Millions of Christians around the world united in prayer for the persecuted Church on November 11, remembering those Christians experiencing persecution in hostile or limited-access countries. But the founder of one organization that partners with the North Korean underground Church says that it’s the American Church, not the North Korean Church, for which North Korean Christians pray with concern.

Eric Foley, CEO of Seoul USA, says he was surprised when he first asked members of the North Korean underground Church how Americans could pray for them.

“They answered, ‘You pray for us? We pray for you!’ When I asked why, they responded, ‘Because Western Christians often put so much faith in their prosperity and political freedoms that they don’t know what it’s like to have to depend completely on God. And because of that, they often do not get to know Him in all the ways He invites us to.’”

Foley is the author of the new book, These Are the Generations, a first-person account of generational imprisonment and Christian faithfulness of one North Korean family. The story begins with the experience of the family patriarch in World War II and continues through the imprisonment and escape of his grandson, one of the book’s co-authors. North Korean authorities captured and imprisoned the grandson, Mr. Bae, because he believed in God and evangelized a friend. Bae says being a Christian in prison is far from a pitiable situation. “It’s like seminary,” he says. “I prayed for others daily. My faith grew by leaps and bounds even as my body decayed.”

Foley’s hope is that Americans will not pray for persecuted believers but with them. “North Korean believers like Mr. Bae always tell me not to pray that they would be removed from persecution, but that they would be faithful in the midst of it.”

MICHAEL IRELAND is a reporter with ASSIST News Service.

Prayer Connect magazine.