Busan: Volunteers serve persecuted Christians through new Voice of the Martyrs Korea regional office

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Pastor Foley

A ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s new regional office in the Seomyeon neighborhood of Busan on Saturday, January 20. But unlike most ribbon cutting ceremonies, the ribbon cutters were not local dignitaries, board members, or megachurch pastors.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley (far left) and Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley (far right)

“It was important to us to have our regular Busan volunteers, donors, and newsletter subscribers be the ones to cut the ribbon, because this office is for them,” said Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley. She says the purpose of the ministry’s regional offices is to give local Christians and churches the opportunity to directly serve and learn from underground Christians in North Korea and the 70 other countries around the world where Christians are persecuted for their faith. “Hebrews 13:3 commands all Christians to remember our persecuted brothers and sisters as though we ourselves were in prison,” says Representative Foley. “That means serving the persecuted is the responsibility of every church and Christian in the Busan area. So our new office in Busan is designed to be a place where ordinary Busan believers can come together regularly to carry out that biblical command.”

More than 40 volunteers crowded around the small doorway to jointly cut the red, green, and white ribbon officially opening the Busan office, which joins Seoul, Daejeon, and Jeju as Voice of the Martyrs office locations. Representative Foley says the red, white, and green colors represent the historical colors the early Christian church used to designate the three kinds of martyrdom described in the Bible: dying to self (green martyrdom), dying to the world (white martyrdom), and the formal martyrdom of death due to faithful Christian witness (red martyrdom).

Representative Foley and her husband, Voice of the Martyrs Korea CEO Pastor Eric Foley, welcomed the more than 50 guests with a special worship service focused on serving and learning from persecuted Christians in North Korea and other countries. Ministry staff braved the rainy conditions to grill American style outdoor barbeque for guests.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea Busan Site Leader Pastor Tim Dillmuth braves the rain to grill American style barbeque for guests at the ministry’s grand opening event in Seomyeon.

Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s volunteers serve in a wide variety of ministry tasks including editing and recording the ministry’s daily radio broadcasts to North Korea and China, writing letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith, preparing audio and digital Bibles for distribution to North Koreans wherever they are found, printing the ministry’s books, translating materials, helping with office administration, hosting overseas visitors, and assisting in the operation of the ministry’s extensive media operation, which includes monthly newsletter design and printing in multiple languages, as well as operation of its Korean, Chinese, Russian, and English language social media channels.

Representative Foley says that each of the 15 Voice of the Martyrs organizations around the world is independent but shares a common history, including a strong reliance on volunteers for much of the organizations’ ministry.

“Since it was founded worldwide in 1967, Voice of the Martyrs has always been a volunteer-driven organization, even though our work can be quite complex and dangerous,” says Representative Foley. “Bible smuggling, getting aid to families of Christian martyrs and prisoners, supporting underground Christian ministry—VOM volunteers have always been involved in these efforts. Voice of the Martyrs does not use or work with professional missionaries but instead connects directly with ordinary local Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. This gives volunteers amazing opportunities to learn firsthand how to remain faithful witnesses to Christ under the most difficult circumstances.”

Representative Foley says her organization’s use of volunteers also keeps operating costs low. “We decided not to have a headquarters building and not to hire many staff,” says Representative Foley. “Instead, we operate small regional offices in a growing number of locations around Korea, with most of the ministry done by volunteers. This keeps our overhead costs below 5 percent and enables us to efficiently use our donations to serve as many persecuted believers as possible.” Representative Foley says the ministry is currently hiring a few staff for the Busan office, including an office coordinator, media manager, and translator.  

Guests at Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s Busan office grand opening event enjoy an American style barbeque lunch prepared by the ministry.

For some of the guests at the open house, this was their first encounter with Voice of the Martyrs Korea, but other Busan Christians have engaged with the ministry for years, subscribing to the newsletter, donating to the ministry’s projects, and participating in the “Preparing for the Underground Church” camping seminars the ministry has offered quarterly in Busan over the past year.

“I’ve attended three Voice of the Martyrs’ Korea training events in Busan with my husband,” said Yeo Ju Young Samonim. “The first was a camping seminar where I discovered that we should learn from North Korean underground Christians, not just help them or pity them. The second was also a camping seminar, where I learned about how to make household worship the center of my family’s daily spiritual growth. The third was in the new office here this week, where we learned about the apostolic proclamation as the content of Christian evangelism. I look forward to recording volunteering here to record the radio sermons for broadcast to North Korea.”

Individuals interested in volunteering or applying for employment at Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s regional offices in Seoul, Daejeon, Busan, and Jeju can contact Voice of the Martyrs Korea for more information at 02-2065-0703 or by email at [email protected].

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North Korea: VOMK prepares for more–and better–jamming efforts by authorities

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Pastor Foley

Russia and North Korea’s September agreement to expand technology sharing between the two countries has led to speculation on the possible impact of Russian technology on North Korea’s satellite, missile, and nuclear programs. But according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr Hyun Sook Foley, one of the most significant impacts of increased Russia-North Korea technological cooperation may hit much closer to home for ordinary North Koreans.

“Russia could provide needed resources and technology to aid North Korea in jamming foreign radio broadcasts,” says Representative Foley.

A Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteer records a sermon by an early Korean Christian for the ministry’s daily radio broadcast into North Korea.

Foley’s organization currently airs four daily shortwave radio broadcasts into North Korea. She says those broadcasts faced increased jamming efforts in 2023. Now, she and her team are preparing for even greater challenges in 2024.

“Jamming radio broadcasts is expensive, since it requires large amounts of electricity,” says Representative Foley. “North Korea’s increased jamming efforts in 2023 are noteworthy since more jamming means higher cost, and they are willingly paying this higher cost even as other areas of their economy suffer.”

Representative Foley notes that advanced Russian jamming technology could potentially enable North Korea to jam more while spending less, thus reducing ordinary North Koreans’ covert access to foreign radio broadcasts.

“Russia began regular jamming of foreign radio broadcasts in 1948 and by all estimates spent tens of millions of dollars on electricity for jamming throughout the Cold War period,” says Representative Foley. “They developed increasingly efficient and sophisticated jamming strategies which they continue to use today, for example, to try to jam Ukrainian radio communications. Jamming technology may be of interest to North Korean authorities, given the high volume of jamming they do.”

If that happens, Representative Foley says her organization is ready.

“Some of the largest broadcasters struggle because even though their signals may be very strong, they are not able to adjust them,” says Representative Foley. “So if there’s enough electricity, their signal can be partially or completely jammed. But when jamming is attempted against our broadcasts, our broadcast engineers are able to quickly detect it quickly and make adjustments to bypass or limit the effectiveness of the jamming.” She says the organization’s effectiveness in countering North Korea’s rising jamming efforts is “partly experience, partly technology, but mostly prayer.” She asks Christians to join Voice of the Martyrs Korea in what she calls “prayer-jamming the government jamming”.

“Prayer can ‘jam’ the government’s technical jamming efforts, so we should pray for the Lord to grant a clear signal for each of our four gospel radio broadcasts every day,” she says.

Representative Foley says that even though increased jamming presents new challenges for her organization to overcome, she considers the jamming efforts a good sign.

“Increased jamming means that the broadcast is working,” said Representative Foley.

North Korean defectors and South Korean volunteers both record the Voice of the Martyrs Korea radio broadcasts. 

Representative Foley says that research from independent private analysts shows that Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s broadcasts have continued to be among the highest-priority information blocking targets of the North Korean authorities. She says that quick-response countermeasures based on daily broadcast monitoring and analysis have significantly mitigated the jamming efforts.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea broadcasts four daily 30-minute-long shortwave radio programs. Each program contains readings of the North Korean dialect Chosun Bible by North Korean voice actors, sermons from early Korean Christians read by Voice of the Martyrs Korea volunteers, and hymns that are popular among North Korean underground Christians, sung by North Koreans. “We do not publicly announce the radio frequencies or broadcast times for security reasons,” says Representative Foley, “And we regularly change the radio frequencies and broadcast times in order to address jamming efforts.”

Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea has received confidential reports from radio industry sources that as many as 10% of the North Korean population may have been exposed to its broadcasts. Representative Foley says that North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea will sometimes comment to her about the broadcasts.

Representative Foley also requests prayers for the broadcasts’ listeners.

“Pray for all North Koreans who hear the gospel, even today,” she says. “Listening to the gospel on shortwave radio is extremely dangerous, and yet we know that only God’s word can bring true life to those living in danger.”

Individuals interested in hearing the Voice of the Martyrs Korea daily radio broadcasts into North Korea can listen online, at http://www.podbbang.com/ch/1768188. More information about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s North Korea radio broadcasts is available at www.vomkorea.com/en/radio. Individuals interested in helping to prepare the broadcasts can contact Voice of the Martyrs Korea at 02-2065-0703.

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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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