New Radio Broadcast Delivers Christian Leadership Training to Persecuted North Korean Christians

Two ministries have launched a radio broadcast to provide Biblically-based leadership training to North Korean Christians and others in the country experts call the "worst place in the world to be a Christian."

The 30-minute daily broadcast is a partnership between Dr. John C. Maxwell's EQUIP organization and The Voice of the Martyrs -- Korea (VOM-Korea). The broadcast consists of a version of EQUIP's leadership training material, called PREQUIP, modified to provide the basic concepts of leadership not learned under totalitarian regimes.

The broadcast is produced and engineered in VOM-Korea's facilities in Seoul, South Korea and airs in the overnight hours. According to VOM-Korea Vice President Choi Young Hun, this is "when the most North Koreans are able to safely listen to their illegal radios."

The Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors organizations both rank North Korea as the worst persecutor of Christians in the world. According to VOM's Persecuted Church Global Report 2010, "Christians must practice their faith in deep secrecy and are in constant danger" of kidnap, arrest, imprisonment or execution.

According to Choi, "Being a Christian is considered a capital crime in North Korea and Hebrews 13:3 reminds us that every Christian shares the responsibility to encourage and train their fellow believers being persecuted in North Korea."

"That's why this partnership is important," says John D. Hull, president of EQUIP. "Our mission is to raise up Christian leaders in every country around the world and that must include North Korea. This partnership enables us to support our Christian brothers and sisters there."

This broadcast is an extension of a partnership that began by jointly developing the PREQUIP curriculum that is also taught in Underground University, a Seoul-based training program for North Korean exiles who are preparing to serve and grow the North Korean church in North Korea, China, South Korea and around the world (Underground University is a joint venture between The Voice of The Martyrs organizations in Korea, Canada, Australia and the United States).

EQUIP is a Georgia-based non-profit organization, founded by Dr. John C. Maxwell in 1996, specializing in the development of effective Christian leaders internationally.