On May 13, 2018, a terrorist attack on Surabaya Central Pentecostal Church killed 10 people and left one church member with burns over 85% of her body. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea representative Hyun Sook Foley, that church member, Fenny Suryawati, continues to recover and is now using her burn scars to share ...
NEW JILIN CORONAVIRUS OUTRBREAK PUTS NORTH KOREAN SEX-TRAFFICKED WOMEN AT RISK OF STARVATION
A new outbreak of Coronavirus in Northeast China’s Jilin Province has led authorities there to restrict travel and institute additional control measures. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the new measures make it nearly impossible for North Korean sex-trafficked women there to feed their families. “The biggest worry today for North ...
BURKINA FASO: CORONAVIRUS LINKED TO INCREASED CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION
Coronavirus-related persecution of Christians continues to grow in Burkina Faso. In February, a pastor and his wife were accused of bringing the Coronavirus into the country after attending a conference in France. Now the nation is one of the hardest hit by the virus in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 600 cases and more than ...
3 CHILDREN DEAD IN FULANI CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN ATTACK ON NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS
Grisly photos and eyewitness accounts have emerged of the April 14 Fulani militant attacks against Christians in Plateau State Nigeria, in the midst of the coronavirus lockdown. In this latest attack, Fulani extremists murdered two five-year-old children and a three-year-old infant. Voice of the Martyrs Korea has been gathering reports from its partners in the region. According to Representative Hyun Sook Foley, those ...
FOUR YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, PASTOR HAN CHUNG-RYEOL’S INFLUENCE CONTINUES TO GROW
April 30 marks the fourth anniversary of the death of Pastor Han Chung Ryeol, the Korean Chinese pastor stabbed to death through his skull and heart in an apparent murder in Changbai, China in 2016. But according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the story of Pastor Han’s ministry and ...
DEACON SPENDS 2,000TH DAY IN NK PRISON AS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED FOR HIS RELEASE
Deacon Jang Moon Seok 장문석, who ministered to North Koreans in Changbai, China alongside martyred Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol, spent his 2,000th day in a prison inside of North Korea while coworkers mobilized a global letter writing campaign urging his release. “Deacon Jang, who is also known by his Chinese name Zhang Wen Shi, is an ethnically Korean Chinese ...
DEMAND FOR BIBLES SOARS IN NORTH KOREA AMIDST CORONAVIRUS
Statistics on the spread of the Coronavirus inside North Korea are the subject of considerable speculation among governments, media, and aid agencies, but according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, one fact is well established: Demand for Bibles in North Koreans has increased sharply during the pandemic. “It’s not only ...
BOKO HARAM RELEASES VIDEO OF KIDNAPPED NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN THEN KILLS HIM
The terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped a state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria as well as a pastor and 40 church members in two separate raids on January 3 and January 6. A video subsequently released by the terrorist group shows the captive as the Rev. Lawan Andimi, the chairman of the Christian ...
NEW 2020 GUIDELINES STRENGTHEN CHINA COMMUNIST PARTY CONTROL OVER CHURCHES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
New guidelines go into effect in 2020 to strengthen Communist Party control over what is taught in China’s state churches and public schools. The State Administration of Religious Affairs released in November Order 13, the "Administrative Measures for Religious Groups". Order 13 will be enforced on February 1. Article 17 of that Order states: “Religious ...
VOMK ANNOUNCES NEW “SOUTHERN PLAN” OF PERSECUTION TRAINING FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN CHRISTIANS
A training event for persecuted Christian leaders in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2020 will inaugurate an increased focus on Southeast Asia for persecution ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea. VOM Korea representative Hyun Sook Foley says that the ministry’s new “Southern Plan” intentionally bears the same name as the Southeast Asian economic initiative ...