Communists tell North Korean children that they will suffer a horrific fate if they are ever caught in China. But the children also know that if they are fortunate enough to escape, they should look for a building with the shape of a cross on it to find help. Two North Korean children who managed to arrive at a Chinese church relayed their stories to the pastor.

Robert J. Thomas and his wife left to be the first missionaries to Korea in July 1863. His wife died soon after their arrival. In 1866, having evangelized for a few months in Korea and having learned the language, Thomas rode the American ship, the General Sherman, along the Taedong River to the location of the present-day capital of North Korea. The Sherman became grounded on a sandbar. Korean soldiers on shore were suspicious and scared, and they boarded the ship, waving long, flashing knives.

When Joshua sent two spies to view the land of Jericho, they hid in the house of Rahab the harlot. Rahab’s house was built along the wall of Jericho, a wall constructed to prevent illegal passage of unwelcome visitors. When the king heard the Israeli spies were in town, he immediately sent word to Rahab. He instructed her to bring forth the spies, who had entered her home.

King Astyages raged at him. “You have perverted my own brother, my wife, and some of my children! You have disturbed the worship of our gods! The priests of Ashtaroth cry for your blood! If you do not stop preaching this Jesus and sacrifice to our gods, you shall die a most painful death!”

In the sixteenth century, King Philip II took a hard line against those who would try to interpret Scripture for themselves. Anyone found studying the Bible during this time was hanged, burned at the stake, drowned, torn in pieces, or buried alive.

Pastor Roman Abramov and his wife worked diligently for three years to plant a church in Ismailly, Azerbaijan. But within a year of moving to the village, officials arrested them in an attempt to force them out of town.

“My first and chosen name is Christian. In the world I am called Carpus.”

Asif’s leg was broken when a car hit him on a Pakistani street. In the midst of pain, he felt a hand on his leg. He looked up to hear a woman praying for Jesus to heal him. Asif began to get angry because he was Muslim. Then a strange energy began running through his body. His leg straightened, and the bone came back into place. He eventually walked home from the accident.

“They stabbed one believer through the mouth with a long knife and poured boiling water down the throat of another who was caught with a Bible. An entire family had been drowned.”

“We have heard a rumor that people in the West are saying that there is no persecution of Christians in China,” began the letter from a group of Chinese believers.