It is really touching. The topic of North Korea is a complicated topic. There are some difficult topics in my life that I fear to share. And North Korea is one of them, because here you cannot lie, here you need to tell the truth so that God can agree with your words.
It is important for me to return to the simplicity of the Gospel, to the purity of the Gospel. That’s what I think North Korea needs today – pure water. And also comfort. Someone said that nations who have suffered a lot have God’s special love. But you know that different nations receive different grace. There are nations who have had to suffer a lot.
I know a brother who changed my view of ministry to North Korea. He is originally from Brazil. We were at a conference in Beijing and he came running after us and started saying how he felt drawn. And I believe in the prompting of the heart. Sometimes when we don’t follow the prompting, we lose opportunities. God calls our hearts forth and He tears them apart. And he ran after us because he felt a prompting. We spoke about different programs and how we need to go above and beyond the programs and be honest – if a program doesn’t work, we have to leave it. A program is not for the sake of a program, but for the sake of the goal. And not everyone liked this Word. But he felt love. He didn’t know what to do for North Korea.
He learned that the largest church in North Korea was in one place – in a concentration camp. The largest concentration of believers in one place is in a concentration camp. He learned that they were not heated, a person can survive there for two to four years and then dies. And he couldn’t sleep after that. He lay down on the bare floor, and his wife and child slept on the bed, and this is how he lived through the winter – sleeping on the floor. And he was saying that a lot of people think he’s crazy: “What will sleeping on the floor bring to North Korea?” But he is like that! He is my brother! He didn’t know what to do for North Korea, so he wanted to suffer with them in order he could feel like them. And that night, and the next night, and the next night… He took their pain and identified with it.
This blessed me greatly. He is my friend to this day. I don’t do that, but that’s the way he is. Brazilian man, from a hot and distant country.
And I like it. What refers to North Korea – this has to be real.
I knew one man, he has already died, who worked there. They baptized a lot of people – six thousand people – by the hands of Chinese Koreans. I asked him, “How strong is the church in North Korea?” And he told me his example. There is one store on the border with China and North Korea. There, secretly, North Korean Christian women give away their souvenirs, which they make with their own hands.
One day they gave him a gift that was sold there as a souvenir. But it was meant for him. And when he took it, he couldn’t get it, it was just a ball of papier-mâché. And he didn’t know what the secret was, what was good about it. A simple ball. And then he broke it. And this ball was full of badges of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. His sisters from North Korea gave him a message – that they took off the badges and packed them in papier-mâché. If you know the traditions of North Korea, you know how this will end. This is how he answered my question whether the church there is strong or not.
A strong church is that church, which can suffer for Christ, which can die for her beliefs.
I want to say what will happen one day. One day North Korea will be in this – what the Word says. And the Word of God says: “You have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive, you have given gifts to men, so that even the rebellious could dwell with the Lord God” (Psalm 68:18).
Today North Korea is rebelling. But God’s Word says that they will one day dwell, and we will come to it, and our eyes will see it either in this or future life. We will see this nation because God said so. And further He says: “Blessed be the Lord every day…” (Psalm 68:19). Every day. Today. This is a blessed day. And today God is moving inside North Korea. Don’t think that there is stagnation there. The pearl inside the shell is growing. It is growing with or without us. It is growing. And God is moving inside North Korea. Beyond this congregation, beyond megachurches, He is moving inside North Korea. And He doesn’t let anything unnecessary in there. He is keeping His pearl. This day is blessed by the Lord. He places burdens on us, but He also saves us. And in the power of the Lord Almighty is the Gate of Death.
If you have been to Pyongyang, you have seen this palace. It can be called the gate of death. One of the gates. Maybe there are gates that are heavier… But it is written that they are under the authority of the Lord. And it is true. It cannot be that this gate is under the rule of Juche. If the gate of death is in His hand, then even more so is the gate of North Korea.
I have been to various conferences where prophets prophesied about North Korea. Very famous prophets. And some said, “North Korea will open this year.” And others said: “God will kill Kim Jong-un this year.” It is very difficult for me to hear such prophecies, because I am not interested in what year the Lord will open North Korea. I don’t guess, I know what to do. I know what I have to do now. So I don’t ask God, “When will North Korea open up?” Because it won’t help me. I know what to do now. And remember that the gates of North Korea are in the hand of the Lord. He will open in due time. And we must now do what we know.
“The nobles will come from Egypt; Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God” (Psalm 68:31).
At that time these were stronghold nations. I will say that officers and officials from North Korea will come. They will stretch out their hands to the Living God! There will be more of this. The nobles will come from North Korea. And these officials, whom we all condemn as a world community – they will raise their hands to God! What do you see when you look at them? Do you see enemies? Do you see the threat? What do you see?
It is written: “Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord, to Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old. Behold, He gives His voice the voice of power” (Psalm 68: 32-33). His voice is the voice of power! And praise shall flow from North Korea. And the voice of God shall sound there! I’m telling you this because it shall happen. Because the Scripture promises it. We’ll see it. Only there will be those who have been waiting for this and those will be surprised.
Therefore – “Ascribe strength to God! His excellence is over Israel, and His strenth is in the clouds” (Psalm 68:34). His greatness is over Israel. Even now there is a war going on there, but the greatness has not diminished. With our eyes we see war, but with our spirit we see greatness. North Korea shall be joined with Israel. Because it is impossible that the nations that God will save won’t be joined with Israel. You, prophetic people, think already about this, watch carefully. And when you see the first signs, connecting threads, from North Korea to Israel, and from there back to it, know that there is a smell of the living water. The movement of glory is coming.
God also says: “You are awesome, O God, in Your sanctuary. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!” (Psalm 68:35). And this is the God of Israel. The God that North Korea will accept will be the God of Israel, because our God is the God of Israel. He will give strength and power to His people. The Church of Glory and Power is Growing in North Korea!
I remember when Russia opened up. No one in this world knew the Church of Russia. There were different ideas, but I knew the glorious people, who spent twenty-thirty years in prison, and they were, indeed, sons of God. I have never seen such people anywhere – how much Christ was in them! They were ready to die for their beliefs. They were deprived of their children, they were tortured, tormented, killed. But they remained faithful. The same thing is happening in North Korea. When it opens, we will see the radiance. And our task is not to spoil anything.
As we were praying now, I praised God during worship and was surprised by this prayer. I said, “God, keep North Korea! Keep the North Korean church from the wrong people because this is the Bride! No one can touch her. She belongs to Christ!”
God will shake the nations. He will shake North Korea. Every nation will experience a shaking. There will be no safe place on earth. Neither America nor Europe will be a safe place. When they make different political strategies that would guarantee security, heaven will judge these nations. Supernatural things will happen. Such as Covid a couple of years ago. We will see God intervening and shaking all nations. Because they must be subdued. And North Korea is on this list, and America is on this list, and Russia is on this list, and South Korea is on this list. God will shake so that the Desired One may come.
What can we give to North Korea? If it opens now, what will we give them? We still don’t fully know ourselves. We must be disciples. We must learn in humility of our hearts, so that what we give them is truly a gift from God.
These circumstances that are there now must lead to greater glory.
A few pictures of how North Korea might open up.
There were several scenarios in Israel and the world. What is your vision of how North Korea will open up? One of the ways the Lord replaced the authority in Israel was the defeat of the head, when someone killed the main villain. One day Joab was hunting Sheba, and the woman threw his head out of the city. God can kill Kim Jong-un – then why doesn’t he kill him yet? Aren’t there enough prayers? Haven’t we fasted enough yet?
Another scenario is a change that happens with the head of state. This happened with Darius. He was a godless one in Daniel’s days, and then Daniel did a move of the Spirit and miracles, and Darius changed his understanding of God, and began to give decrees where he allowed believers to live openly, and the laws changed because the leader changed – the leader changed his thinking.
Or the election of a new leader. There was Gideon, whom God chose, and he began to move and destroy idolatry.
Or reunification with the righteous remnant. Jehoshaphat tried to unite with Ahab and made mixtures. And today we pray for the unification of South and North Korea. – How does God see these things?
Or the infusion of foreign trends. “Leavening” the country with “overseas leavens.” When Solomon began to accept other kinds of faith, began to bring tolerance to his country, began to make different temples of different beliefs, and his kingdom began to weaken, and this led to division.
And we see different scenarios – how the country can open. But we also see the strengthening of the living remnant. Historically, when the church had endured, and Constantine then converted to Christianity. After severe persecution, complete freedom came.
Or a complete defeat of the country – everything collapsed at the Tower of Babel.
What is our understanding of how North Korea will open? Today I quickly jotted down seven scenarios. What is our vision of how it will open. Can you go where the treasures of hail are hidden? Do we really need this? Will politicians, or analysts, or missionaries tell us this, or will God tell us this? What is with the Lord’s voice on this topic? But one thing is clear. We need the supernatural impact of God, we need a move of God, so that God moves. He will go the way He wants. And do you know what He will do? He will take care of the pearl. He will try to preserve what He has planted.
There are a lot of politicized views of North Korea today. For example, that they are miserable. When we were in the Soviet Union, we didn’t think so. Today we look at them through refugees – and this is subjective. What do North Koreans themselves think about themselves? I don’t think everyone thinks they’re miserable. We didn’t consider ourselves miserable. There were some emphasis on other things regarding honor and valor.
I’m just bringing out a different system of understanding North Korea today. We need a fresh understanding, we need a fresh real view of North Korea – sober and pure – as God sees it.
Another stereotype: that they are a threat to the world. Should they become pro-Western or what? Should they have a Western concept of world order? Do they need to be changed urgently? Should the theology of Christianity be Western or Eastern or what? The church there is weak, and it needs proper Christianity? Are you sure?
And how does it feel to be a global exile? How does he feel inside a country that everyone is putting pressure on, from which fuel can be taken away in order to punish the rulers, and then some countries still “feed” them through “dark passages”, and power countries give them bread, but only on their own terms so that they eat it the way they are told to.
How does a global exile feel within this system? They unite around their leaders.
And what can we give them? What can we really give them? What can the Western world and the Western Church give these people? What is in our hands now? What have we prepared for them besides food and money?
We need this vision. I want to pray with you. I asked a lot of questions today, which is good. Sometimes a good question is better than a bad answer. I want to pray for God’s supernatural intervention, for God to move.
It doesn’t have to be Western or Eastern. It must be indigenous and holistic. She must be dressed in her own clothes. And such ministers will be admitted to her. The Lord will take care of it.