As of the time of this writing, the Free Gao petition has 58,923 people who have signed the petition to help pressure the Chinese into freeing Gao. There have also been 228,950 emails sent on behalf of Gao.

George Jeltonoshko knew his government did not want people propagating the gospel of Christ, but he had a stronger conviction to obey the commandments of Christ—even if it conflicted with the laws of his country.

On Feb. 22, the Taliban attacked six churches, burned several Christian homes and four Bibles and injured children in Karachi, Pakistan, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts.

April 23, 2009

DUBLIN, April 24 (Compass Direct News) – Even as the North Korean government this month allowed two high-profile, U.S. Christian bands to perform at a music festival in Pyongyang, the fear of punishment authorities have instilled in North Korean Christians keeps most of them from publicly revealing their faith. As many as 400,000 Christians are estimated to worship secretly in the country, and Suzanne Scholte, head of the North Korean Freedom Coalition (NKFC), estimates that more than 200,000 North Koreans are held in political prison camps for various perceived “disloyalties” to the regime, including adherence to Christianity. Christian support group Open Doors estimates that of the 200,000 people incarcerated in political prison camps, at least 40,000 are Christians. A delegation of North Korean refugees described their experiences in preparation for events in Washington, D.C. on Sunday (April 26) through Saturday (May 2) as part of North Korea Freedom Week, organized by the NKFC. “A lot of people ask me if there really are people in North Korea who believe in Christ,” said Eom Myong-Heui, a refugee who is now an assistant pastor at a large church in Seoul, South Korea. “Do you really think that the missionaries who were there and all the believers who meet underground are all dead?”

Faith is not even worthy of the name until it erupts into action.

We would like you to take some time today to pray for the persecuted church. Below are a few requests to start with. If you feel led, please say a prayer in the comments section.

HO CHI MINH CITY, April 22 (Compass Direct News) – In what religious freedom advocates regarded as a breakthrough in Vietnam, authorities granted rare permission to unregistered house church groups to hold a large, public Easter-related service here last night. More than 15,000 people gathered at Tao Dan Stadium to worship God, proclaim Christ and experience a rare sense of large-scale Christian unity, especially house church members accustomed to meeting in small groups. The only other such event granted to unregistered groups was an open-air meeting during Christmas of 2007 sponsored by the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship (VEF, a house church umbrella group). At the event last night, the VEF endeavored to include all house churches, not just its own members, sources said. Unregistered groups holding an event that includes worship and evangelism outside a church building violates Vietnam’s restrictive religion laws, and the celebration – in which 1,200 people indicated they had decided to follow Christ – did not happen without struggles. Reluctant to endorse such Christian unity events, authorities demanded and got the removal of one of the organizers as a condition to consider approval. Officials did not grant permission until 4 p.m., just three hours before the event was to begin, though event organizers had requested permission several months prior.