninsula be reunited by the Gospel.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jong Yun Lee
Chair, Asia Lausanne Committee
President, Save North Korea