As Russia-Ukraine tensions soar, VOMK joins major emergency Bible distribution in the region

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Pastor Foley

The long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine saw tensions reach their highest levels since 2014 this week, as an estimated 100,000 Russian troops amassed on the Ukraine border in what Russia described as a “snap inspection” of its military readiness in the region. The action drew calls of concern from the United States and the European Union until Russia ordered the troops to return to their home bases.

But the action has drawn a different response from Voice of the Martyrs Korea. We have joined an international coalition of ministries committed to an emergency distribution of 100,000 children’s New Testaments throughout Eastern Ukraine as soon as possible.

Too often we Christians have a wrong thinking that Bible distribution must wait or be postponed until a conflict or war is over, as if political peace is necessary to first make an area “safe” for the Bible. In truth, the Word of God is always our only hope for true peace, and it is God’s word that makes an area “safe” for peace.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea sees Bible distribution in major zones of conflict as one of the ministry’s core competencies and most important responsibilities. We are not a mission organization but instead a partner with local Christians living under persecution or pressure. Any time a major conflict threatens an area, that’s when people in that area instinctively turn to God and become open to the Bible. They’re looking for hope. Sometimes missionary organizations evacuate their personnel in such times, or they urge their missionaries to be cautious. But local Christians have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. They still have to go to work and to the market and to church. God then seems to give these ordinary local Christians a special boldness to preach the gospel and share the Bible with their neighbors.

The present situation in Eastern Ukraine is one such opportunity. Since fighting broke out in 2014, evangelical Christians in the area have faced sporadic raids, arrests, worship bans, seizure of church property, and kidnappings of pastors. That means that for children who are elementary school age or younger, all they have known in their lives is fear and conflict. This month that international tension reached its worst levels since 2014. We believe that, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, these kids have “studied war” long enough. It’s time for them to be able to study Jesus.

The emergency Bible distribution project has set the goal of distributing 100,000 “Action Bible” New Testaments to children in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions through a coalition including Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Mission Eurasia, and School Without Walls. The distribution, to be undertaken on a continual basis throughout the summer and early fall as funds come in, will utilize existing field networks and workers specially trained in reaching youth in the area. The Action Bible uses a graphic novel format to portray scripture in a popularized comic book-type format.

The cost for distributing each Action Bible New Testament in this emergency campaign is 1,500 KRW (roughly $1.35 USD). Individuals interested in donating to help the distribution effort can give at www.vomkorea.com/en/donation or via electronic transfer to:

국민은행 (KB Bank) 463501-01-243303

예금주 (Account Holder): (사)순교자의소리

Please include the word “Bibles” on the donation.

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Top European Gospel Group’s Song Celebrates VOMK’s Bible Balloon Launches to North Korea

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Pastor Foley

The Netherlands’ Country Trail Band, one of Europe’s most popular country gospel groups, is commemorating our VOMK Bible balloon launches to North Korea with a song. The song, “Straight into the Heart”, which appears on the group’s album of the same name, says in the chorus, “The word of God is not held back by borders; the word of God goes straight into the heart.”

During a speaking tour of the Netherlands a few years ago, I was hosted at a B&B for a few days. The owner, Kees Steeds, was a Christian who was particularly moved by our Bible balloon launch work. What I did not realize was that Mr. Steeds was also a member of the renowned European Gospel group, the Country Trail Band, which has been popular throughout Europe and the United States since 1985. He shared with the other band members about our work, and from that sharing they wrote an English language song about our Bible balloon launches called “Straight into the Heart”.

Hans Steeds, the band’s manager, wrote me this month that the band is continuing to pray for us and our balloon launches in light of the new anti-leaflet law that went into effect in March. “Tell everyone we pray for you,” he wrote me. “We feel one in Christ with you and our brothers and sisters in both countries. It is a blessing to us to hear that our song encourages people, especially you who are doing this work.”

The Country Trail Band recently released a video of their performance of the balloon launching song, recorded at the band’s 35th anniversary concert in August 2020 in the city of Dordrecht in the Netherlands. The Country Trail Band and Voice of the Martyrs Korea then cooperated to create a version of the video that includes photos and videos from our actual balloon launches from 2005 through last year. This video is now posted on the Voice of the Martyrs Korea website at www.vomkorea.com/nk-bible.

The video allows the public to see the difference between Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s Bible balloon launches and the launching of political flyers by other NGOs. Our Bible balloon launches are completely different in technology, goal, and spirit. We use round weather balloons that cross the border at an extremely high altitude to avoid military misidentification. Our balloons are biodegradable and filled with helium, posing no threat to the environment or to residents. We use GPS devices and computer modeling to only launch on the 10 to 15 nights a year when the Bibles are guaranteed to land in North Korea. We launch quietly, at night, without fanfare or publicity. Most importantly, we launch only Bibles, using the translation created by the North Korean government. As the Country Trail Band’s song says, what we are launching goes “straight to the heart” of the North Korean recipients. According to the North Korean constitution and the public assurances of the North Korean government, North Koreans have the right to read the Bible.

Even though Voice of the Martyrs Korea uses a variety of methods to get Bibles into North Korea, we have sent more Bibles to North Korea by balloon than by all other methods combined. The North Korean Human Rights Database, an independent data-gathering NGO, did a 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. 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. A significant number of these Bibles would have been ones we sent by balloon. This is why when people say to us, “Can’t you just send Bibles another way?”, the answer is that we do, but eliminating Bible balloon launching would severely restrict ordinary North Koreans’ access to the Bible.

It’s important to note that until now, Bible balloon launching from South Korea has been the only legal way to get Bibles into North Korea. The other neighboring countries have joined North Korea in using laws and police activities to stop Bibles from entering North Korea. Now, will South Korea join those nations in making Bible distribution to North Korea a crime?

Voice of the Martyrs Korea will wait until summer to make a determination regarding our balloon launching activities this year. Now it is spring. In spring the winds blow north to south, and this prevents balloon launching. When summer comes and the winds change, we will do the same thing we do every day: Gather data, take counsel, pray, and follow the Lord’s direction about how he intends to get Bibles into North Korea. Now that every method of Bible distribution to North Korea has become a crime, we need his wisdom more than ever.

As for today, we continue to get Bibles into North Korea each day through many different methods, humbly obeying God rather than men wherever Bible distribution has become a crime. As for balloon launching this summertime, the Lord says to let tomorrow take care of itself. There are many years when people told us it would be impossible to launch, but the Lord has made a way for Bible balloon launching into North Korea every year since an earlier generation of Korean Christians did the first Voice of the Martyrs balloon launch, in 1969. Let’s see what the Lord does this year. We know Christians in Korea and even around the world are praying for our Bible balloon launches. This song from the Country Trail Band is an encouraging reminder of that.

The Country Trail Band’s live performance of their Bible balloon launch tribute song “Straight into the Heart”, including photo and video footage from Voice of the Martyrs Korea balloon launches can be viewed at www.vomkorea.com/nk-bible.

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VIETNAM: CHRISTIANS DENIED PUBLIC SERVICES, TOLD “LET YOUR GOD SAVE YOU!”

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Pastor Foley

81-year old Sister ‘D’ (name withheld for security purposes) lives alone in a tiny hut on a remote mountain field in Tuyen Quang province in northern Vietnam. She previously lived with her family in a nearby village. But last summer when she became a Christian, she was rejected by her family, forced out of their home, and driven out of the village. Now, she has to rely on fellow Christians to remember her. Some travel to her hut to give her rice, vegetables, and firewood. She uses the provisions to prepare congee.

Sister ‘D’ is one of 45 Christian individuals or families living in four different areas in Vietnam who Voice of the Martyrs Korea and Voice of the Martyrs Australia have pledged to help with emergency aid due to ongoing persecution resulting from their faith.

Persecution for Vietnamese Christians now takes the form of expulsion from their homes and villages and being cut off from government-provided goods and services. They are told, “Let your god save you!” 

When people in our country hear the word “persecution”, they think of Christians being tortured or sent to prison. But one of the harshest and most common forms of persecution faced by Christians is being denied basic services, by the government, by neighbors, and even by families. In a Communist country like Vietnam, certain goods and services are available only through the government. Several Christians report that as they are denied these things, officials and villagers have taunted them by saying, “Let your god save you!” or “Ask your pastor for help”.

Consider the case of Brother ‘C’, who became a Christian in 2019. He currently serves as an evangelist in an ethnic minority community in the Vietnamese highlands. In February, he was leading a gathering at which three new Christian families were present. Local police officers and community leaders tried to force the three families to renounce their faith. Brother ‘C’ and two sisters in the church stood up to protect the new families but were physically beaten. Ultimately the community leaders demanded that the Christians be responsible for any death or loss anywhere in the community, claiming that the new faith would badly impact the whole community. Brother ‘C’ was forced out of his home and has had to move in with a nearby pastor until the situation improves. Presently, Brother ‘C’’s church is unable to meet.

Even when Christians try to provide for themselves independently of the Communist government, they face obstacles. In one recent case, Brother ‘D’ had been working hard in the cultivation of cassava; he finally harvested his crop and was on the way to the local market to sell it. Before he arrived, his truck was stopped by the authorities who told him that he would only be allowed to proceed if he signed a written document renouncing his faith. He refused. As a result, his truck was confiscated and was not released back to him until the cassava had spoiled. Nothing was salvageable.

In another case, authorities seized a motorbike belonging to Brother ‘H’. “They took away his driver’s license, insurance, and ownership papers and warned him and his wife that their belongings would not be returned to them unless they renounced their faith. Brother H and his wife refused, so the authorities forced Brother H’s non-Christian mother-in-law to expel them from her home.

Vietnamese Christians typically become family to each other when they are shut out of their own birth families, villages, and government distributions. In the case of Brother ‘H’ and his wife, they and their two children had to leave their home empty-handed. But a fellow believer, Brother ‘D’ allowed Brother ‘H’’s family to stay with him. Brother ‘D’ is no stranger to persecution. He himself was recently discharged from the hospital after being beaten by the authorities.

Brother ‘D’ has a small piece of land next to his house. He is giving it to Brother ‘H’ to build a house on. Voice of the Martyrs is planning to provide the funds for building materials, as the Lord permits. Voice of the Martyrs’ goal is to assist all 45 Christians who have been verified by the ministry as recently experiencing persecution.

Brother H had his motorbike confiscated by local authorities in Vietnam because he would not renounce his faith. Voice of the Martyrs has pledged emergency aid to 45 individuals or families in 4 areas in Vietnam who have recently experienced persecution. 
 

The Vietnamese authorities taunt the Christians, “Let your god save you”. We believe that God is indeed saving these Vietnamese brothers and sisters who refuse to renounce his name. God is moving the heart of Vietnamese Christians to care for each other. And as members of one body in Christ, Christians in our country should join in this care by providing emergency aid for the persecuted brothers and sisters in Vietnam.  

Donations given to Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s “Communism is Not Dead” (CIND) fund in April will be designated for emergency persecution relief in Vietnam. Interested individuals can give at www.vomkorea.com/donate or via electronic transfer to

국민은행 463501-01-243303

예금주: (사)순교자의소리

Please include the name “CIND” on the donation.

Voice of the Martyrs Korea classifies Vietnam as one of five remaining Communist nations in the world, including also China, North Korea, Laos, and Cuba. Each of these nations, including Vietnam, maintains strict laws against religion. Christian persecution is not a thing of the past in the Communist world.

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