How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Psalm 36:7

Joseph, one of Alpha Relief’s faithful operatives who has repeatedly risked his life to meet the needs of the persecuted church in North Korea, is seriously ill. His kidneys are failing due to complications from diabetes. Additionally, he has a tumor growing on his thyroid that needs to be surgically removed.

Joseph is currently in a country neighboring North Korea. He has been taken to a hospital in a nearby village where he lays in a hallway with other patients, waiting for a hospital room to become available.

Please pray:

• That a hospital room opens up and that he can have all the necessary treatments soon
• For funds to be provided for any necessary treatment or surgeries (preliminary estimate is around $10,000 U.S.)
• That God sustains and heals him
• Our contact has asked that we “Pray for grace and strength for Joseph and his wife. She is the only one able to be with him now and provides his care and meals.”

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6:16

The end of last week brought heartbreaking news from the Alpha Camp Children’s Home on the Burma/Thailand border. Seven Burmese troops crossed the border, abducted a young boy, brutally tortured then killed him and left his body at a bus stop just a few minutes’ walk from the Children’s Home. The boy lived in the village where the Alpha Camp is located and is friends with a number of the camp’s children.

The Camp Leaders have asked you to pray:

• For the ethnic Karen army to post soldiers to guard and protect the area around Alpha Camp
• That God calms the fears of the children at the camp, and that he comforts them as they grieve the brutal death of their friend
• That you send these prayer requests to your friends, because it is “good to have more people praying”

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:23-35

This week Alpha Relief staff and partners are meeting with operatives who are shepherds to the North Korean underground church. These courageous people encourage covert Christian leaders and provide food and medicine for their church networks.

Please Pray:

• For the safety of the American team and for the protection of the North Korean church networks
• That God’s love and good deeds are the focus of all the meetings
• That everyone involved in the interactions encourage one another
• For new relationships to be forged so that more operatives are identified and trained to bring the Good News to the people of North Korea

As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him.
Psalm 103:13 (GNT)

Though In Ho worked for the North Korean union, there was never enough to feed his family of five. His wife and two eldest daughters were tragically sold into human trafficking in China, after which he and his youngest daughter were held in separate labor camps. In Ho was released a couple of months ago, determined to help his family from China. He discovered an Alpha Relief rescue center where he accepted Jesus as his Savior, but continues to be hunted by North Korean secret police. Our operative writes;

“We want to give him the opportunity to escape to South Korea and become a free man where he will have resources to find his lost family.”

Please Pray:

• For In Ho and his rescuers’ safety on their journey to South Korea
• That his faith in the Lord grows as He learns more about God’s kindness, faithfulness, and mercy
• For the perseverance, strength and well being of his wife and three daughters
• That his family is found and that they are joyfully reunited in South Korea one day

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8 (NIV)

Burma is one of four countries actively laying landmines and it faces one of the most severe landmine problems in the world today. Though there is hope that recent ceasefire agreements will include landmine bans, their effects will be a problem for many years.

This week a landmine exploded near the Alpha Camp Children’s Home. No one from the camp was injured, and the administrator wrote,

“We’re glad there was no shooting or mortar attacks which would have really put our kids in danger.”

Please Pray:

• For God’s continued protection over the residents of the Alpha Camp Children’s Home
• That the junta ceases to use the women and children of minority ethnic groups as mine sweepers
• That the federal government, regional governments, military junta and ethnic group armies all cease to lay active mines
• For prosthesis support and victim assistance