Shamilla Yeary | KRIN International

Faith That Survives Under Surveillance

by Shamilla Yeary | Aug 13, 2026 | Prayer

“Father, You know my friend Ms. Kim is ill, don’t You? Please make her healthy. Please let her live well over there.”

Kwan-Yi’s voice was barely audible as she prayed quietly in her room. Her brow was furrowed in deep concentration when suddenly, a knock broke the silence.

“Who is it?” she asked, startled.

“Ms. Kim sent me,” a man replied from the other side of the door. “Ms. Kim?”

Kwan-Yi’s eyes widened. She had just finished praying for her friend—and now, someone had arrived carrying a message from her. With joy and surprise, she welcomed the stranger inside.

“Ms. Kim asked me to give this to you,” he said. “She is deeply concerned because you are living in difficult circumstances and are not well.” He placed a photograph of Ms. Kim and a packet of money into Kwan-Yi’s hands, hands gnarled and weathered by years of hard work.

Then he shared even more good news: by God’s grace, Ms. Kim had arrived safely in the South and was beginning to regain her health. Kwan-Yi slowly ran her hand across the photograph. Ms. Kim was smiling brightly. She no longer looked as frail as she once had. Tears filled Kwan-Yi’s eyes.

“I pray for you every day,” she whispered. “I pray that everything goes well for you for your health and your work. I miss you so much. Seeing you in this photograph makes me miss you even more.”

The man shared more about Ms. Kim’s health and circumstances, offering words of comfort. Before he left, he asked Kwan-Yi if she had anything she wanted him to tell her friend.

Her answer revealed both her love for Ms. Kim and the strength of the faith she continues to carry: “Ms. Kim, I’m fine. Help those who need help. Do not worry. I pray for you every day. We continue what we did before you left. We gather occasionally to eat [communion] and continue [worship].”

Even in the darkness, the Church is still gathering.
Behind closed doors and under the constant threat of surveillance, believers in N. Korea continue to pray, worship, share communion, and encourage one another. God is alive in N> Korea. Their circumstances are incredibly difficult, but their faith endures. He is at work among His people today, through His Word, through prayer, and through believers who continue to follow Jesus even when the cost is great. The darkness has not overcome the light.

Please pray:

For believers in NK who have received the gospel and put their faith in Jesus. Ask the Lord to strengthen and sustain them and enable them to continue gathering for communion and worship whenever possible.
For those sharing the gospel. Pray for courage, wisdom, and creativity for believers who, like Ms. Kim, are faithfully reaching out to others.
For underground faith communities. Pray that they will remain steadfast and united despite persecution, hardship, and constant surveillance.
For God’s grace to cover His people. Pray that His inexhaustible grace would protect, guide, strengthen, and sustain underground churches and believers throughout NK.

A Glorious, Underground Harvest

by Shamilla Yeary | Jun 29, 2026 | Prayer

“Please, just let me speak with SoonKi a little longer,” missionary YungSok pleaded when he called GongBan back.

“No, that won’t do. It’s too dangerous.” GongBan paused, then added, “Wait… what is this?” A photograph followed.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than scribbles across a newspaper, tiny letters crammed into the margins. But as YungSok looked closer, faint pencil marks emerged from the clutter. Kim OO. Park OO. Lee OO. Name after name, written in dense, careful rows. A code? he wondered, turning the image over in his mind, but he couldn’t make sense of it.

“When SoonKi gave this to me, she said something strange,” GongBan continued. “She said, ‘There are more of your descendants than you thought.'”

The words hit YungSok like a blow. The photograph wasn’t a code at all. It was a list of believers. Eleven names in total.

Two years ago, when they had first made contact, SoonKi had said nothing about anyone keeping the faith. Yet here, in these eleven names, was proof: an underground church had taken root. And there was more. By sharing this news, that “there are many descendants of your Father, your Father’s descendants have increased,” SoonKi revealed something extraordinary.

With nothing more than a handful of Bible verses heard in China, she had planted those words in others, and a community of faith had begun to grow.

WAYS TO PRAY:

Pray for SoonKi and other workers like her inside NK society, who may not have a printed copy of the whole Bible, but who share the Bible verses they have learned and memorized with their compatriots. May they continue in these small but significant steps of faithful obedience to be bearers of the gospel.
Pray for lines of communication used by bridge workers such as GongBan who have contacts both inside and out to be protected in God’s sovereignty for the encouragement and nurturing of the saints with more of His Word.
Pray for YongSok and other missionaries from the south of Korea and other parts of the world to take their strength from the Lord, even when they are cut off from the people God has called them to serve. May they continue in intercessory prayer and other endeavors to see all NKs hear the gospel in our lifetime.

Even Sleep is Political

by Shamilla Yeary | Jun 11, 2026 | Prayer

“Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind. Behold my Servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” Isaiah 41:29–42:1

Every week, GaoHan’s stomach knotted with dread as “Film Literature Study” crept onto the school schedule. He’d heard the stories, whispered warnings about what happened to students caught nodding off: harsh punishment, the kind that left marks beyond bruises.

The weekly documentaries glorifying Kim Jong Un’s revolutionary genius were designed to forge unshakeable loyalty. But when you’re watching the same footage, the same praise, the same carefully choreographed triumphs week after week, staying awake becomes its own act of defiance against your own body.

And GaoHan’s body was already losing that battle. Chronic hunger gnawed at his concentration. The classroom air hung thick and acrid, the green wood smoldering in stoves that meant to heat the room were choking the students instead. Keeping his eyes open felt like pushing boulders uphill.

Then, one bitter winter session, the boulders won.

As The Juche Military Parade Demonstrating the Dignity and Majesty of Joseon flickered across the screen, GaoHan and a classmate slipped into sleep. It was an ordinary moment of human exhaustion and it would cost them everything. Both boys were immediately accused of harboring “serious political issues.” Since then, they have been marched onto the “ideological struggle” stage at a nearby youth re-education camp, forced to publicly answer for the crime of falling asleep.

In NK, praising the leader isn’t optional, it is survival. The Kim family’s cult of worship demands total, visible, unwavering devotion from every citizen. But for the young, the scrutiny cuts deepest. There is no margin for a drooping eyelid, a wandering mind, or an honest moment of fatigue. For GaoHan, exhaustion and hunger, even sleep became a political act.

PRAY FOR:

A Light No Darkness Could Overcome

by Shamilla Yeary | May 1, 2026 | Prayer

In NK, survival is not a given—it’s a daily battle.

PakSil wakes each morning with the same question pressing on his chest: Will we make it through today? Hunger is constant, sharp, and unrelenting. For those labeled among the “outcast” class, life is reduced to a single, exhausting pursuit—finding just enough to stay alive.

For his wife, NoenHee, that pursuit comes with terrifying risk. Like many women, she walks dangerous smuggling routes, slipping past border guards and corrupt officials, all for the chance to bring home a single meal. The cost is steep. Some are beaten. Others vanish into labor camps. Some never return at all.

Even their hardest efforts rarely lead to relief. A day’s work often ends in deeper debt. Missing work isn’t an option—it can mean punishment or worse. In a place where “happiness” is defined as loyalty to the regime, people like PakSil and NoenHee are left with nothing but endurance.

And then, something unexpected happened.

After years of scraping by, worn down by fear and uncertainty, they encountered something they had never known before—love that asked nothing in return.

PakSil describes it this way: “We finally received true love and guidance for life. The tears and sincerity of those who shared about Jesus Christ melted our frozen hearts. For the first time, we felt real happiness… and discovered purpose.”

NoenHee remembers the fear she felt at first—the risk, the unknown—but something deeper took root. “Now, that truth is engraved in my heart. No storm can shake it. I believe the day will come when God’s love reaches our people—that they will discover true joy, dignity, and truth.”

In a place defined by scarcity and control, hope has begun to grow—quietly, courageously, and unshakably.

PRAY FOR:

When Hunger Met Heaven

by Shamilla Yeary | Apr 10, 2026 | Prayer

HongSeun tells her story from the far side of the China–N. Korean border—a place where survival often overshadows hope. But what began as a simple exchange would become the turning point of her life.

“I met a woman in China who pressed one hundred yuan into my hand,” HongSeun recalls. “Then she asked me to do something unusual—write down the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed. She told me, ‘When you return to North Korea, pray these words again and again. God answers prayer.’”

At the time, HongSeun didn’t fully understand. But she remembered.

Back in N. Korea, the money eventually ran out—and so did her food. One night, desperate and alone, she shut every door, covered the windows with blankets, and whispered the words she had written down. Slowly, carefully, she prayed the Lord’s Prayer—one word at a time.

When she finished, she added her own trembling plea: “God, I am hungry. Please take care of my rice. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

It was the first time she had ever truly prayed.

She fell asleep that night with an empty stomach.

The next morning, she opened her door—and froze. There, just outside, lay two kilograms of noodles.

“It felt like an earthquake in my head,” she says. “Who could have brought this to me?”

No answer came—but neither did doubt. Days later, hunger returned. This time, she prayed again—same words, same desperation. The following morning, a woman from the market called out to her. She handed HongSeun a sack of rice, explaining that her bag had torn the night before and the rice had spilled and become dirty.

“I don’t have time to clean it,” the woman said. “Just take it and eat.”

HongSeun held the sack in her hands, stunned. There must be something to this…

And so she kept praying.

What followed was nothing short of miraculous. For a year and a half, provision came—again and again—in ways she couldn’t explain. Each answer deepened her curiosity… and her trust.

Later, when she encountered the words of Romans 10, something clicked into place.

“I realized that God answered me because I confessed with my mouth,” she says. “Even before I fully understood or believed—He heard me. He responded.”

She pauses, reflecting on the journey from desperation to discovery.

“Even now, when I look back,” HongSeun says softly, “I am amazed at all the prayers He answered.”

In a place marked by scarcity and silence, God had made Himself known—one prayer at a time.

PRAY FOR:

Faith That Survives Under Surveillance

A Glorious, Underground Harvest

Even Sleep is Political

A Light No Darkness Could Overcome

When Hunger Met Heaven

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