Eritrea: Church raids
22 Feb 2011Two Christians are reported to have died in separate Eritrean prisons after being refused medical treatment amid a renewed crackdown by the authorities against unregistered churches. One of the martyrs was a 27-year-old woman arrested for reading a Bible in her bedroom. A new wave of raids has seen over 100 Christians detained. Forty one people from Asmara were jailed and are said to have endured beatings. The following day, 27 believers from various underground churches near Asmara were rounded up by the security forces. In January thirty five Christians including fifteen women and two elderly men in poor health were seized from a house church gathering in Nakfa. This onslaught on Eritrean Christians began around the time of the Tunisian uprising. Observers believe current disorder in North Africa and the Middle East may prompt President Isaias to tighten his grip on power leading to an even more severe persecution of unregistered Protestant Christian groups
Pray: the thousands imprisoned without trial would know Gods presence, and the Northern unrest would not exacerbate Eritrean Christian’s conditions. (Ps.20:1)
Eritrea: Christians jailed for ‘illegal’ worship
09 Mar 2013There was uncertainty on Tuesday, March 5, about the situation of 125 Eritrean Christians who were ‘beaten and detained’ in western Eritrea as part of a new government campaign against Christians worshipping outside the state-backed churches. At least 85 were arrested in the last week, among them are 45 who were arrested February 27 for worshipping ‘outside the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran Churches'. An estimated 1,500 – 2,000 Christians remain detained for some years in prison facilities ranging from airless, hot, windowless metal shipping containers, to military prison camps. Christians are known to have died during their imprisonment. The crackdown began in 2002 when all churches except those belonging to the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran denominations were effectively banned. Independent evangelical and charismatic churches are particularly singled out. Government policies are aimed at religious groups who are ‘duped by foreigners’ seeking to distract from and to distort the true meaning of religion.
Pray: against the harassment and detention in harsh conditions of thousands of members of registered and unregistered Christian groups. (Ps.18:16-19)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/26883-eritrea-jails-125-christians-in-campaign-against-illegal-worship
Open Doors reported, ‘Eritrean military officials arrested 35 Christians suspected of gathering for worship in Assab, a port city in Eritrea, on 3 July. The group, which included 17 women, was taken to the Adi-Nefase military camp, where conditions are notoriously harsh. At least two Christians imprisoned for their religious activities are known to have died while under arrest at Adi-Nefase since 2007. Meanwhile, the government continues to exert pressure on the sanctioned Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran and Islamic groups to enrol religious workers under the age of 30 for compulsory military training. Until now, church workers from these faiths have been exempt from military service because of their religious duties. More than 3,000 Orthodox priests, 10 Evangelical Lutheran pastors and 41 Muslim religious teachers have been inducted into Mitire Military Training Camp, but the Catholic Church is resisting the sign-up calls.’ And ‘We can thank God for the many imprisoned Christians who faithfully share Christ with their fellow prisoners.’ Pray: that many will come to know Jesus in the prisons through Christian witness and for God to sustain the families and friends of imprisoned Christians. (Ps.79:11)
Eritrea : Vigil held for persecuted believers
11 Jun 2010
Seventy demonstrators from The British Orthodox Church, CSW, Church in Chains Ireland, Human Rights Concern Eritrea, Release International and Open Doors protested against the persecution of minority believers in Eritrea. (See Prayer Alert 2310). The vigil was marking the eighth year of closing minority churches in Eritrea and the harassment of Christians from other denominations. The Metropolitan of Glastonbury, the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, and Dr Berhane Asmelash of Release Eritrea presented a petition to the Eritrean Ambassador appealing ‘for swift and positive action to ensure the release of prisoners of conscience and grant full religious freedom as guaranteed under Eritrea’s Constitution’. This event happens yearly in London but to date has not ended the persecutions. Pray: the Kingdom of God to come to Eritrea and spread like wildfire through the hidden and established church. ( Mt.6:10) More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/vigil.held.for.eritreas.persecuted.believers/26060.html
Kidnapped; raped; starved; tortured; jailed; are experiences of many Eritrean Christians who flee persecution in their homeland and suffer unimaginable horrors in their quest for freedom. As they make the dangerous journey across the Sinai deserts in a bid for safety in Israel many are captured by people traffickers. The Christian detainees are subjected to horrendous abuse, and huge ransom payments are demanded from their families for their release. Others are arrested and imprisoned in Egypt where they face similar violations and deprivation. Among them is Merhawi (17) who was transferred from one group of traffickers to another. The third group in Sinai tortured him mercilessly leaving him with permanent scarring all over his body. Merhawi’s family paid US$30,000 for his release, having already paid US$5,000 to each of the two other groups. Merhawi managed to get to Cairo, where he met fellow Eritreans who took him to Christians who arranged urgent medical treatment and a safe house.
Pray: for his full recovery, for the Christian ministries throughout the Middle East which are helping hundreds of persecuted Christians. (Ps.40:3)
More: http://barnabasfund.org/Help-and-hope-for-persecuted-Eritrean-Christian-refugees.html
Eritrea 1: The forgotten prisoners
30 May 2013Incarcerated in metal shipping containers with extreme temperature changes; forbidden to pray aloud, sing, preach or have a Bible; tortured to make them recant their faith, these are the extremely harsh conditions that Christians in Eritrea experience in prison. Some torture victims died because they were denied medical care. The country is among the world’s worst persecutors of Christians. Many have been detained in mass arrests for being part of a congregation or prayer meeting. The majority are held without formal charges, legal counsel, or allowed to see their families. A year ago 35 Christians were arrested and taken to notoriously harsh Adi-Nefase prison camp. They are still there. Christians conscripted to serve as soldiers can be imprisoned for attending prayer meetings and receive severe punishments for possessing a Bible. The mass arrests are a consequence of the government regarding Christians as a threat to national unity because they give their ultimate allegiance to God.
Pray: for those held in metal shipping containers to be strengthened. Pray for those Eritrean Christians who have managed to escape and share their stories with the West (see next item) (Ps.40:1-2)
More: http://barnabasfund.org/Help-and-hope-for-persecuted-Eritrean-Christian-refugees.html
A lawyer from Alexandria has submitted a report to the public prosecutor requesting that Egypt's Coptic Christians be excluded from the committee forming the nation's new constitution. Sherif Gadallah claimed that Orthodox Coptics are not representative of Egypt's Christian population because they're not Nasara, the so-called ‘true’ Christians of Islam's Qur'an, a book in which the word ‘Christian’ never appears. Since Orthodox Copts are not Nasara, or even Christians, Gadallah said they can be counted as polytheists, which will make Coptics non-representative of Egypt's Christian population. Gadallah justified his report by the Qur'an, which claims the prophets of Allah - Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad - are all mere humans sent by God to pass his message on to creation. Since Christians believe Jesus to be the divine Son of God, they are polytheistic infidels and not the Nasara of the Qur'an; therefore, Copts who also profess the divinity of Christ as expressed in the Trinity must be barred from having any say in Egypt's new constitution
Pray: against any move to marginalise Coptic Christians which would restrict full representation of all people on the constitutional committee. (Pr.29:14)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/11682-lawyer-wants-copts-removed-from-egyptian-constitutional-committee
Egypt:Christian's six-year sentence upheld
10 May 2012A judge in Upper Egypt has upheld a six-year prison sentence for Makarem Diab, a Coptic Christian wrongly convicted of ‘blasphemy’ against Islam and inciting sectarian strife. In his April 5th judgment, the judge in Assuit refused to strike down a February 29 sentence delivered to Makarem Diab, 49. The charges stem from an argument that Diab had in February with Abd Al Hameed, a fellow employee at Deer Al Gabrawy Prep School. From the start, the charges against Diab were inflated, according to his lawyer, Ahmed Sayed Gebaly. ‘I know Makarem well because we grew up together, and I know he wouldn’t do that,’ said Gebaly, a Muslim. ‘To be honest, he didn’t do anything wrong. If he did, I would have told him.’
Pray: that having been denied justice, God will set him free soon. (Am.5:24)