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.”

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”

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

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

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

“Miriam”, one of our faithful distributors, provides food and spiritual encouragement for 180 families inside North Korea. Upon the completion of her last delivery, she slipped on some ice and broke her arm, temporarily sidelining her activities. She has written to ask you to pray for her network,

“(Since Kim Jong-il’s death) reports are that it’s pretty bleak, increasing numbers of families are without food. Maybe all the media attention to the event will draw people’s attention for how things really are.”

Please Pray:

• For God to provide an alternate operative to deliver food to Miriam’s network while she heals
• That Miriam is fully restored to good health, and that her arm fully heals
• For the spiritual strength of the Christians inside North Korea, especially as they face trials and uncertainties with the regime changes

A hydro-electric dam is being built in the Karen State of Burma and has already displaced one village. Upon completion it will flood at least 12 additional villages. Karen State is one of the areas where Christianity still has a hold, and the displacement of these villages is further evidence of the desire to ethnically cleanse the country. Additionally, the project is funded by Asia World Company, an organization run by men who are under targeted sanctions from the United States Treasury as some of the world’s key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970’s.

Please Pray:

• That the federal government intervenes with the Toh Boh Dam project as it did with the Myitsone Dam in Kachin State, so that affected villagers don’t lose their homes or their livelihood
• That any illicit funders of Asia World Company  are brought to justice
• Proverbs 21:15 “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.”

Thank you for your faithful prayers. We’ve just received exciting news:

“(Mrs. Kwon) is in SK going through background check up by NIS (Korea CIA).  We are not sure when she will be released but she is safe”

When you prayed for this Alpha Relief operative in August, she had just entered China to gather food and medical supplies for the North Korean underground church. While there, she learned she was no longer safe in either her North Korean hometown or in China. Now secure in South Korea she will attend a resettlement program and integrate into South Korean culture.

Please:

• Give God the glory and praise for her journey to South Korea
• Pray that Mrs. Kwon senses God’s presence during her resettlement
• Pray for her family in North Korea to be protected from North Korean authorities

In God’s perfect timing, He arranged for the welfare of many underground Christians by having successful food deliveries made just prior to Kim Jong-il’s death. North Korea’s borders were tightened in the days before the death announcement, with guards posted every four meters in some areas. We have received reports from our networks, including the following prayer request:

“Please keep our (operatives and their underground church) customers in prayer due to the sudden major changes about the boss for the other side. All public gathering such as even street markets have been forcibly closed, including the borders. We praise the Lord that one (operative) just got back safely a few days ago before the changes happened, so hopefully the customers got food for a little while.”

Please Pray:

• In thanksgiving that God went before the operatives to make their deliveries successful
• For the underground church members, that they remain safe, undetected, and well
• That God uses this time of uncertainty as opportunity for North Korean Christians to share His message of Hope, Love and Salvation

North Korea’s state news agency announced that Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader” since 1994, died this weekend. It is likely that the state’s power will be transitioned to his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un.

The change in leadership may provide a window of opportunity for increased freedom for the downtrodden people of North Korea.

Please Pray:

• That the uncertainty caused by the leadership transition does not interfere with the already limited food distribution system.
• For Kim Jong-Un (named the Great Successor) as he grieves the loss of his father. May he know that the only source of comfort and strength is through Jesus Christ and the love of his Father.
• That God’s light shines through the underground church of North Korea and that He protects His church from harm