As many Christians around the world freely celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25th, the holiday was banned in North Korea and they were forced to honor the grandmother of Communist dictator Kim Jung-Un instead.
Reports out of the country stated the 2016 holiday was replaced with the celebration of the dictator’s late grandmother Kim Jong-suk.
The anti-Japanese and Communist activist, Jong-suk was born on Christmas Eve in 1919 and many consider the wife of North Korea’s first dictator Kim Il Sung as the “Sacred Mother of the Revolution.”
Jung-Un has a history of hating on the Christian holiday. In 2014 the young dictator freaked out when he found out that the neighboring nation of South Korea was planning to erect a Christmas tree to honor the special day along the shared border.
But it was never put up due to Jung-Un threats of war between the two over it, New York Post reported.
Interesting enough, people of The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) do put up the Christmas trees in the capital city of Pyongyang. But it is mostly for decor instead of for religious meaning.
Before the 1950s the capital had the largest number of Christians in the small country but changed rapidly. Now an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians locked up in prison because of their faith. The stat comes fromOpen Doors, an organization that works to help persecuted Christians around the world.
The group also pointed out that the country is considered to have an “extreme” persecution level and is considered the worst places to be a Christian in the world.
To help the 300,000 Christians in the country the faith based association is calling on all to prayer and recite “prayer points”:
-Pray for the 50,000 – 70,000 Christians suffering from torture in North Korean labor camps.
-Pray that God would open Kim Jong-un’s eyes to the surpassing glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
-Pray for Christians who are afraid to tell their own spouses and children about their faith.
Find out how you can get more involved – visit Open Doors USA.