Cross-cultural wisdom for a polycentric missions reality.

According to World Watch List, released today by Open Doors International, 4,305 people died in 2018 because of their Christian faith. Christian persecution has drastically increased.

The US commits to provide security guarantees to North Korea. The situation of Christians in North Korea “did come up” during the meeting and “things will be happening”, Donald Trump said in a press conference.

Experts agree that the summit between North Korea and the United States will not bring advances in the religious freedom of the country.

The first ever summit between North Korean and US leaders will take place in Singapore on June 12.

Kim Jong Un crosses the militarised border and holds talks with President Moon Jae In, that could set the foundation for the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

How will we react if God calls us to take a step of faith which could have drastic consequences?

Intolerance against Christians is highest in Central and Southeast Asia, after North Korea. The situation worsens dramatically in Africa. In Europe, two people were murdered bacause of their faith last year.

“Kim Jong Un is begging for war", U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said. China and Russia asked for diplomatic talks with North Korea.

The UN Security Council holds an emergency meeting. “Dialogue and understanding is the right and moral way forward”, says World Evangelical Alliance.

According to Open Doors, 215 million Christians suffer “high, very high or extreme persecution”. North Korea continues at the top of the World Watch List. Africa is the region in which more Christians are killed because of their faith.

The situation of Christians in North Korea does not seem to have improved during this past year.

From 1995 to 2012, there were about 480 foreign entities working inside North Korea, of which 70 were Christian. Christian groups have operated in 85 counties in the country, meaning that some 60% have had some exposure to Christian organizations. 

6 in 10 slaves live in one of these five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

In his book “Not Forgotten”, American missionary Kenneth Bae tells how his 2 years in prison strengthened his relationship with God and his love for North Korea.

The regime claims Billy Graham told a North Korean newspaper Kim Il Sung was “God” who “rules the human world.” Voice of the Martyrs says the controversy is an example of why religious figures should not travel to the isolated country.

International Leadership Forum participants from across the world met in Seoul with local pastors. Table discussions about Bible engagement, Evangelism and Discipleship, Women and the Church.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide demands that the North Korean regime should face the International Criminal Court, for its “egregious human rights abuses.”

David Guttenfelder wins 2016 World Press Photo prize for long-term project on the daily life of the closed country's inhabitants. 

Denmark (91) came out on top of the list for the second year in a row, followed by Finland (90) and Sweden (89). North Korea (8) and Somalia (8) are the most corrupt countries.

“We can be the voice of those who cannot cry out by themselves”, the Director of Open Doors Spain says in an interview. “Nigeria is the country where most people have died because of their faith.”

North Korea is still the most difficult place in the world to be a Christian, according to new report by Open Doors. Jihadism, Hindu and Buddhist extremism are the greatest sources of persecution.

Pyongyang said the test was “self-defence against the US nuclear weapons”. It has provoked a worldwide opposition and scepticism

The regime gets its own agents to act as clergymen, to convince the Western visitors that there was religious freedom in the country.

A Roman Catholic agency informs about an ecumenical meeting which would have brought 150 representatives of 7 religions to North Korea this week.