The following is an excerpt from a report sent to us from dedicated Crossing Borders missionaries who were in China throughout 2019. While a few details have been changed or edited in this transcription, we hope it will encourage you to continue in prayers for our faithful workers and the North Korean women and children they serve.

“When visiting the refugees in their village, a few of the women asked us if North Korea and the United States will go to war. Knowing that the United States had a much larger military, they worried for their families in North Korea. We learned that there are secret channels online where North Korean refugees in China and defectors to South Korea share a forum together. Over 300 of them chat throughout all hours of the day. It is one of the primary ways that the refugee women learn about what is going on in the world.

The refugee women have shared news about North Korea with us. Back home in their country, families are being required to donate a pig to the government annually. The North Korean people have had a history of stifling complaints against their rulers, but their patience is thinning. Their frustration and discontent may be growing.

According to sanctions enacted by the United Nations, we are learning that North Korean workers are now legally required to leave China. However, North Korean workers sent by the government are still present. Some North Korean women sent by their government to run a North Korean restaurant are now pretending to be Chinese and speaking Mandarin when serving customers. On the river bordering China and North Korea, there is a great deal of smuggling now. Large trucks line up along the riverbank at night.

We were informed that providing ministry for children is now illegal in Chinese churches. In a Chinese-Korean church in one of the major cities, government officials from the Religious Bureau burst into a service and began to take pictures and video of the congregants. The church had to quickly hide its small children’s ministry on a different floor of the building space.

The pastor of the church told us that the government’s interference is growing more and more aggressive. This was their first time being interrupted in service, and churches throughout the region are being inspected regularly. We will be more careful and be wary of visiting any churches going forward.”