Release International

Work on North Korea's first church for foreigners has been on hold for more than a year, despite official permission for the project being granted in 2004.

The project, which is being funded from abroad, has stalled because the Pyongyang regime has since asked for the money to be spent on renovating the Chilgol Church in the capital, one of only a handful of official churches in the country.

Pastor Lee Sung-woo of a South Korean missionary group which is heading up the project told Radio Free Asia: 'We turned down the offer. We still plan to build a brand-new church there.'

The design for the four-storey Pyongyang International Harvest Church has been submitted to the Pyongyang authorities by South Korean builders. The original schedule for construction would have seen the building completed by the end of this year.

The church, funded by ethnic Koreans in the US and by missionary groups in South Korea, would combine traditional masses with 'a school for foreign students', according to The Korea Times in Seoul.

North Korea opened three official churches in 1988, two Protestant and one Catholic -- but they are believed to be little more than a showcase for foreign visitors. Their teachings are strictly controlled and are a mix of religious doctrine and politics.

• Pray that the Pyongyang authorities would bow to foreign pressure for the International Harvest Church to be built -- and that it would live up to its name when it is completed.
• Continue to pray for North Korea's Christians who are forced underground in a brutal regime. Pray that they would know God's love and His power in an extraordinary way.

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