The underground church in North Korea is growing despite famine and persecution, according to Peter Lee of Cornerstone Ministries.

The North Korean government says there are 543 house churches and about 12,000 Christians in the country. But the real number of Christians is about 60,000, Lee told Religion Today.

North Korea's three-year famine has had the effect of spreading the Gospel. Travel is restricted in the communist country, but more people are risking trips to find food. As they travel from rural areas to the cities, Christians make acquaintances along the way and "word gets around." Christians are careful when talking about their faith, waiting until they can trust a person before discussing the subject. Evangelism is taking place "mostly through friendships," Lee said.

Christians suffer persecution at the hands of the government. In 50 years of communist rule, 2,200 churches have been closed and at least 200,000 Christians imprisoned or killed. A woman who escaped from a North Korean prison camp in 1992 said she saw many Christians executed. Soon Ok Yi said she was imprisoned for five years at Kae-Chun Rehabilitation Center in South Pyong Province after being falsely accused of mismanagement by a communist official she offended. The camp had 40 to 120 Christians imprisoned at any given time.

Christian prisoners were beaten and tortured by guards trying to make them renounce their faith, she told Voice of the Martyrs. They were promised better treatment if they denied their beliefs, she said, but "I did not see a single Christian deny his faith."

Yi became a Christian after escaping from the camp and defecting to South Korea. At her debriefing, a government official brought a Bible and a hymnbook and began singing "Amazing Grace," Lee said. The woman recognized the tune but could not remember where she had heard it. Later, as she went through the hymnbook, she recognized the lyrics and remembered that her mother had sung them to her as lullabies when she was a child.

Christianity was once prevalent in North Korea. At the turn of the century, Pyongyang had so many churches it was called "The Second Jerusalem," Lee said. Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and began persecuting Christians who refused to observe Shinto celebrations, undergo Shinto baptism, and bow to Shinto shrines.

The Pentecostal Holiness Church has pledged to convert one-tenth of one percent of the world's population to Christianity by the year 2000. The Target 2000 plan hopes to bring 570,000 new believers into the church, according to DAWN Report. The church currently has 125,000 members in 1,490 churches. The plan includes asking every member to spend 20 minutes a day praying for missionary activity, and encourages members to evangelize and plant churches. "We have to go to the people, and stop expecting them to come to us," according to a church statement. "It is a waste of time to set aims and not develop a strategy by which to reach them."

Thirty thousand people in New Delhi, India, prayed to become Christians last month during an evangelistic crusade. Despite protests from Hindus, turnout for the crusade was high and the ministry collected 30,000 cards indicating people had prayed to become Christians and wanted more information.

Christians are trying to visit every home in Nepal by the year 2000. Although proselytizing is illegal in the Hindu kingdom, "Christians are basically ignoring what's on the government books," Youth for Christ's Art Deyo told Mission Network News.

Government officials are lax about enforcing anti-evangelism laws. "It's still a crime … but realistically no one has been jailed in the last couple of years for that," Deyo said.

Christianity is continuing to expand in traditionally Islamic Syria, Global Glimpse reported. Observers say many Muslims are deciding to follow Jesus, attributing this to the country's Christians' intense prayer and fasting. The government is also easing restrictions previously placed on Christian movements. One Christian organization received permission to print and distribute thousands of New Testaments.

Christianity is reportedly growing in the slums of Khartoum, in predominantly Muslim northern Sudan. Many small churches, built of clay, have been started and the Jesus film is shown every night, Joel News Service said. Most Sudanese Christians, who comprise 20% of the population, live in the southern part of the nation.

According to an evangelist in Khartoum, the constitution was changed recently to guarantee freedom to practice one's religion, evangelize, and plant churches anywhere in the country. He held an evangelistic campaign in March in the streets of Khartoum attended by more than 3,000 people. "People were even standing on the roofs to be able to see," the evangelist said. "The gospel was not hindered at all. This is a miracle of God and a fruit of your prayers for us."