I apologize for the long absence. You may have visited the Community of the Holy Fire and wondered if the fire had been extinguished. Most definitely not! Ellen and I have been traveling to Asia–China, North Korea and South Korea, and we discovered that Asia, especially Northeast Asia, is changing more rapidly than we had imagined.

You hear about China in the news, but you may not have heard that the Chinese Church is more alive and vigorous than at most any time in the past. The Church there is looking outward, not inward. They are beginning to reach out to the world where the Gospel is desperately needed but  very difficult to proclaim: the Middle East and North Korea. Christians from China are targeting these two areas, and they have the manpower and the supernatural “God power” of the Holy Spirit to complete the task. Please continue to pray for the Chinese Church–the underground Church, the government sponsored 3-Self Church and the city Church. Leaders of these three branches are coming together in a unity which we have not previously seen. Pray for increasing favor from governing authorities for the Church there. Then begin to share in the vision!

North Korea remains largely “hidden” from the world. Some of what we read in the news is true; it is just not the complete truth. There is an increasing openness of North Korea society to the outside world. You can do business there. You can live there and work on projects for community development. And the Church of North Korea is very much alive–hidden, but alive! Part of the hiddenness of the Church there is God’s desire to protect His precious people until the right time–and God’s time alone is always the right time–when He will once again allow His purified Church to surface to bless the world. Pray for dialogue and diplomacy among the nations that influence North Korea: the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China, Mongolia, and other nations. When Christians pray, God guides our government diplomats and leaders. During our visit there I could see “eternity” in many people’s eyes. Pray, pray, pray! Pray for protection against persecution, pray for more opening of the economic market, and pray for Divine Intervention in the lives of the top leaders.

Most satisfying in our South Korea trip was to visit with many old friends and partners in mission. God is renewing, purifying and empowering YWAM Korea (예수전도단).

God bless you.