|
|
|
Eritrean Government Arrests 30 Elderly Christian Women as Persecution Continues for its Believers
--- 12/08/2009
  
The Christian Post is now reporting that the Eritrean government arrested 30 elderly evangelical Christian women this past weekend who were gathered to pray together. They had assembled at a house on December 5th and Security forces rounded them up and arrested them.
Most of the women are members of the Faith Mission Church, which has an evangelical background. Faith Mission Church has a 50-year history in Eritrea but it became a target of the government in 2002 when a law was adopted requiring churches to register with officials.
It is impossible for Faith Mission Church, and others like it, to register with the government because there are only three denominations that are allowed legally to exist: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Evangelical Church.
“We condemn the arrest of the 30 women by Eritrean officials,” said ICC’s regional manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, in a statement. “We urge officials of Eritrea to release the detainees and all the imprisoned Christians in the country. We call upon Eritrea to stop violating the freedom of religion of its people.”
The ICC goes on to share, “In recent years, the Eritrean government has cracked down even on registered churches. The head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church has been under house arrest for years and there have been reports of raids on Christian functions, such as weddings.”
The reports also continue of torture that Christians endure in prison; in fact it is common. Many times they’re locked in metal shipping containers that are out in the hot Sahara sun where they have to battle not only the heat, but also overcrowding, disease, hunger, thirst and mental distress. There are reports that these containers are only about 20 ft. long and that they put 20 or more people in one container. Imagine this for months on end.
SWI has had a number of staff members who have seen the inside of these shipping containers during periods of imprisonment for nothing other than their faith in Christ. The details of these times that they’ve shared with us are atrocious and horrid. That anyone would force another person to have to endure such things is clearly evil. And yet, our staff members have shared how they were able to share the Love and Hope of Jesus with the other prisoners.
In this region of the world, many times you will hear men refer to their times of imprisonment as their times of schooling with Christ.
One of our staff members, who came to us as a young boy, was saved very shortly after coming into contact with our ministry. For the purposes of this article, and to not compromise his security, we’ll call him “Ashil.” Ashil became part of us and worked alongside us for many years inside Eritrea.
SWI was forced stop working there for a number of reasons and in the long months, which turned into years, that followed, we prayed for and wondered about our staff. There were times when we could make contact with some, but not with this young man.
Then out of the blue, suddenly we heard from Ashil. He had been imprisoned for 13 months and while that time must have been one of the most trying of his young life, he shared how he loved to share the Gospel with the other prisoners.
Ashil is now in Ethiopia and trying to connect with us once again. This is challenging because our phone calls are not going through to the number he provided. We ask you to join us in prayer for him and for the connection to be gained. We desire to be there for him and support him in any way we can.
Many of the prisoners die in confinement, so Ashil’s release with his health intact is a work of the Lord. May all Honor and Glory be to Him alone!
One major military site in Eritrea is the Mitire Military Confinement Center. There are reports from this location of torture, solitary confinement in underground cells and lack of medical treatment for things such as malaria, that ultimately lead to prisoners deaths. Recantation forms are usually shown to Christian prisoners as a way for them to be released, but most will not recant.
In an article in the July edition of Release magazine, a prisoner of 11 months is quoted as saying; “Life in the prison was simply like living in an open toilet.”
There are currently more than 2,800 Christians imprisoned in Eritrea because of their faith.
Many Eritrean Christians flee into neighboring countries to try to attain safety, one of these is Ethiopia.
And there are now reports that Ethiopia and Eritrea are topping the list of countries that are jailing journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has shared that on December 1st, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism and that 90 percent were detained without charges in secret detention centers.
Eritrea has at least 19 journalists behind bars now, leading the list of African nations with imprisoned journalists. They have held this distinction since 2001 when the authorities closed the private press by arresting at least ten editors without charge or trial. The Eritrean government refuses to confirm that the detainees are still alive, even when online reports suggest that three of them have died.
Please pray for this situation in Eritrea and the Horn of Africa. Many of our brothers and sisters-Christ are bound, if not if physical chains, possibly in shipping containers, and definitely in emotional chains, until they expire. Ashil was blessed to be released and to now be outside of Eritrea.
We’d like to urge you to pray about being involved with this part of our work. Pray about whether God is leading you to be part of getting relief to these people. We know that you are thinking, “I could never go there.” And while this may be the case, you could help SWI’s work there by providing financial assistance that we can get to our staff on the ground. If you are interested in making a financial donation you can do so easily on our secure donation page by CLICKING HERE. You can also call into our Home Office at 1-877-SWI-HOPE and speaking to one of our staff.
|
|
|
|
|
