Hello friend. Thinking about all the work that fulfilling the Great Commission requires can be overwhelming. Does my small contribution matter? Do my prayers and support really make a difference? Short answer: Yes, yes they do. And very much so. 

We usually forget that the work of our brothers and sisters in hard-to-reach places isn’t possible without the prayers and support of other brothers and sisters in not-so-hard-to-reach places. Both are called by God to play their own specific roles in fulfilling the Great Commission. Every piece is needed to see the whole puzzle come together in the end. 

So, rejoice, take courage, and do your assigned task with passion for the One who’s called you to it!

In today’s edition:

• The fastest-growing religion in China 

• What you can start doing now for North Korea 

• A well-known story to us, but unknown to Syrians

🇨🇳 Restrictions Can’t Stop the Church

Almost 75 years ago, the Chinese Communist Party banned foreign missionaries and placed harsh restrictions on practicing religion. In spite of that, Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in China today. While millions attend state-sanctioned churches, many Chinese believers gather in house churches to avoid government control and censorship. 

At Radical, we want to see the Church continue to grow within China and across Asia. And that starts with making and equipping disciples. So, we are working alongside a Christian content platform that produces discipleship resources in multiple languages to help spread the gospel across Asia. 

This online content platform is producing sound, biblical teaching by Asian writers and pastors. This content equips church leaders and believers to plant and grow healthy, local churches and to mature in their faith.

How to Pray: With government pressure restricting believers from gathering, pray for the safety and endurance of Chinese believers as they meet together and hope to learn more about their faith. As we hope to see more disciples made and equipped, pray that Chinese church leaders and believers would be equipped to take up the baton of making disciples and planting churches.

🇰🇵 Standing with Brothers and Sisters We Cannot See

I remember the first time I stood at the demilitarized zone, or the DMZ, on the border between North and South Korea. I looked across this dividing line, knowing that on the other side I (and we) have brothers and sisters who are suffering and dying for following Jesus and making him known.

I think about Soon Yangown, a pastor in a leper colony during the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula many years ago. He refused to worship the shrines that had been set up for the Korean people to worship, so he was arrested and imprisoned. When the Japanese occupation ended, he was released.

Years later, his two oldest sons, Tongin and Tongsin, were in middle school when a mob representing the communist party came to their campus. The boys were known to be strong Christians, so the mob brought them out of the school and began to beat them. Eventually, a leader of the mob named Ahn shot and killed both the boys.

By the time Pastor Soon heard of his sons’ death, the revolt had been quieted, and his sons’ killer had been apprehended. Upon hearing this news, Pastor Soon immediately sent a messenger to the court to plead for them to spare Ahn. The judge agreed to do so, and Pastor Soon then offered to adopt Ahn as his own son.

Years later, communists invaded the leper colony where Pastor Soon was pastoring. He refused to flee and chose to stay with the church. He was arrested, imprisoned, tied up with 75 other followers of Jesus, and executed.

I wish these stories were only from the past. Unfortunately, however, suffering, persecution, and martyrdom are present-day realities for our brothers and sisters in North Korea. So what can we do for them?

For starters, we can remember them and learn about what they are experiencing. In the words of Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

As Radical releases our full documentary on Hard To Reach: North Korea, I hope you will take time to listen to and learn the story of our family in North Korea as if we were with them in North Korea.

As you remember our brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray for them. Let your prayers be guided by Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 6:18–20 for the church to pray for him while he was in prison: “To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Finally, let’s join them. They’re giving their lives to share the gospel with people around them. If you’re reading this, the likelihood is that your life is not at stake in the same way as theirs. But you can still give your life to what they’re giving their lives to: speaking the gospel and sharing God’s love in Jesus with the people you and I interact with today.

Let’s lock arms with our brothers and sisters in North Korea, following Jesus and making him known no matter what it costs, because we know that he is our reward.

—David Platt

 🇸🇾 Being the minority can be difficult

The Details: Saul’s conversion to Paul—from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ—is a well-known story from the Bible. That conversion happened on the road to Damascus, which is modern-day Syria. 

But this well-known story is only known by a few Syrians today. 

Less than 3% of Syria’s population identifies as Christian today. On the other hand, over 90% of the population identifies as Muslim. And being a Christian within a Muslim majority is difficult. Syrian Christians face pressure and persecution both from Islamic extremists and their communities.

The Takeaways: As Syrian Christians face opposition, pray for them to be able to gather as the Church and to safely practice their faith. With such a small gospel presence, pray for Syrian believers to have the boldness to share the gospel. Pray for Muslims to know that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Given the complexity of identifying and reaching the unreached, we need multiple lenses for understanding this aspect of our mission.

• Jared C. Wilson argues that while suffering can be extremely painful and difficult, there is something better than never suffering: eternal life in Jesus.

• You may have many things going on in your mind during a sermon, but have you ever wondered what’s going on in your pastor’s mind? Let this inform your prayers for your pastor.

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

David Burnette, Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE JESUS KNOWN EVERYWHERE!