Billy Graham Preaches One Last Time In His Will

Even in his last will and testament, Rev. Billy Graham preached the gospel.

The 16-page document has been filed publicly and in addition to the typical legal jargon for dividing up assets and designating executors,

the evangelist used it to point his family and the world to Jesus Christ.

“I urge all who shall read this document to read and study the Scriptures daily and to trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation,” Graham wrote.

Graham writes about having little as a child and a newlywed and reminding his family that whatever he left behind should be used first to the spread of the gospel.

“I ask my children and grandchildren to maintain and defend at all hazards at any cost of personal sacrifice the blessed doctrine of complete Atonement for sin through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ once offered, and through that alone. I urge all of you to walk with the Lord in a life of separation from the world and to keep eternal values in view,” he states.

But God blessed Graham in his ministry and there was much left behind.

A tithe included in Billy Graham’s will

“We have tried to use our material blessings for the glory of God,” he wrote.

“Yet I must confess that we were always faced with a certain dilemma as to how high a standard of living to maintain as servants of the Lord. We feel that we have maintained a proper balance over the years.

“Whether I have handled things properly or not, we will have to await the judgement at the Judgement Seat of Christ when all things will be revealed.”

“I have done my best before the Lord and I have confidence in all of you that you will consider that you are only trustees of what I have left.”

Graham instructed that 10 percent of what is left in his estate will “go the Lord’s work,” as he and Ruth decided from the start of their marriage that they would be tithers.

Bottom of Form

The document is also highly personal at times. Graham recalls his first date with his wife Ruth in December 1940.

“Because of Christ, your mother and I enjoyed a wonderful, thrilling and joyous life together,” he adds, noting that like any couple, they also went through problems and burdens.

“I want to thank her for her years of devotion, love, faithfulness and sacrifice. Of all the people I have ever known, she was the greatest Christian,” he declares.

“I read it, and then I read it again and I thought to myself ‘this is Billy’s last sermon,’” author Ken Garfield told WSOC-TV. Garfield has written several book about Graham.

“You could take these first six or seven paragraphs of will and it’s kind of the story of his life,” said Garfield.

Also in his will, Graham wrote of the hope that he shared with millions when he traveled the world as the most influential evangelist of our time, “When you read this I will be safely with Jesus in Paradise,” he wrote.

Source:  First Posted HERE

By: Bob Ditmer

‘THE SMALL THINKING THAT DIVIDES CHURCHES’

Imagine if Starbucks executives got together and said, “We’ve sent our spies out and measured all the IKEAs in the area. The average IKEA has 250,000 square feet, but the average Starbucks only has an average of 1,000 square feet. We need to get our averages up. We’ve got to get bigger stores. You can drive by one of our stores and not even see it. Some of our stores don’t even have their own property; they’re stuck inside another store. So let’s consolidate some of the stores and make them bigger.”

You hear that and you think, “That’s ridiculous. Starbucks’ business plan is different than IKEA’s business plan, and no one can say either one of them hasn’t been successful. Starbucks is about smallness and intimacy, and it works for what they’re doing.”

Small churches are the same way. There are people who like the smaller setting and the smaller place. They discover God more deeply in a smaller setting. They’re more comfortable inviting their friends to a smaller setting. They like that they can ask questions. They like that when they’re in a store and they run into a pastor, the pastor sees them and knows their name. They’re not wrong or selfish for wanting those things.

So it was that premise I started from: The things that a small church can do better—and that’s not to put down big churches. I love big churches. I love megachurches; I want to see more of them. But I want to see more teaching that is applicable to small churches, because we’re taught almost exclusively from a megachurch standpoint using megachurch principles.

 And there are some principles that megachurch pastors can teach me, but I can actually use less than half of them in my church. The rest of it I have to adapt, and some of it can’t even be adapted.

When a church is shrinking, you have to take a look at whether a church has the leadership it needs to have. That’s always the first place to look. If you believe God is still calling you there, and the congregation agrees, then the second thing you’ve got to ask is if God is challenging you to change your approach, mission or vision. The third thing to look at is the community. Maybe the community and their needs are changing and you missed it. Maybe there’s been an ethnic shift in the community. Maybe there’s been a socioeconomic shift in the community. Maybe there’s been a shift in family relationships in the community.

We have to constantly be aware of changes happening and be ready to adapt. If we get too committed to a single method, to a single type of system or to a particular way of doing things, it will not be long before that system, method or way of doing things will no longer apply. Most dying churches aren’t dying because of lack of passion, lack of experience or even lack of people; they’re dying because things have changed and they haven’t caught the wind of the change. They haven’t been able to adapt quickly enough.

It begins and ends where the gospel begins and ends, which is relationships. When Jesus was asked the question of what matters to God, Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

The trouble is, love is hard to measure. So we use numbers as a false proxy. How do I define success at love? That’s like trying to define art, like trying to define beauty. How do you measure art and beauty? How do you measure love? You really can’t. So what you do—and again, I think the small church allows for this to take place a little bit more—is you have to take it one person at a time.

You have to simply have developing relationships. You have to spend time with people to see that they are drawing closer to Jesus more this year than they were last year, that they’re developing stronger relationships with other believers from this year to last year, that they’re drawing nonbelievers into their circle of friends and influencing them for Christ as time goes on.

 Some of the greatest successes in our Christian lives simply don’t have numbers attached.

 We need to get more comfortable with the idea that the most important things in life can’t be measured.

Source:  Interview in Outreach Magazine 

By: Karl Vaters

First Posted HERE 

Bigger? Or Better? Yes, Your Church Has a Choice

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re maximizing growth, you’re also maximizing success.”        (Bo Burlingham, in Small Giants)

Better churches become bigger churches. Right?

Maybe not.

That’s been the rule of thumb for businesses, too. And it’s no more true there than it is for us.

Constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still be successful at what they do.

As it turns out, constant growth doesn’t work for the majority of churches or businesses. Yet they can still be successful at what they do.

Small Giants

This week, I finally got around to reading Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead Of Big (how could I resist, right?). Written more than ten years ago, it followed 14 companies that chose to limit their growth for a variety of reasons.

Some limited their growth to keep it more personal and intimate, some because a smaller size fit the skills and goals of the leadership, some because they felt it was the best way to maintain quality control, and so on.

But they all had one thing in common — an obsession with making their business better, combined with the belief that staying small was the best way for them to do that.

But how do we keep getting better if we’re not getting bigger? And what does this have to do with church and ministry?

Even if you want your church to grow but it isn’t, you still have a choice about helping the small church you lead become better.

Your Church Has A Choice

Not everything (or even most things) in Small Giants applies to the church world, but what does is quite striking. Let’s take a look at a few of the takeaways from Burlingham’s work that can readily be adapted to what we see in church leadership. (Note: all parentheses are mine.)

“Virtually every mass-market business (church leadership) bestseller … has concentrated on the people in and the practices of large public companies (big churches). … Along the way, we’ve come to accept as business (church leadership) axioms various ideas that only work in those two types of enterprise. …But there are thousands of private companies (small churches) that don’t grow much, if at all, and … they’re often quite healthy.

“What about the concept of ‘getting to the next level’? … The phrase implies that bigger is better. That may or may not be true for public companies (big churches), but it’s demonstrably untrue for a large number of private ones (small churches).” (pgs. xvi-xvii)

What Burlingham notes about businesses is obviously true in the church world. We’ve been inundated with one model for church health and excellence — the one that says the better a church is, the bigger it will become.

Not only does the expectation of continual numerical increase not apply to all churches, it doesn’t apply to the majority of churches.

But most of us don’t even think about an alternative to grow, grow, grow, because…

“If you constantly hear about the need to grow or die … you may not even think to ask about options other than growing.” (pg 6)

“If you constantly hear about the need to grow or die … you may not even think to ask about options other than growing.”

But if we don’t keep growing, what other option is there?

“There is a choice, and the payoff for choosing the less-travelled path can be huge.” (pg 6)

Choosing to be a small giant can have many unforeseen benefits — to the church, the community, the pastor, and the kingdom of God. But what are some of those payoffs? Here are just two of them.

1. Connection to their community

“When you look closely at our small giants, one characteristic jumps out at you. …they were all so intimately connected to the place where they were located that it was hard to imagine them being somewhere else.” (pg 50)

“A human scale company (church) in a single location can be part of a community without dominating it.” (pg 60)

Pease note that not dominating a community does not mean we stop having an impact on it. As Burlingham also notes, “every new business (church) represents an attempt … to reorder the world in some way.” (pg 122)

Small giants are no exception to that. In fact, by choosing to remain small, all the companies Burlingham cites were convinced they would have a greater impact than they might have had by becoming big.

2. A culture of intimacy

“There is generally an inverse correlation between the number of people who work for a company (attend a church) and the strength of their emotional ties to it.” (pg 98)

This does not mean that every company or church that grows big loses their intimacy. Many of them got big precisely because people were drawn to that kind of atmosphere. But the bigger you get, the harder you have to work at it.

Size Does Not Equal Value

Here are a few more quotes about the dangers of equating size with value. (Note again: all parentheses are mine.)

“You can’t measure the value of what a company (church) does by looking at how big it is.” (pg 218)

“A company’s (church’s) record of growth … may tell you something about the skill of its management team, but little about whether or not the business (church) is contributing anything great and unique to the world.” (p 218)

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re maximizing growth, you’re also maximizing success.” (pg 219)

And, finally, this. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Small Giants.

“Nothing in business (church leadership) requires them to build the largest company (church) they’re capable of building. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with deciding you do want to build such a company (church), but it’s only one of many options, and business (church) leaders are free to choose another path.” (pg 258)

Small And Excellent

Bigger isn’t always better.

And better doesn’t always lead to bigger.

Bigger isn’t always better. And better doesn’t always lead to bigger.

But better is always better — whether it gets bigger or not.

If bigger to be better isn’t working for the church you lead, try something else. You have a choice.

Small but excellent might be what Jesus is calling you to be.

Article by Karl Veters

Copyright © 2018 New Small Church, All rights reserved.

First posted HERE 

Memorial Day 2018

Memorial Day Tribute for churches today!

On the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, PBS' multi award-winning NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT returns live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise.  

The 29th annual broadcast of the NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT airs live on PBS Sunday, May 27, 2018, from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops serving around the world on the American Forces Network.  

Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release HERE

How Do You Find God’s Will?

“God . . . invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord”                                             (1 Corinthians 1:9 TLB).

God isn’t playing games with you. He wants you to understand his will, his purpose, and his plan for your life.

You may say, “I want God to guide me, but I still get confused. I don’t know what to do.” Often the problem is we’re looking for the wrong thing. You need to know what you’re looking for before you can find it.

So, what is God’s will?

God’s will is not a feeling.

Maybe you are looking for a feeling or a supernatural sign. You want God to pull your heartstrings so you’ll know exactly what to do.

The problem is that feelings are unreliable; they will often guide you the wrong way. Feelings can come from fatigue, hormones, or an event you’ve just experienced. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful” (NIV). Even your heart plays tricks on you. Even the Devil can create a feeling. If I had listened to my feelings, I never would have married my wife, Kay. The day before the wedding, my feelings said, “Run!” But that wasn’t God’s will. That was fear!

Don’t wait for a feeling when you’re trying to figure out God’s plan for your life.

God’s will is not a formula.

In our culture, we want everything to be easy. We want things to follow a simple formula that will instantly change our lives. We want a step-by-step guide.

But there’s a problem with this approach: There’s no room for mistakes. If God’s will is a recipe, what happens if you leave out one ingredient? Leaving baking soda out of a recipe is the difference between a birthday cake and a pancake. What if you have “52 Steps to Knowing God’s Will,” and you skip step 37?

God’s will is not a closed system. It is dynamic! It is not always an issue of choosing A or B. In fact, many times you can choose from A to Z, and any of them will be okay. It’s your choice. Why would God give you a brain and not expect you to use it? He lets you make choices, and he gives you second chances.

If God’s will is not a feeling or a formula, what is it?

God’s will is a relationship.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God . . . invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord” (TLB).

We find very little in the Bible about the technique of knowing God’s will. But we see thousands of verses that talk about developing a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. Why? Because God’s will is a relationship.

The better you get to know God, the less confusion you’ll have about what his will is. Get to know God, and everything else becomes secondary.

Source:

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

Make every effort to live in peace with all men… Hebrews 12:14a

Other religious groups are one of the most threatening tactics Satan uses against the church of Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts we see over and over that the primary opposition to the spread of the gospel in the early church was from religious groups.

 Again we must never view these groups as the enemy. We know who our real enemy is. In some parts of the world, the small percentage of extremists among Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims have encouraged mob violence and other forms of persecution against Christians. 

Our attitude toward them should be as Brother Andrew’s acronym for ISLAM suggests: I Sincerely Love All Muslims.

The tactic that our enemy uses in these major religions of the world is the same. It comes from his character of deceiving and lying. Some people are able to perceive elements of truth within the major religions of the world, but their essential teachings are deceivingly false.

Wherever possible, missionaries of cults and other religions do whatever possible to encourage Christians—usually those who are Christian in name only—to convert to their religion. Unfortunately, in countries such as Egypt, a significant number do convert to a cult or to some other religion. The lure to convert can be marriage, money, employment, social acceptance, and any other similar attraction.

Hardini was born to a devout Muslim family in Indonesia where everyone must go to the mosque every day to pray. Her father had strict rules for everyone in the family. One rule was that Hardini should never associate with Christians. Despite Hardini’s devotion to Islam, her heart was heavy and she longed for inner peace. A Christian with a great sense of joy and peace befriended Hardini.

Hardini had the courage to tell her new friend about her spiritual hunger, and the friend offered to pray for her in the name of Jesus. After the Christian girl prayed, peace filled Hardini’s heart and her life radically changed.

When Hardini’s family discovered she had become a Christian, they spent hours and hours trying to entice her with force to recant her new faith. Hardini remained steadfast. Finally her parents made a painful decision—they totally disowned their daughter. That left Hardini with the choices of either recanting her faith or fleeing from her home and family. She chose to flee.

RESPONSE: Today I will pray for believers like Hardini who experience religious intolerance.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to sincerely love all Muslims and people of other faith systems.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

This post was first posted HERE

America's favorite dessert in the year 1955...

Recently found an article about the favorite desserts the year you were born:

I was born in 1955.

My favorite dessert is still something I love...

Banana Pudding!

ON THE FRONT LINES IN A WAR ZONE

The struggle is real.

When you drop the phrase spiritual warfare into casual conversations, you often get mixed reactions.

On the one hand, a lot of people are skeptics when it comes to anything invisible or supernatural. In fact, many people will believe in heaven and angels but choose not to believe in hell or demons.

On the other hand, a lot of people can get downright superstitious about the subject. Everything bad that happens is perceived as a demonic attack.

In the middle are most of the pastors I know, who believe rather strongly in the existence and power of heavenly beings—both angels and demons—that exist all around us in a heavenly, spiritual realm hidden to our eyes and human senses.

And this spiritual realm is not, right now, at peace. It’s a war zone.

Don’t misunderstand. It isn’t a battle of God versus Satan or good versus evil. All power and authority, in heaven and in earth, belongs to God alone and has been granted to his kingly Son who rose victoriously from the dead, defeating once and for all the power of sin and death.

But for a season, allowed by the permissive will of God for his own purposes, “The devil … prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

So the war rages on, for now, until the appointed day when King Jesus will speak a decisive and final end to the conflict.

Pastors and church leaders are on the front lines of the battle, where the smell of smoke, sweat and blood always hangs in the air.

I happen to believe that Satan’s servants are keen observers of our patterns, behaviors and weaknesses. 

The book of Acts contains a seemingly bizarre story of some men who attempted to use God’s power without God’s blessing:

“God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled. A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.”

Rough day for these false priests! But what catches my attention is what the Bible says about how these demons related to Paul and to Jesus.

Jesus I know … and Paul I know … but who are you?

This little verse tells me two things about the forces of darkness.

First, they don’t know everything. Satan isn’t God. He isn’t a god or a           demi-god of some kind. He’s a created being with finite intelligence. He doesn’t know everything about every person, but I think he enjoys it when we superstitiously assume he’s in God’s class in this area.

Second, they do study people. To translate it literally, the demon speaking said, “Jesus, I know by personal experience … Paul, I know by studying and observing …”

Here’s the somewhat creepy truth we need to realize: When you pursue God’s purposes and determine to influence the world for the gospel’s sake, you become a subject of study among the demons.

You’re a threat when you’re praying, walking in the Spirit and sharing your faith. You’re worth observing when you are making a real difference.

When you lead and influence people within the kingdom, the struggle becomes especially real. It isn’t that you’re special or more important. 

We’re all on equal footing and there is no value differential in the kingdom between what we’ve come to think of as “clergy” and “laity.” All of the members of the body of Christ are equal in value and worth.

But when you lead, teach and influence, you’re threatening the boundaries of hell’s territory. And there, the spiritual warfare will be fierce!

So, what do you do?

• You do exactly what you would advise every other believer to do, with answers informed by God’s Word.
• You suit up in the armor of God every day.
• You stay in a state of repentance and humble dependence upon God.
• You pray continually.
• You sharpen your sword by studying the Word.
• And you claim the victory that is yours in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Don’t be skeptical. Don’t be superstitious. Just be ready.

Source: Brandon Cox is the lead pastor of Grace Hills Church in Rogers, Arkansas, the editor and online community facilitator of Pastors.com and a coach to leaders, pastors and church planters. 

This post was originally published on BrandonACox.com.

A gift, rather than an apology

                     “They are a gift…to ensure your friendship.”                                                                        Genesis 33:8 NLT

Here’s something you need to know in order to move forward. The person who hurt you may never offer an apology in the manner you desire. After Jacob cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright, things got so bad between them that Jacob went to live with his Uncle Laban in Haran. 

Later in life, when both brothers had become wealthy and successful in their own right, Jacob decided to seek reconciliation with his brother. At first Esau refused to accept his brother’s gifts, but when Jacob persisted, “Esau finally accepted the gift” (v. 11 NLT). Notice, Jacob never said, “I’m sorry I stole your birthright; please forgive me.” Basically he said, “I’d like to try and make amends.”

At this point Esau showed real maturity by valuing his relationship with his brother over his right to exact revenge, and the family was united. There’s a lesson here. God wants you to grow up and exercise spiritual maturity. You can’t control what others do; you can only control your response.

Furthermore, if you insist that someone apologize to you—in a certain way—the relationship may never be healed. As a result, you’ll be left holding a grudge. And holding a grudge is like holding a hot coal; it will keep burning you until you let it go. For example, you may want your spouse to apologize for their behavior.

 But if instead they buy you a gift or do something extra nice for you, respond with grace instead of judging either their methods or their motives. In other words, “close the account” and move forward.

Source:  Pegues, Deborah Smith. 

        Confronting Without Offending.

        (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2009). 

North Korea to Release U.S. Christians?

North Korea’s expected release of three American Christians comes during heightened prayer and attention on the brutal dictatorship. North Korea ranks as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians.

The American Christians were charged with “hostile acts” of subversion against the country.

“Having faith in God is an act of espionage,” explained a North Korean defector.

The news broke on the U.S. National Day of Prayer and during North Korea Freedom Week, and days after history-making peace talks with South Korea and before a summit with the U.S.

Two of the Christians were teaching at Pyongyang Science and Technology University, founded by Evangelicals in 2010 and the only privately funded college in North Korea.

The Christians are:

Tony Kim, an accounting professor who made several trips to North Korea to teach at the Pyongyang University of Science Technology and help at an orphanage. He was detained at the Pyongyang Airport in April 2017 as he was leaving the country and accused of “acts of hostility” and aiming to overthrow the regime.

Kim Hak-song, an agricultural consultant working at an experimental farm run by Pyongyang Science and Technology University. He was detained in May 2017 for “hostile acts against the republic.”

Kim Dong-chul, a naturalized American living in China. He was accused of espionage and subversion and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in April 2016. He owns a trade and hotel business in a special economic zone of North Korea. A North Korean defector told Reuters that Kim was a missionary and sent medical aid to help the poor in North Korea.

The U.S. State Department named North Korea one of the world’s worst religious persecutors, torturing and killing anyone suspected of worshipping God. It is estimated that 50,000 to 70,000 Christians are in prison/labor camps. More than 75% of these Christians do not survive, according to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.

Defectors report Christians are crushed by steamrollers, used to test biological weapons, or hung on a cross over a fire. The government jails suspects without a trial and imprisons three-generations of family members. Some children report their parents for religious activities to authorities, so many parents will not talk about their faith until they are older.

In 2005, human rights investigator David Hawke interviewed 40 North Korean escapees.

One escapee said, “Having faith in God is an act of espionage.”

Others said:

“We learned that there were two lives: one is the physical life and the other is the political life. We were taught that political life was forever along with the leaders and the Party. Therefore, I believed that my political life was more important than my physical life.”

“According to party covenant, Article 1, section 1, all North Koreans are required to worship Kim Il Sung with all our heart and might, even after his death. We have to venerate the pictures and statues of Kim Il Sung.”

“Religious freedom is not allowed in North Korea because it will ruin the deification of Kim Il Sung.”

Another said North Korean officials are anxious to catch believers because they fear “Christianity will defeat Juche.”

Juche is the official political ideology, a totalitarianism that worships the dynastic rulers Kim Il Sung as god, and his son Kim John Il as the son of god. Grandson and current ruler Kim Jong Un has reportedly executed growing numbers of people for not worshipping him.

“In the past, the people were told to worship the Kim family as their god, but many North Koreans no longer respect Kim Jong-un. That means they are looking for something else to sustain their faith,” a defector told The Telegraph..

“In some places, that has led to the emergence of shamens, but the Christian church is also growing and deepening its roots there. Even though people know they could be sent to prison – or worse – they are still choosing to worship, and that means that more cracks are appearing in the regime and the system,” he said.

“The Truth Will Set Them Free” is the theme of this year’s North Korea Freedom Week, an annual event to raise awareness of North Korea’s atrocities. The coalition of pastors and advocates says about 3 million people have died under North Korea’s dictatorship since the mid-1990s. Families starve to death as the government withholds food. The regime arbitrarily detains, tortures and executes its citizens, including children, in prison camps. Abandoned children and orphans wander the streets in search of food and shelter. Hundreds of thousands have fled to China but live in fear of forced repatriation, imprisonment and possible execution after being sent back to North Korea.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “We must not forget the millions of North Koreans who continue to suffer under one of the most repressive and abusive governments in the world. For more than 60 years, the people of North Korea have faced egregious human rights violations in virtually every aspect of life.”

“In addition to the roughly 100,000 individuals, including children and family members of the accused, who suffer in political prison camps, North Koreans face an almost complete denial of fundamental freedoms by their government,” she said.

Christians run orphanages and other ministries without religious symbols in the border areas of North Korea, Chad O’Carroll of Korea Risk Group told Fox News. “They preach and practice through their actions rather than traditional ways,” he said.

Before the Korean War, North Korea was called the “Jerusalem of the East” for its vibrant Christian community. After the war, the communist regime instilled fear and hatred, calling America its greatest enemy and Christianity a tool of American imperialism. But ghosts of Christianity linger in the darkness, and “no matter how fierce the suppression, more North Koreans were beginning to call on the God whom they had forgotten,” reports Christian History Institute.

Tony Kim’s son tweeted,

“Thank you for your continued prayers and efforts to help bring them home. We look forward to all of the families being reunited very soon. Sol Kim #USA3.”

Posted by CFI Field Staff