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ISSUE 0 1
MARK 16
NORTH KOREA M O S T P E R S E C U T E D N AT I O N I N T H E W O R L D
DELIRIOUS? W O R L D TO U R E X C LU S I V E I N T E RV I E W
MOSES MAN ON A MISSION
YUN T H E H E AV E N LY M A N C O M I C
MARTYRS THE CHINESE BOXER MASSACRES
INTRODUCTION This magazine and this new AsiaLink ministry are all about missions. If you are between 14 and 21 (give or take a few years) and you love the Lord passionately, then this is for you. But let’s get a few things clear... What H I S T O R Y M A K E R S isn’t: Something to make you dance and jump about a lot! Looking for your money! What H I S T O R Y M A K E R S is: A means of informing, developing, inspiring, and discipling A call to a no-compromise, obedient life to Jesus Christ A serious challenge to be a world-changer, a historymaker right where you are!
I N F O R M / D E V E LO P / I N S P I R E / D I S C I P L E
The verse opposite speaks clearly about the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. This is one of the five main verses most regularly quoted in relation to missions work. Each verse has been used in different places in this magazine. In fact, if you look at the whole Bible, you will see every page laced with the mission of God. He wants all creation to worship Him through His Son Jesus Christ. God is on a mission and he has chosen you to share in it. The nations are to worship, they are to be glad. From Genesis to Revelation, the Lord is passionate about restoring his relationship with mankind. Our passion is to do something about it! It’s our job to tell all creation about the Good News. Someone once said, “If we don’t go, who will?” It all begins in your village, town or city. It’s “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. Try replacing the locations in that verse with places relevant to you: “And you shall be my witnesses to your family and friends, to the people of your village, town or city, your nation and to another nation or continent.” For AsiaLink, that continent is Asia – that’s where most of the world’s 2.6 billion unreached or least-reached people live. The Holy Spirit will empower you to witness to others about the amazing grace of God, whether in your home, school, college, university or workplace. God has a plan and a purpose for your life to reach out to the unsaved of this world – and it involves your obedience and your trust.
ACTS 1:8 (AMPLIFIED)
CONTENTS N O RT H KO R E A
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C H I N E S E M A RT YR S
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I N F O R M I N G : We’ll introduce you to places you probably never knew existed.
Y U N (The Heavenly Man comic)
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The what, why and how of world missions. We’ll see what the Bible has to say. We’ll also interview others; from well-known evangelists to the best Christian bands, from missionaries to church leaders.
M O S E S (Man on a Mission)
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D E L I R I O U S ? (Exclusive Interview)
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RESOURCES
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are world-changers; your world, our world! We want to help you be that person... H I S TO RYM A K E R S
I-D-I-D DEVELOPING:
I N S P I R I N G : People are paying the price. Hear the stories from Brother Yun or the martyrs who have laid down their lives for Jesus.
– that’s discipling you – so that you can disciple others.
DISCIPLING:
AsiaLink Youth Officer
WHEN JESUS LANDED AND SAW A LARGE CROWD, HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEM, BECAUSE THEY WERE LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD. SO HE BEGAN TEACHING THEM MANY THINGS MARK 6:34
T H E H A RV E S T I S P L E N T I F U L , Illustration taken from ‘Conventional Wisdom’ by A. Auderset Used with the kind permission of Monarch Books.
B U T T H E WO R K E R S A R E F E W LU K E 1 0 : 2
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NORTH KOREA PERSECUTION INDEX: 1ST There are 23 million people in this atheist State with its heavily fortified 250mile border with South Korea. To the north, there is a 900 mile border with China and a short section with Russia. NK is widely recognised as the most secretive nation in the world. All North Korea is dominated by the Kim family and today by Kim Jung-Il the ruling despot. The thoughts and writings of his father, Kim Il Sung, control all of society and stand in direct conflict with the freedoms of the Gospel. There is widespread abuse of believers, extensive famine in rural areas, a dead economy and zero toleration of criticism. Newsweek magazine described North Korea as “the worst of the worst”. In rural areas, people forage for individual grains to eat. The mountains have been stripped bare of anything that can be used as food. The few aid workers who remain tell of orphanages crowded with shrivelled babies. Persistent rumours of cannibalism filter across the border into China where a growing number of refugees shelter following their suicidal flight to relative safety. Between 1995 and 2000 an estimated 3 million starved to death. Desolate towns, children abandoned and wandering in fallow fields and all the time the ‘Dear Leader’ builds an exorbitant weapons stockpile and a million-man military. Current spending on the military is estimated at well over three billion pounds. No one knows how many believers remain, though some do and gather where and when they can in caves and hideouts. They sing in silence. Confidentiality is a must for any Christian ministry in this land. Any North Korean Christian who is known to the authorities will be imprisoned in terrible conditions and many do not survive. Many have already been killed. They have no knowledge of the Gospel. The 23 million living in North Korea are taught there is no God. They are required to worship the deceased (but still reigning) former President, and now his son. They live a precarious life. Here, some have the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus for the first time.
W H AT W E D O 1 We help provide food for the neediest 2 We help inside North Korea with acute medical needs 3 We generate information for a network of prayer focussed on NK.
W H AT Y O U C A N D O 1 Please pray for the ministry among North Koreans. It is highly risky. Pray God’s protection on mission activities every day. Many believers have been imprisoned or executed. Ask God to sustain the North Korean Church and bring grace and growth during this most intense of persecution. 2 If you are over 18 you can participate in our sponsored challenges to raise money for ministries in North Korea. Details to follow.
The bottom right image was taken by a civilian who escaped to China and then went back to North Korea with a hidden camera. The top two images are how Kim Jung II would prefer the world to see North Korea. GO THEN AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM INTO THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MATTHEW 28:19
MARTYRS CROSS AND CROWN Dedicated to the martyrs who were brutally tortured and murdered in the Boxer uprising of 1899/1900 in China.
The god of war and boxer altar in yen-shan city
According to the author of the book from which the following story is taken, people in the UK were horrified at the tortures and hideous deaths inflicted upon the martyrs. When standing in one of the temples after the massacres were over, she looked at the drawings on the walls where there were brilliantly painted figures representing the tortures of the Buddhist Hell. In the pictures she saw a man surrounded by demons engaged in tormenting him. Too frightful to describe in any detail, some were of a man being thrown onto a hill of knives. Another is being sawn in two, another is having his tongue or heart torn out and yet another is being boiled in oil. It’s not hard to see why this terrible group of killers were so merciless and violent.
A boxer
The Boxers were a group of people calling themselves ‘United Fists’. Foreigners in China nicknamed them ‘Boxers’. They worshiped the god of war in Buddhist Temples which was normally where most Christians were taken and offered as sacrifices to the idols. Prince Tuan of the Chinese imperial government along with the Empress Dowager gave permission for the Imperial Army and the Boxers to destroy all foreign missionaries and all Chinese associated with the ‘foreign barbarians’. During this uprising, 20,000 Roman Catholics along with 5,000 Christians including 188 foreign missionaries were killed.
HOW THE CHILDREN OF C H I N A D I E D FO R J E S U S
At once, the Boxers unsheathed their murderous blades and thrust at the woman. Shen-chieh threw herself upon her mother trying to protect her but was soon killed by the spears. The bystanders remember the child cried in a loud, clear voice, first to her Lord and then to her mother, but the voice of this brave little daughter was stilled in death. Extract taken from ‘Cross and Crown’ by Mrs Bryson – first published in 1905 and used with the kind permission of the Council for World mission
A Christian book and tract seller
One was a girl named Shen-chieh who had given her heart to Jesus. When the troubles broke out, the whole district was teeming with Boxers. Scared of being arrested, she fled with her mother and sister, wandering homeless for 10 days, sleeping in ditches by night and hiding in the tall grass by day. Finally they were captured by the Boxers. Standing up, this brave girl did her best to save her mother and sister. “They do not belong to the Jesus religion” she said. “It is I alone who am a Christian. If you wish to kill me, I am quite willing to die; but let them escape”. At first the boxers were touched by the little girl’s brave pleading and told her relatives they could flee for their lives – so her sister fled on foot into the fields but her mother froze. She trembled with fear, unable to move.
Students at Tientsin college
Among the large number of Chinese Christians who refused to save their lives by burning incense at the idol shrines, choosing death rather than denial of their Lord, were many children and young people who had learned to love the Saviour in our Yen-shan Mission School. As many as 14 suffered martyrdom.
GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS, THAT HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS JOHN 15:13
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YUN
This is the dramatic, true story of how God took a young, half-starved boy from a poor village in Henan Province in China and used him mightily to preach the Gospel despite horrific opposition. Brother Yun is a housechurch Christian, a man who despite his relative youth, has suffered prolonged torture and imprisonment for his faith. We join the story after Yun has been arrested for his faith for the second time.
Comic extracts taken from ‘Yun – the illustrated story’ by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway. Used with the kind permission of Monarch books.
TO BE CONTINUED
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. H E B R E W S 1 3 : 8
AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I AM SENDING YOU JOHN 20:21
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I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST AND I NO LONGER LIVE, Illustration Picture took taken from ‘Conventional from ‘Conventional Wisdom’ Wisdom’ by A.Auderset by A. Auderset Used with the the kind kind permission permissionof ofMonarch Monarchpublications. Books.
BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. THE LIFE I LIVE IN THE BODY, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME G A L AT I A N S 2 : 2 0
MOSES E X O D U S 3 : 9 –1 2 “And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you” M O S E S FA C T F I L E Born roughly 1526BC in Egypt, to the house of Levi. Moses’ mother hid him for three months until she finally put Moses in a basket and placed him at a river bank in the Nile. Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. When Moses grew up, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. Pharaoh tried to kill him when he heard about this but Moses escaped to Midian. He married Zipporah and had a son named Gershom. Moses went from being a prince of Egypt to a shepherd. After 40 years, The Lord called Moses to go back to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh set free the Israelites. MAN ON A MISSION The story of the burning bush is a story about missions. God was on a mission to free his people from the slavery in Egypt and Moses was chosen to fufill this mission. READ EXODUS 3 TO EXODUS 4:16
The call to Moses to ‘Mission Egypt’ is as relevant to us today as it was 3532 years ago! In spiritual terms, Egypt represents the world. Moses was called to go into the world and set the people free who were enslaved. The same thing is being asked of each Christian today who is obedient to the call of Christ. God wants each of us to go to our families, friends, schools, colleges, universities and workplaces and speak the truth to all mankind! The church is a great place to worship God, for fellowship, learn from others and grow spiritually. But it can sometimes also be a place where we become comfortable. God had spoken to Moses directly and given him a glimpse of the signs and wonders he would use against Pharaoh. But Moses was comfortable where he was and even said “send someone else”! He made God’s anger burn against him. As you read the book of Exodus, you will see that God’s passion to deliver his people, eventually became Moses’ passion as well. Just like when Jesus saw the multitudes and had compassion on them as they were like sheep without a shepherd – he wants to ‘download’ that compassion into your heart for the people of the world who don’t know Jesus. Thankfully, the task isn’t down to us alone. The Lord said to Moses “I will be with you”. Moses left his comfort zone and eventually became a H I S T O R Y M A K E R . You can be a H I S T O R Y M A K E R too – and be encouraged that the Lord will be with you!
Mt.Sinai, the location of the burning bush, as it looks today
AND REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS WILL BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME TO ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM LUKE 24:47
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DELIRIOUS?
Delirious at their Reading show, 1st November 2006. Many thanks to Tim Jupp and Furious records for the interview and the use of photography.
THE MISSION BELL Why, you ask, choose Delirious as a feature in a magazine about changing the world?
In what way do Delirious intend to challenge young people to become HistoryMakers?
There are two reasons – firstly, they wrote the fantastic song ‘HistoryMakers’ which heavily inspired the name of the AsiaLink Youth ministry.
“It takes a people movement to change the world that we live in. Change only happens when everybody in the community actually takes on the belief together and it’s the same within the church. Our role is to go and encourage people to do that, to get together and shout about the same thing”.
Secondly, their latest album, The Mission Bell, focuses on missions, more so than any album to date. AsiaLink were privileged to spend a few minutes with the band before their final UK gig in Reading on their 2006 world tour. We asked band member Tim Jupp these following questions: How do Delirious intend to go from releasing albums and performing live shows to actually making a difference in the world today? “Hopefully we have made a difference – in conversation we often talk about hopefully being remembered for more than just the songs or the shows. With our trips to underdeveloped Asian countries we see the opportunity to encourage the local indigenous churches in terms of their worship and music. We see music as a great medium internationally and an amazing tool to gather people together. We feel that we can promote Jesus to the young people in poorer countries, through music”.
We aim to make missions relevant and appealing to this generation of youth in the church. How would you suggest we do this? “Being in a place where you are in touch with what God is doing – you have to try get a heart for Jesus. You can preach all you want about the importance of missions but unless there is that heart for Jesus, only then will all these things fall into place”. According to the Joshua Project, 2.61 billion people are still un-reached with the Gospel. As one of the world’s most influential Christian bands, do Delirious feel there is a responsibility to play a bigger part in the Great Commission? “It’s hard to say we’re doing all we can. We are thankful though that it is not down to us alone but all of us – we are all the body of Christ. We feel the greatest impact we can have is to inspire people – this will make a much bigger difference”.
ABOUT MIDNIGHT PAUL AND SILAS WERE PRAYING AND SINGING HYMNS TO GOD, AND THE OTHER PRISONERS WERE LISTENING TO THEM. SUDDENLY THERE WAS SUCH A VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE THAT THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE PRISON WERE SHAKEN. AT ONCE ALL THE PRISON DOORS FLEW OPEN, AND EVERYBODY’S CHAINS CAME LOOSE ACTS 16:25
RESOURCES WEBSITES www.asialink.org.uk
www.fireonthealtar.com
www.sermonindex.net
Go to our home page and see the who, what and why of our passion for world missions, especially mission in Asia.
This extraordinary site is fashioned around the scripture “were not our hearts burning within us”, in Luke 24:32. Here you will find free movies, music, powerpoints and much more – a great resource for everyone passionate about Christ.
Dedicated to some of the greatest Christian teaching & preaching of modern times.
www.backtojerusalem.com
www.joshuaproject.net
Detailed look at how the housechurch in China is fulfilling the Great Commission – by taking the Gospel from China back to Jerusalem via all the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu countries along the way.
The most comprehensive and detailed missions website available. Discover for yourself all the facts and figures relating to the unreached people groups of the world.
equipped to imagine what a beating is), forced abortions and sterilization, starvation, dehydration, isolation, nakedness. But from this, God produces lives of commitment to Christ, lives of joy, and intense motivation to carry the message of the Gospel around the world, at any cost.
– live in a few cramped, dismal acres. Jackie Pullinger had grown up believing that if she put her trust in God, He would lead her. When she was 20 years old, God called her to the Walled City. She obeyed. And as she spoke of Jesus Christ, brutal hoods were converted, prostitutes retired from their trade, and heroin junkies found new power that freed them from the bondage of drug addiction. Hundreds discovered new life in Christ. Chasing the Dragon tells the whole amazing story – exactly as it happened.
www.highwayvideo.com From the USA, this great website has all sorts of dynamic short movies – covering every topic from creation to worship.
Here you can download and podcast audio mp3 files of great sermons from the likes of David Wilkerson, Jackie Pullinger, Leonard Ravenhill, William Booth and many more.
BOOKS The Heavenly Man, the story of Brother Yun by Paul Hattaway Many Christians in the UK are only casually aware that outside the West, Jesus’ followers experience difficulty because of their faith. You cannot read this piercing biography of Liu Zhenying, better known as Brother Yun, and remain unchanged. These recorded experiences show in a concrete way what it is for Chinese Christians to live hard lives of extreme danger because of their faith: police raids in the night, long imprisonment without trial, beatings (no citizen of the West is
Chasing The Dragon, by Jackie Pullinger with Andrew Quicke Inside Hong Kong lies the infamous Walled City. Strangers are not welcome there. Police hesitate to enter. It is a haven of filth, crime and sin. Prostitution, pornography and drug addiction flourish. Thirty thousand people – maybe twice that
FILM End Of The Spear Worlds collide and tragedy strikes as a group of missionaries journeys to the heart of the Amazon jungle in search of the Waodani, a fierce tribe of warriors completely isolated from civilization. When five of the missionaries are brutally speared by the tribesmen, their families, numb, are left husbandless and fatherless.
Undeterred by their loss and spurred on by hope, the families of the victims remain in Ecuador to live among the Waodani as a young boy attempts to unlock the explosive secret of his father’s death. Based on a true story, “End Of The Spear” is a moving and powerful tale of sacrifice, courage, and redemption. End of Spear is available to buy from Amazon.com
WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS NOBLE, WHATEVER IS RIGHT, WHATEVER IS PURE, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, WHATEVER IS ADMIRABLE – IF ANYTHING IS EXCELLENT OR PRAISEWORTHY – THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS PHILIPPIANS 4:8
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L E O N A R D R AV E N H I L L ( E VA N G E L I S T )
O S WA L D S M I T H , ( PA S T O R A N D E VA N G E L I S T )
CHRISTINE CHAPMAN ( M I S S I O N A RY , B U R U N D I )
KEITH GREEN ( M U S I C I A N A N D E VA N G E L I S T ) ASIALINK HEAD OFFICE 2 K I N G S W O O D C LO S E LY T H A M , F Y 8 4 R E T E L : 0 12 5 3 7 3 3 8 0 1 E - M A I L : h i s t o r y m a ke r s @ a s i a l i n k . o rg . u k H I S TO RYM A K E R S A S I A L I N K YO U T H O F F I C E R
If you have been moved by the article on North Korea and you want to do more than pray, you can also give to the project by texting ‘HMKS’ to 84858 and donate £3* *£2.06 will go to the project after operator costs.
HistoryMakers is a ministry of AsiaLink. Registered Charity No. 327165
2 3 7 W E L L I N G TO N ROA D N O RT H S TO C K P O RT , S K 4 2 R Q TEL: 0161 442 3349 E - M A I L : t r i s @ a s i a l i n k . o rg . u k