Christianity's Greatest Menace

Christians around the world suffer daily because of their faith, and it seems the persecution is intensifying.

CBN News looks at the top two offenders-- North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Countries that persecute Christians usually fall into two camps: those with communist governments and those where Islam as the dominant religion.

In North Korea, the treatment of Christians has reached new lows in brutality.

"There's one particular account consisting of the shooting deaths of two people caught with Bibles in 1997," Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia said.

Others are thrown into some of the most brutal prison camps the world has ever seen. Often, two and three generations of Christians are sent to the camps, so that, when the family dies, their faith dies with them.

But communism as a worldwide threat to Christianity has been replaced by a greater menace -- Islam.

"The good side of that story is the church is growing in those countries," Todd Nettleton said. "That's why there is persecution because people are coming to Christ and if your power is built on the mosque, built on Islam, when you see Muslims coming to Jesus, that's a threat."

There are an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, and they make up the majority population in 52 nations, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

In hard-line nations such as Saudi Arabia, religious police harass and sometimes arrest Christians for practicing their faith. In other Muslim countries, Christians are second-class citizens, denied access to higher education and good jobs.

Authorities often look the other way when Muslims persecute them. One such country is Pakistan, where Muslims make up 96 percent of the population.

"We've seen many more martyrdoms, a lot more persecution in village areas, churches being under attack, prayer meetings, things like this," Ray Thorne said.

And like all Christians who suffer for their faith, they plead for the prayers of the worldwide body of Christ.

"The greatest frustration for the persecuted believer is that he listens to the devil's lies saying 'It's all over; you're the last one; there's no hope; nobody cares, nobody knows,'" Brother Andrew said. "So to let them know that we are with them, that we pray for them, that we support them, that they are part of the same body that we are part of. If one members suffers, the whole body suffers. I feel your pain, and I will share my joy and my surplus with you."