Pastor Josiah almost lost his whole family to extremist attacks in Nigeria. Because of your prayers and support, he and others are knowing restoration.

Pastor Josiah looks down at the photos in his hands and his eyes begin to cloud over. “Rowland loved singing in the church band,” he begins, looking through each photo. “Jonathan was never lazy, always up and doing things. Timothy was a quiet person, always calm and resourceful.”

He holds up another. “This is my favourite photo of my wife and I together, the first picture of us as a married couple.”

He gazes at the picture. After a long pause, he continues, “My wife was an industrious woman, hospitable and considerate… Her spiritual life made me proud.”

Tragically, these photos and his memories are all he has left of his closest loved ones after his wife and three sons were killed by militant extemists.

“I was powerless”

The day is forever etched in Josiah’s mind – the day that radicalised members of the Fulani tribe invaded his home in Nigeria and shot his wife, Rebekah. “I kept hearing voices saying, ‘Open the door.’ As I did so, they grabbed my hands, tied me up and laid me on the ground. My two sons and my eldest daughter, Salama*, were already there.

“As we were taken, I could hear Rebekah crying, ‘I’m going to die!’ But I was powerless; I couldn’t do anything.

“The kidnappers took us, and we started walking to the bush. We didn’t stop until 7am when we got to their camp. I kept thinking about Rebekah. Did she die? Was she still alive?”

“Where is Jesus now?”

Josiah and his family spent two and half months in captivity, barely surviving on meagre portions of food. Their kidnappers’ hostility towards Christianity was fierce. “They said, ‘You follow Jesus. Where is He now?’ If I just bowed my head, they would say, ‘He’s praying!’ and aim their weapons at me. We could only pray in our hearts.”

In January, Josiah’s sons were supposedly sent to retrieve the ransom payment for their lives. “The day my daughter and I were set free, I was told that our ransom had been paid. They left us at the roadside and from there, my daughter and I walked back towards the village. My brother saw us coming and carried us back. I asked him where my sons were.

“That was the day I was told my boys, Jonathan and Timothy, had been killed by the kidnappers when they’d been sent to collect the ransom.”

Only a few months later, his younger brother and his third son, Rowland, were also killed in extremist attacks.

“I felt like the world was crumbling in on me, as if I was alone with this pain,” Josiah laments. “I kept thinking, ‘Why did this all happen to me?’ When I remember Rebekah and the life we had together, I ask God, ‘Why?’”

“I have received freedom”

In his grief, Josiah was met by Open Doors trauma caregivers. One of them, Philip*, began to meet one-to-one with Josiah to help him process his loss.

“When I came to the trauma centre, my anger and bitterness reduced and I have received freedom,” he explains. “I realised that forgiveness is almost impossible without God. It has helped me to heal from the bitterness and hatred, and I have forgiven them.”

Josiah now plans to share all that he has received with others deeply affected by persecution. He sees clearly the pattern of violence infecting communities across Nigeria, but he also sees the impact of your support.

“My brethren in Christ, I want to say thank you for the relief you have given,” he says. “Don’t think your prayers are not being felt – they are. Through them, I have understood the love of believers. Believers’ prayers brought me out of the bush. So, I am pleading and praying that you keep on supporting through your prayers and help.”

Stop the violence. Start the healing.

Josiah’s story is extremely painful, but God can bring healing and restoration. And that’s why we’ve joined with the church in Africa to ask global leaders to help stop the violence and start the healing in the region. By signing and sharing the Arise Africa petition you can call for calling for protection, justice and restoration to our church family in sub-Saharan Africa.You have until 2 November to add your voice, and share the petition with friends and family. Thank you!

*Names changed for security reasons

“My father was courageous. I have never seen anyone as courageous,” says Pastor Michée from Burkina Faso.

He remembers his dad, Filibert, as a loving husband, father and committed Christian. “He was also a songwriter. Everybody was happy when he was singing, and everyone would feel the presence of God. This is how I would like him to be remembered.”

Michée treasures one of only two photos he has of his father. But talking about Filibert is painful because he was killed alongside dozens of other Christians in a violent attack on their village.

A terrible message

“I was in bed when I received a message from a friend,” Michée remembers. “He said: ‘The village was attacked today.’”

When he finally reached his sister, she told him that Filibert had been handcuffed and taken away. Nobody knew where he was.

“Tears came to my eyes and my heart was deeply in pain,” says Michée.

The next day, Michée tried to return to the village but was stopped by the military. Later, someone sent him a photograph of those who had been killed.

“I recognised my father by his shoes,” he says.

When peace was broken

Before the attack, Michée describes the village as “a small paradise.” Christians and Fulani families lived together peacefully, sharing meals, tea and football games.

But armed extremists began arriving in the area and slowly created division between neighbours.

Then, one day, more than 100 attackers entered the village.

“If they caught you, they handcuffed your hands behind you,” says Michée. Some people escaped, but many did not. Those captured were taken to the church and killed.

In a single day, 31 Christian men died, including Michée’s father, brothers and uncles.

“We have nothing left”

Across parts of sub-Saharan Africa, violence against Christians continues to grow.

“The objective was to destroy the future of the village,” says Michée. Homes were destroyed, animals were stolen and families lost everything. “We had nothing left.”

The attack also shook his faith.

“I asked, ‘Why has God allowed this to happen?’” he says. Prayer felt empty, and he struggled with anger and thoughts of revenge.

Finding hope again

After hearing about the attack, Open Doors partners provided emergency aid and trauma care training for survivors.

“It really changed my life,” says Michée. “The trauma I was going through almost destroyed my faith in God, my ministry, even my relationship with my family. But after the training, my relationship with God was revived. I re-found hope in God.”

The training helped him let go of bitterness and begin healing.

“My anger was gone,” he says. “I lacked forgiveness, I had revenge in mind. All that was gone. I have been renewed.”

Sharing his story was especially powerful.

“I had the opportunity to cry when I was relating my testimony, and I felt that I got free from the bitterness within me.”

Helping others heal

Today, Michée helps provide trauma care to 16 people in his community, including many widows.

“I see that the hearts of many have been healed,” he says. But many more people still need support.

“There are a great number of people who are going through trauma but are ignorant about it. They are in dire need of this training that I received.”

Michée is grateful for those who support Christians facing persecution.

“It encourages us, it strengthens us and enables us to renew our engagement in worshipping God.”

He also wants people to remember those who died.

“I would like us to honour the people we lost in the attack – our fathers, mothers, brothers and children,” he says. “Our people died as strong believers, and we are asking God to help us have the same faith.”

Stop the violence. Start the healing.

You can help bring that deliverance, consolation and restoration to our African church family. Today, will you add your voice to the Arise Africa petition, calling for protection, justice and restoration?

“Listen! Thousands of Christians are being killed across Africa,” says Pastor Michée. “We are talking about it. Will you join us?”

There’s still time to answer Michée’s call and sign and share the Arise Africa petition. You have until 2 November to add your voice, and share the petition with friends and family. Thank you!

Imagine you’re in a house church with more than 100 people. You’re all crowded into a room together. Most of the people are young and all are keen to learn more about Jesus and worship Him together. Bibles lie open around the room. There are HAPPY faces surrounding you. You are in the middle of a familiar WORSHIP SONG – and then the door suddenly slams open. 

This isn’t a normal house church. There’s a reason that the windows are closed and the floor-to-ceiling curtains are drawn. The church worships in the dark, in secret, because it is not allowed to exist. And now it’s been discovered by the police. 

“Everything fell apart” 

Jinyi* vividly remembers the terrifying day that this happened to her. She and her husband, Zhang*, had planted a church in central China a couple of years earlier, and the numbers steadily grew as more and more young people joined the church. But leading the church was always dangerous. Jinyi and Zhang knew this day could come. Because their church was illegal. 

In China, Christians are only allowed to attend registered churches in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement or the Catholic Patriotic Association. These denominations are heavily monitored, with the Chinese authorities determining who can lead services, what can be preached and sometimes even filming the congregation. Many Christians start underground house churches, so they can preach the gospel and learn about Jesus without the Chinese Communist Party intervening. Sometimes the house churches are left alone. But, increasingly, they are targeted by the authorities. 

Sometimes that means being invited for ‘tea’ with a local official – a seemingly innocuous message, which in reality comes with the threat of interrogation and a warning that the church leaders are being closely watched. Sometimes there is no warning at all. 

“Everything fell apart quicky,” Jinyi remembers. When her church was raided the community was immediately shut down and the police detained the assembled believers. Most of those arrested were released after 24 hours, but some were kept for a full week. Zhang was singled out. As often happens with raids, the church leader bears the brunt of the punishment. He was fined 60,000 renminbi (£6,500, about six months’ average salary in China) and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. 

Jinyi found that, when her church was targeted, other churches were too fearful to offer support. They knew they might get in trouble for helping her. “With surveillance everywhere, even a visit or a message to me can bring danger,” she explains. Jinyi understood their reasoning, but it was still hard to experience. “In my heart, I felt betrayed, hurt, disappointed,” she says. “I felt isolated. I was struggling with my faith and found myself sinking into silence.” 

“The calling I once received… came alive again.”

In the midst of this isolation, Open Doors local partners stepped in to support and spend time with Jinyi. Open Doors partners see time and again the transformative power of simply being present with those who are persecuted. They began to see this transformation in Jinyi. 

“I began to think about the young adults who once attended our gatherings,” she says, “how these young people, driven by fear, were scattered like lost sheep without a shepherd.” Jinyi became a Christian at university, and has long had a passion for seeing young people encounter Jesus. She and Zhang served in student ministry for years, and Jinyi knew that this was her purpose. Encouraged by continuing fellowship with Open Doors partners, and despite the significant risks, Jinyi determined to be there for those whom God had entrusted to her and her husband.  

“The calling I once received from God came alive again,” she says. “I knew I must help these young people stand firm in the Lord once again.” 

Over meals, Jinyi met one-on-one with several young people to encourage them. Inspired by Jinyi’s faith, several of those young people stepped up to lead small groups, eventually followed by youth gatherings held in different homes. The house church ministry has begun, once more, to flourish. There are now ten underground small groups with a total of more than 70 young people who are growing in faith and extraordinary courage. They look to Jinyi as their guide. 

“He has not forgotten me” 

Open Doors partners continue to spend time with Jinyi, and she is clear that these visits are crucial in her ministry. “Thank you for your prayers,” she says. “There have been countless moments when I wanted to give up. I felt like I really couldn’t carry the burden of leading these young people, but God’s calling was always there, and He upheld me. Your visits help me realise that the Lord has not forgotten me. He still loves me. He must have a good purpose for my husband and me.” 

Open Doors is walking with church leaders in China and in other countries where the church must meet underground. These believers are under constant pressure as they face the threat of being watched, exposed and persecuted. With your prayers and support, Open Doors partners can keep providing training and keep making the encouraging visits to underground Christians that are so vital. Without them, courageous leaders like Jinyi feel isolated and disconnected from the body of Christ.  

*Names changed for security reasons

Jeremías* made a promise with his wife. After nine years as a semi-pro footballer, he felt God calling him to be a missionary. He said if his team won the league and he finished top scorer, he’d quit football.

It happened.

“In that moment, we felt God’s call,” he says. “Of course, we had doubts. We wondered, ‘How will we live?’ But the Lord reminded us that if we obey Him, He is faithful and will provide everything we need.”

In 2020, his family moved to serve an unreached indigenous community in Chiapas, Mexico. They couldn’t live there, so they travelled over two hours every weekend to help. One day, they prayed for a woman in severe pain. “From that day on, it never returned. And she and her family came to faith,” Jeremías shares. Soon, more people wanted to hear about Jesus.

‘MANY RECEIVED JESUS’

After three years, gangs took control of the area. Jeremías and his son Josías* refused to join them, putting their lives in danger. One night, they had to flee. Jeremías’ youngest son was very sick. “I thought he would die that night in the cold, but we still chose to leave, otherwise we would all die,” he recalls.

That night, something incredible happened. “It was as if we were inside a bubble… God saved us that night,” Jeremías says.

Three weeks later, they returned—even though armed checkpoints filled the area. “I was afraid,” he admits. Still, he handed out gospel leaflets, even to gang members. “Many were there because they were being forced. They needed a glimpse of God.”

The family stayed, praying and encouraging people. “They didn’t understand why we had peace, until we shared the gospel with them. Many received Jesus in those days.”

VIOLENCE LEADS MANY TO FLEE

Then violence broke out. “We prayed the entire night,” Jeremías says. By morning, everyone else had fled. His family escaped again, along with thousands displaced.

Josías remembers: “I was afraid the bad men would take my dad… I was only able to pack some clothes and honey for my little brother.” Leaving friends behind was the hardest part. “It was hard to leave them.”

Even so, Jeremías says God reminded him: “One sows and another reaps.” He still prays others will continue the work.

‘We teach people to serve God, not them’

With support, the family rebuilt their lives. “I realised that dependence on God makes you immovable. When you act out of fear, you make wrong decisions.”

Life is still tough, but their faith is strong. “The cartels are almost everywhere, but God is more powerful,” Jeremías says. “They see us as a problem because we teach people to serve God, not them.”

Despite rejection, they keep loving their community. “Organised crime made us lose everything, but Jesus loves these people, and they need to hear about Him.”

Now, Jeremías trains other Christians facing persecution. “I share my testimony and remind them that God can bless us wherever we are, if we obey,” he says.

He has one simple request: “Pray for spiritual and physical strength… May God’s work continue despite persecution.”

Pray as they play

With the World Cup kicking off, the coming weeks provide an amazing opportunity to pray for believers like Jeremías in Mexico who are vulnerable to persecution for their faith. Mexico is one of 14 teams on the World Watch List that are playing at the tournament, so will you join us to pray as they play?

Keep an eye on our social media channels for special World Cup prayer cards… we’ll be sharing these on the days when countries on the World Watch List are playing. They feature facts and figures, together with a short prayer request. You can also download, print off and stick together to use throughout the tournament Grab them here…  

*Names changed for security reasons. Images are of Jeremias and Josias.

Sunday 22 June 2025 began like any other day at Mar Elias Church in Damascus. The church was full, with more than 300 people gathered, including Elias, his wife Hanan, and their five children.

Partway through the service, gunfire broke out at the church entrance. Elias remembers the terror clearly. “The gunshots grew more intense from the front door,” he says. “The door was thrown open… a terrorist shooting right and left. People were shouting. The church had turned red.”

Panic filled the room as people tried to hide. Hanan crouched between seats, while Elias heard his brother Geryes shouting for people to “Get down.” Geryes, along with his brother Boutros and another man, Milad, rushed toward the attacker. They tackled him to the ground, but moments later, he detonated a backpack bomb. All three men, and Geryes, were killed instantly.

“Everybody witnessed their courage” says Elias. “If they hadn’t acted, there would have been more casualties.” At least 22 Christians were killed in less than a minute.

Searching for their children

In the chaos, Hanan searched desperately for her children, all five of whom had been at the service. “The whole church was destroyed,” she says. “I failed to see any of my children. I didn’t know where to search.” She found five-year-old Taqla first, then prayed, “Lord, please, let me find one more child. I’ll be content to find just one more.”

Then Ibrahim ran to her. As they walked toward the door, she remembers, “As we headed to the door, we walked by bodies on the ground.” Outside, a blood-covered girl kept following her. Hanan looked down and recognised the shoes. It was her daughter Sarah. “I didn’t recognise her face,” she says. “Her face was swollen and her hair was burned. She wasn’t able to see anything and was just following my voice.”

Miraculously, all five children survived. Elias and Sarah were badly injured and taken to hospital. Later, Elias learned that his brothers, sister, and several relatives had been killed. “I broke down,” he says. “After we came home, there was emptiness.”

The trauma remains. “The children still fear the smallest sounds,” Hanan says. “If they hear fireworks, they think they’re being attacked.”

“EVEN IF WE ARE AFRAID, WE WILL STILL GO”

The attack is part of wider violence against Christians in Syria. Since the fall of Assad’s regime, the country has become even more dangerous for believers. Many Christians have left, but some, like Elias and Hanan, are still deciding. “For the sake of our children, we are considering not remaining here,” Elias says. “If it’s God’s will, we will stay. If not, His will be done.”

For now, they continue worshipping at Mar Elias. “We go to church, but fear still exists,” Hanan says. “Yet even if we are afraid, we will still go.”

Elias holds onto faith through Scripture. “We have no ambition but to remain faithful,” he says. “I knew the Lord wouldn’t forsake us… Our faith is built on rocks, not bubbles of soap.”

Local Open Doors partners are providing vital economic aid, Bibles and prayer support to our brothers and sisters. They are also supporting the persecuted church through crucial trauma counselling, and through counselling schools that train believers to support others. More than 60 graduates are now equipped as trauma counsellors, strengthening the church as they bring professional support to traumatised people like Elias, Hanan and their children. As Hanan says, “Even in the darkest moments, God can bring healing and growth.”

This support is just the start. Across the Middle East, in the face of persecution, our church family need your support so they can heal from their trauma, be equipped for future risks and keep growing and flourishing. This is not a dying church – this is the body of Christ standing firm and faithful in the face of fear. Today, will you help strengthen what remains? Why not start by praying? Use the points below…

Zaira* from CENTRAL ASIA spent years searching for the answers to her questions. Nothing could satisfy the ache in her heart – until she encountered the God of the Bible in a book. Saying ‘yes’ to following Jesus meant stepping into a life of persecution, but one from which she would never turn away.

Growing up, Zaira lived in fear, terrified of what would happen to her after her death. She tried so hard to do all her religion required, even memorising long, complex prayers and reciting them day and night. “I kept repeating the Islamic prayers, but I was still searching.”

Then tragedy struck: her father fell gravely ill and died. In her grief she cried out to God: “Do You exist or not?” she demanded. “Where is my father?”

God’s answer came through a book. As she sorted through her father’s possessions, she was surprised to find some Christian books he had once been given and which, for some reason, he had kept. One book, in particular, seemed to address the questions she had spent years struggling with.

“I read about Jesus,” she recalls. “It said, ‘Whoever has faith in Jesus will not die but live again.’ That was what I had been looking for. I found it. It all poured into me, like through a funnel.”

In that moment, Zaira made her decision. She went to her family’s barn, trying to find somewhere secret and safe. She closed the door and barricaded it. She couldn’t let anyone else see what she was about to do or hear what she was about to say. Alone, she knelt down and prayed: “Jesus, come into my heart. I am a sinner. Forgive my sins.”

With that prayer, years of searching ended; with that prayer, years of persecution began.

“I felt like I flew up and came back down,” she said. “My mouth couldn’t stop saying ‘Jesus’.”

Persecution and pain

From then on, life changed. Zaira met with some Christians in a neighbouring village, who gave her more books to read. But when her eldest brother found out, he was furious and threw her books into the fire. Despite his anger, Zaira carried meeting with other Christians whenever she could. She told her younger sisters about Jesus. Some of her family and friends even became Christians.

That only made others in her family even more angry. She was beaten several times, and one of her brothers tried to force her to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. When Zaira refused, he disowned her, shouting, “I have no sister. Leave! I disown you.”

“All I said was, ‘Yes, God.’ That’s all,” Zaira says. “Then I forgave my mother, my brother and everyone.”

The amazing miracle

Zaira didn’t return to her family for several years after that incident. During her absence the relatives who became Christians also suffered persecution. Some of her Christian nieces were forced to marry against their will, others were badly beaten. Like Zaira, however, their faith was strong.

“While they were beating us, we pictured Jesus’ suffering,” one of them told Zaira. “It gave us strength.”

Eventually, things changed. The example of Zaira and the other believers changed the attitudes of those around her. Then came what Zaira calls the most amazing miracle: her mother-in-law became a Christian.

“I used to think that even if the whole world believed, my mother-in-law would not. When she believed, my eyes were opened,” she recalled.

Open Doors supports many women like Zaira, though employment and training schemes help them gain independence, and discipleship training to help them live out their faith. And with your help, Zaira is able to support other vulnerable women who are facing isolation and persecution, and who are facing emotional, psychological and physical abuse.

“You need to be bold, stand firm in your faith, and be courageous,” she shares. “You have to go with two weapons: prayer and the Word.”

*Name changed for security reasons

Around the world Christians are living out an impossible faith, trying to follow Jesus when governments, laws, communities and even family are against Christianity. Here’s some key points from the last year, highlighting some of the places where your prayers are needed.

Impossible faith in North Korea

The dangers facing Christians in North Korea have not abated – and that’s why it’s still number one on the World Watch List. Amidst an ongoing humanitarian crisis, the Kim regime continues to strengthen the country’s self-reliance and its strategic positioning on the world stage. For North Korea’s secret believers, following Jesus openly remains impossible.

4,849 pay ultimate cost for their faith

Open Doors research shows that the number of Christians worldwide killed for their faith increased by eight per cent to 4,849. Of these, 72% were from Nigeria – that’s more than the rest of the world combined. Other countries in sub-Saharan Africa that recorded at least 100 faith-related killings include Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso and Cameroon.

Syria jumps 12 places, making it the biggest riser

Syria has jumped to sixth. It’s the biggest riser in this year’s list and now a place of extreme persecution for many of the country’s tiny minority of believers. This is largely down to a sharp rise in the number of Christians killed and churches attacked since the fall of the Assad regime, notably the suicide bomb at Saint Elias Church, Damascus, in June that killed 22 people.

Christians in Africa exposed by instability

Fourteen countries in the top 50 of the World Watch List are in sub-Saharan Africa, and four of these are in the top 10 (Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Nigeria). A key driver is weak governance – for example, five of the 14 countries have experienced government overthrows in the past five years. This enables militancy and corruption to flourish, with believers often disproportionately targeted. One in eight Christians globally live in these 14 countries.

Crackdown on online church activities in China

China reached its highest ever score on the World Watch List, largely due to the implementation in September 2025 of ‘Regulations on the Online Behaviour of Religious Clergy’. It comprises of 18 rules to ‘actively guide the religion’s alignment with society’. There is a ban on youth outreach, fundraising and ‘healing’ activities. Livestreams of sermons are only permitted if the church has been state-approved, which means preaching is heavily censored.

Drop in violence in Bangladesh

Among the good news from the latest list is a 20% drop in reported incidents of violence in Bangladesh. Since the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasana in August 2024, a period of relative calm has emerged under the interim leadership of Muhammad Yunus, an advocate of religious freedom. However, with elections scheduled for early this year, this will be tested, with concerns that it could lead to greater persecution of religious minorities.

What’s the good news?

In Mexico (#30) and Colombia (#47), there is growing recognition – from media, civil society and some state actors – of the specific risks faced by religious leaders in areas affected by organised crime and armed groups. A spotlight is also being shone on the authorities’ approach to religious freedom in Cuba (#24) and Nicaragua (#32), through the work of international monitoring groups and advocates speaking up on behalf of affected churches and leaders.

And in a wonderful answer to prayer from Malaysia (#51), truth and justice prevailed with Susanna Koh winning her court case against the state over the disappearance of her husband, Pastor Raymond Koh, in February 2017.

God of the impossible

These trends are a reminder that the drivers behind the persecution of brothers and sisters are complex and multifaceted. But perhaps the most potent and powerful reason for persecution is that, in all these countries, the church is still present and alive. In many places, it’s even growing!

Despite the best efforts of dictators, extremists, secret policemen and party officials, Christians continue to show remarkable resilience and creativity in how they witness to Jesus. Churches still meet, prayers are prayed, Scripture is shared and the gospel is still proclaimed. The enemies of Christianity will always try to make life impossible for Christians. But it won’t work. Because ours is an impossible faith. And nothing is impossible with God.

“If you could see what God is doing in my country, you would never have any doubts again. The Holy Spirit is at work, thanks to your prayers.” – a North Korean escapee

Simply existing as a Christian in North Korea is effectively impossible, let alone sharing the gospel in a place where one’s every move is watched. But, as Cho’s story demonstrates, nothing is impossible with God.

When Cho first met Eun-Yeong, she was terrified. She had just escaped North Korea—a place where even owning a Bible can get you and your family thrown in prison for life. If she was caught, she could be sent back, interrogated, or even killed.

Cho was looking for people like her—but not to harm them. He wanted to help.

“Please don’t shout,” Cho whispered. “I’m not here to hurt you. I want to help.”

Cho had a dangerous mission: to share the hope of Jesus with North Koreans who had risked everything to flee their country. Every week, he hiked through forests carrying food, blankets, and something even more precious—a Bible.

Why Cho RISKED IT ALL

We’re able to share Cho’s story because his ministry is over. A few months ago, he sadly died from a long-term illness and he is now in heaven with Jesus. That’s why it’s safe to tell you about his extraordinary calling and his work as a secret Open Doors fieldworker.

“My purpose in life is to save souls,” he said simply. Cho believed that with God, anything is possible. He knew North Koreans had been taught to fear Christians, but he wanted them to know the truth: Jesus loves them.

When North Koreans cross the border, they are usually desperate for food – so that’s what Cho would bring, to show he was a friend.

“Look here,” he said to Eun-Yeong and the man with her, Cheol-Ho*, putting down his bag and backing away a few paces. “I have some food and water. It’s yours.” The desperate couple ate and drank, and began to trust Cho.

“There’s also a tarp and some blankets in the bag,” he added. “I’ll come back again to bring you more food. It will be much safer for all of us if I come after dark, so no one is watching. Stay in the shelter until then and make sure you are not found.”

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD

The next day, Cho returned. When Eun-Yeong asked why he kept coming back, Cho told her about Jesus and gave her a Bible. At first, she refused to listen.

He was used to this response. North Koreans often haven’t heard of Jesus, but have been warned against Christians. The authorities say that Christians are spies who want to kidnap and abuse them. It can take time to break down this mistrust.

“I give a Bible to every North Korean I meet,” Cho would say. “Sometimes they read it. Sometimes they refuse. My job is to tell people about Jesus. It’s up to God to touch their hearts. And anything is possible with God.” 

A Life-Changing Decision

As often as he could, Cho returned to see Cheol-Ho and Eun-Yeong. One night, Eun-Yeong rushed towards him as he approached. “I have something I need to tell you,” she said. “I’ve been reading the book you gave us. Then yesterday, I had a dream. There was a person in my dream. He called me by my name. I think it was this ‘Jesus’ this book talks about, and I want to find out more about Him.”

Cho introduced Eun-Yeong and Cheol-Ho to a safe house where they could learn about Jesus and it was at the safe house that Eun-Yeong and Cheol-Ho dedicated their lives to Jesus! In human terms, it seems impossible that North Koreans would ever make this decision – but God used Open Doors fieldworkers to ensure it could happen.

But now that they were Christians, being caught and sent back to North Korea was even more dangerous. They might be executed. Even having met a Christian would mean their punishment would be more severe, let alone having chosen to defy the North Korean authorities and decide to follow Jesus themselves.

But Eun-Yeong and Cheol-Ho didn’t have to be caught by spies. They chose to go back themselves.

The Bigger Picture

What greater example of God’s impossible plan could there be? Despite the dangers, the courageous couple were determined to share their newfound faith with North Koreans desperately in need of the gospel.

A few months later, Cho received a coded message sent from North Korea. It simply said: “Our family has grown to five.” Three more North Koreans had heard the gospel and chosen to follow Jesus!

Today, there are around 400,000 secret Christians in North Korea, risking everything to follow Jesus. Cho’s story shows that even when something seems impossible, God can make a way.