Over the weekend the world was alerted to the reality that Kim Jong Il, North Korea's dictator had died. I have to admit that one of my first thoughts was how is this going to impact Christians in the underground church in North Korea, and how will this impact the Christians in South Korea.

Iraq (MNN) ? U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta formally declared an end to nine years of a war in Iraq on Thursday at a ceremony in Baghdad.

I would like to personally thank our friends at Mission Network News who helped bring this story to their readers last week and as a result, I'd like to let you know that we started with a need to have 200 letters written to Yang Xuan a few weeks ago, and then last week we only needed 186 and as of today we only need 80 more letters to reach our goal of 200!

Iran’s Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, head of the judiciary, has ordered the judge presiding over Youcef Nadarkhani’s case to delay his written verdict for one year. The judge was specifically ordered to keep Nadarkhani in prison, using whatever means necessary to force him to recant his Christian faith and convert to Islam.

Recent attacks on Christian-owned businesses in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region have put believers on edge in an area that was formerly considered safe for Christians.

One of the things I personally enjoy about the Internet and social media, is the opportunity to read wonderful quotes from people. As the Lord would have it, in today's Extreme Devotion email, the following quote was sent. Inspiring!

One of the stories that is getting a lot of press today concerns Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese legal activist, who is blind and is currently under house arrest in China.

Today the New York Times has highlighted some breaking news about Gao Zhesheng, citing China’s official news agency which announced that Gao will serve the next three years in prison because he violated his probation.

Thank you all for praying for these special prayer requests this week. The bible says in James 4:8 to draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. As you pray for our suffering family in Jesus, ask the Lord to draw nearer to them during this time. Thank you for sharing these requests with your church, friends and family..

The Voice of the Martyrs is offering their new Kids of Courage VBS program to teach children about forgiveness, courage and perseverance – all through stories of persecuted Christians. The curriculum features five countries – China, Egypt, India, Nigeria and North Korea – showing children how they relate with persecuted Christians around the world.