NIGERIA: WIDOWS OF MARTYRED CHRISTIANS RECEIVE SEWING MACHINES, TRAINING

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Pastor Foley

30 Nigerian Christian widows whose husbands were killed in anti-Christian violence in Adamawa State are receiving sewing machines, grinding machines, and the training to use them through a project funded by Voice of the Martyrs Korea, in cooperation with SDOK, its sister Voice of the Martyrs mission in the Netherlands.

According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the project is designed to enable the widows not only to support themselves but also to help other Christians in the region who are struggling as a result of the anti-Christian violence.

“Violence against Christians from groups like Boko Haram and radical Fulani herdsmen is a worsening reality in many areas of Nigeria today, especially in Muslim majority areas like Adamawa state,” says Representative Foley. She says it is important for Christians in other countries to do more than pray when they see media reports of this kind of anti-Christian violence in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

“Especially we are called to remember the widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers were martyred,” says Representative Foley. “If we don’t equip them to support themselves, then they, their children, and other Christians in the community quickly become second-class citizens in these Muslim majority areas, and the church becomes weaker and weaker there.”

Representative Foley says that SDOK, Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s sister mission in the Netherlands, worked with local Christian leaders to provide sewing and griding machines to 30 Christian widows through a 10,000 USD grant from Voice of the Martyrs Korea donors. The widows also received daily spiritual support along with training on how to use their new machines to run self-supporting businesses.

According to Representative Foley, the results exceeded expectations. “The economic benefits from these widows’ new businesses are already aiding other Christians in need in the community,” says Representative Foley. She provided testimonies from two of the widows who have been helped through the project.

Martha (last name withheld for security reasons), age 34, wrote, “I’m very grateful for this empowerment. It has removed the burden of providing for my children and encouraged me to stand firmly in my faith. Now I am also training two orphaned children for free to help them sustain themselves.” 

Nigerian Christian widow receives sewing machine through VOMK sponsored project

Dorcas (last name withheld for security reasons), age 28, wrote, “Life has been difficult after my husband was killed in a Fulani attack. The training and the start-up package have kindled hope in me. I can now support my family from the income I make through this business. I am very grateful to God.”

A report earlier this year from the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), located in Nigeria, says that more than 5,000 Nigerian Christians were killed in 2022 and an additional 1,000 were killed in the first three months of 2023. The report lists Adamawa state, the location of the Voice of the Martyrs Korea-funded project, as one of the areas hardest hit.

Representative Foley says her organization’s focus is to help Christians who choose to stay in the setting of persecution, rather than those who flee. “Often when Korean Christians and NGOs hear about persecuted Christians, their first thought is to help them escape to somewhere safe. But when a whole community of Christians is persecuted, like in Adamawa state, relocating a whole Christian community is not possible. And if some Christians flee or are relocated, those who remain often face greater persecution, since it makes attackers even bolder. The regrettable outcome is that the witness to the gospel is silenced.”

“That is the tragedy we are seeing in places like Syria, Iraq, and parts of India,” says Representative Foley. “The Christian communities there are rapidly disappearing. Other NGOs often provide funds to help Christians relocate and build a new life as refugees in another country. But there is very little aid for Christians who feel called to stay and testify to Christ in a place of adversity.”

Representative Foley says that is why Voice of the Martyrs Korea prioritizes funding to Christians in areas of active persecution.

Nigerian Christian widows training on sewing machines provided through VOMK sponsored project

“It is easy to see how providing the sewing and grinding machines and training to the widows helps to stabilize and restore the Christian community after an attack,” she says. “Projects like this show the world that when Christians are attacked, they can do something other than flee or fight. They can respond in patient faith, knowing that God can give them a new life right where they are, with the support of other believers around the world. That is the powerful witness to the gospel which these Nigerian Christian widows are making.”

Individuals interested in helping Voice of the Martyrs Korea meet the needs of other families of Christian martyrs and prisoners throughout the world can make a donation to VOMK’s Families of Martyrs/Families of Prisoners (FOM/FOP) fund at www.vomkorea.com/en/donate or via electronic transfer to

국민은행 463501-01-243303

예금주: (사)순교자의소리

Please include the name “FOM/FOP” on the donation.

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North Koreans became Christian by watching secular Russian movies

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Pastor Foley

Secular movies are usually not known for their evangelistic impact, but according to one of several letters from North Korean underground Christians recently received by Voice of the Martyrs Korea, a family inside North Korea became Christians by seeing characters praying and going to church in various Russian movies.

“One family living in North Korea watched some Russian movies where people prayed and went to church and made the sign of the cross, so the family modeled what they saw and learned how to pray from the movies,” says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley.

According to Dr Foley, the family said they did not know to whom they were praying.

“One of the family members then went to China and heard the gospel preached by somebody they met,” says Representative Foley. “The family member asked to be taken to a church, just as they had seen in the movies. There they were able to learn about the basics of the faith, the Apostle’s Creed, and forgiveness.”

Representative Foley says that the family member then returned to North Korea to share what they learned with their family.

The letter was one of several recently received from underground Christians in North Korea, according to Representative Foley. Her organization, Voice of the Martyrs Korea, distributes 40,000 to 50,000 North Korean dialect Bibles a year in print and electronic formats to North Koreans inside North Korea, as well as to North Korean sex-trafficked women in China and North Koreans sent to work abroad by the North Korean government. She says that North Koreans who receive the Bibles sometimes send back notes of thanks through the organization’s contacts.

Bibles and small personal gift items sent to North Koreans through Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s distribution network.

Representative Foley shared the contents of three additional letters from underground North Korean Christians inside North Korea. The text of those letters follows:

“We humans need to know in our hearts that the whole world cannot turn by the power of humans. I pray in my heart for the love of God to be spread abroad to the people of our country, which is slipping down” – Underground NK Christian A

“This is something that we feel as we live in the world of humans, but this world is a lump of sin. But those who are children of God repent of their sin to the Lord and really feel deeply in their hearts that everything is going well by the love and grace of God.” – Underground NK Christian B

“The Lord has opened a great door of salvation to our lives but there are so many lives who are dying because they do not know this blessed news. The Lord has called us first for this work. In Matthew 28:19-20, He said “Therefore, you go and make disciples of all peoples, give them baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach them to keep all of the things I have commanded you. Behold, I am always with you to the last day of the world.” He said that the gospel will be testified to and in doing so He will always be together to the last day of the world.” – Underground NK Christian C

Representative Foley says she believes the letters reflect a growing knowledge of the Bible and biblical themes among North Korean underground believers as well as other North Koreans. She says the Bible is growing in its impact on North Korea—something she believes that independent surveys are also confirming.

“Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, an independent data-gathering NGO, has been conducting an ongoing study where they found that in the year 2000, effectively 0% of people inside North Korea had ever seen a Bible with their own eyes,” says Representative Foley. “They have continued to update that study, and at the end of 2020 they determined that around 8% of people inside of North Korea have now seen a Bible with their own eyes.”

Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, meets with one of our partners who helps to distribute NK dialect Bibles.

She says that number is likely to have increased even further during the COVID pandemic. “The requests for Bibles from North Koreans outside of South Korea doubled each year during the pandemic,” she says. Her organization does not disclose information about the means used to receive and fulfill the requests they receive for Bibles, citing concerns for the safety of Bible couriers and recipients. “Anyone bringing the Bible into North Korea from any country in any format, whether printed or electronic, using any means of distribution, remains at risk of prosecution, imprisonment, and even death,” says Representative Foley.

Representative Foley says her organization publishes select letters from North Korean Bible recipients in order to help Christians outside of North Korea understand the impact the Bible is having today inside of North Korea. “Today is the day for gospel ministry to North Korea,” she says. “The Bible is continuing to get inside North Korea today, and more North Koreans are reading it and being transformed by it today than literally any other time in history.”

Individuals or churches interested in supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s North Korea ministry can make a donation at www.vomkorea.com/en/donate or wire transfer to:

국민은행 (KB Bank) 463501-01-243303 

예금주 (Account Holder): (사)순교자의소리 

Please include the phrase “NK Ministry” with the donation. 

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For Chinese Christians, persecution doesn’t stop when they leave China

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Pastor Foley

13 Christians who have left China for the United States over the past 10 years due to persecution from Chinese authorities participated in a Bible-based trauma recovery workshop in Midland, Texas on October 27 provided by Voice of the Martyrs Korea and China Aid.

Chinese Christians who came to the US to escape persecution, along with members of the China Aid staff, participate in an October Bible-based trauma recovery workshop in Midland, Texas led by Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley and translated by China Aid CEO Bob Fu.

“For Chinese Christians, persecution doesn’t stop when they leave China,” said Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley, who led the workshop. “Partly that’s because persecution-related trauma can last a lifetime and even carry into the next generation when it’s not treated properly. Partly it’s because most Chinese Christians still have relatives living in China who are currently under government surveillance there. And partly it’s because many Chinese Christians report that they themselves are experiencing active surveillance by Chinese agents even though they are now living in the US.”

Dr. Foley received her master’s degree in clinical counseling with a specialization in trauma care from Colorado Christian University in the United States. In addition to teaching Bible-based trauma recovery directly to persecuted Christians still living in China, Dr Foley has also provided trauma recovery aftercare to Christians who have left China to seek religious asylum in other countries.

Six of the October workshop attendees were from the Shenzen Holy Reformed Church, the so-called “Mayflower Church” which fled China for Jeju Island in 2019 before relocating to Thailand in August 2022 in their ongoing efforts to seek religious asylum. They were permitted to come to the US in April 2023. Representative Foley said her organization has provided twice-yearly persecution training and trauma recovery sessions for the church members since the church first arrived in Korea. The church’s pastor, Pan Yongguang, who participated in the October workshop, called Dr Foley’s trauma recovery training the church’s “secret weapon”.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley teaching Bible-based trauma recovery techniques at a private October training event in Midland, Texas for Chinese Christians in the US, with China Aid CEO Bob Fu translating.

“Counselors know that the heart of trauma recovery is the recovery and strengthening of whatever healthy family and group rituals and routines already exist in the life of the traumatized person or community,” said Representative Foley. “For Christians, the most powerful resource for trauma recovery is daily household worship.”

During the October workshop, Pastor Pan explained to the other attendees that the families in his church had previously prayed and read scripture in their homes daily, but it was only after working with Voice of the Martyrs Korea that they learned how to use daily family worship as the main means of managing and reducing stress and recovering from trauma for each member of the family. “Since that time, whether they were living in Korea, Thailand, or now the US, Pastor Pan has asked each of the families in his congregation to send him a ‘confirmation text’ when they do family worship each day, so that he know they are dealing with their stress and trauma daily,” said Representative Foley. 

Among the other October workshop attendees, who asked to remain nameless for security reasons, many reported living alone or with only a spouse or minor child after other family members had been killed or were still being detained in China. Some reported still being watched by observers who they believe are from China. One had even had their phone stolen recently and credited the theft to Chinese agents. The attendees expressed their uneasiness in being around other Chinese people in the US and their sense that their homes, churches, and workplaces are not safe from surveillance by Chinese agents.

“In situations like this, the traumatized person must of course still focus on their survival and the survival of their family members both inside and outside of China,” said Representative Foley. But she says that doesn’t mean they should postpone dealing with their traumas.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley and Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley with Pan Yongguang, pastor of the so-called “Mayflower Church” which fled China in 2019, at the private October trauma recovery training event in Midland, Texas for formerly persecuted Chinese Christians now living in the US. The training was conducted by Voice of the Martyrs Korea and China Aid.

“Trauma recovery should not wait until a trauma is over, because as our workshop participants shared, they are continuing to have to deal with persecution and trauma even though they have left China,” said Representative Foley. “The most effective trauma recovery strategies are ones which people can use even in the midst of ongoing trauma. They are strategies which don’t require professional counselors and which can be taught and practiced by ordinary people. That is why daily household worship is so powerful as a trauma recovery strategy: It is something any traumatized person can learn to do and practice for even just a few minutes each day. It helps them remember that God is in charge, even when the circumstances seem to indicate otherwise.”

In addition to the day-long workshop, Representative Foley and Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley met the next day for individual trauma recovery sessions with several of the participants.

“Some of the workshop participants have been in the US for a few months, while some have been here more than ten years,” says Representative Foley. “But all are still experiencing high levels of active trauma due to ongoing persecution of family members inside China, as well as suspected ongoing surveillance by Chinese agents in the US.” In such cases, says Dr Foley, trauma recovery strategies are especially important. “It is easy for an asylum seeker to become depressed when they realize that their problems have followed them to their new country and, in some cases, become worse because they are often no longer able to maintain contact with family members in China, who may now be in even more danger because of the asylum seeker’s departure,” says Representative Foley. “In these cases, we should not make false promises that everything will be OK or that everyone will be safe. Instead, we need to equip them with practical strategies for dealing with trauma arising from circumstances beyond their control. As Pastor Pan from the Mayflower Church testified, daily family worship is the ‘secret weapon’ the Lord has given us for this purpose.”

Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with persecuted Christians in China can visit www.vomkorea.com/en/china or give via electronic transfer to:

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303

Account Holder: (사)순교자의소리

Please note “China” on the transfer.

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