Please join me in praying for the other 2,000 Christians imprisoned in this tiny country in Africa:
Christians have been left outraged by the death of a young woman in Eritrea, allegedly tortured to death in a military facility for refusing to renounce her faith in Jesus Christ, Open Doors has reported.In other Eritrea news the US has issued a warning to Eritrea over it's support of terrorism:
Migsti Haile, 33, died 5 September, at the Weaa Military Training Centre, and is the fourth Christian known to have been killed this way in the past year.
Open Doors, a Christian persecution and human rights watchdog, said Haile was tortured for refusing to “sign a letter recanting her faith”.
It is believed she spent 18 months in prison “under severe pressure” since she and nine other single Christian women were arrested at a church gathering in Keren.
The latest news of persecution will further increase international pressure for the Eritrean Government to take action to guarantee religious freedom.
The US has issued Eritrea with its strongest warning yet over its alleged support for terrorism.Update: the integrity of the source has been challenged but The Voice of The Martyrs Canada website says the following about the country:
A senior US official said the presence of an exiled Somali Islamist leader in Asmara this week was further evidence Eritrea gave sanctuary to terrorists.
The gathering of further intelligence could lead to Eritrea being named as a state sponsor of terrorism - followed by sanctions, the official said.
Until 2002, there was generally freedom to practice religion. However, Eritrean authorities have recently begun a campaign of open persecution against evangelical Christians. It began as a government-led rejection of any non-Orthodox Christian communities. In May 2002, the government announced that all churches other than Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran (Orthodox Church of Eritrea, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea are approved according to CIA) were to be closed immediately. Since then, hundreds of evangelical Christians have been arrested for practicing what officials are calling "a new religion." At the same time, they adamantly deny that any persecution is taking place at all. The truth of the arrests has been verified by numerous reliable reports coming out of Eritrea. The flood of arrests has motivated the United States to designate Eritrea a “Country of Particular Concern,” a designation reserved for countries with the worst of human rights offenses. In fact, in his February 7, 2005 editorial on Asmarino.com, journalist Habtom Yohannes states that the Eritrean government has established a task force specifically to eradicate all "menfesawyan" ("spirituals" - a term often used to describe charismatic Christians) from the country by the end of 2005.That seems to be consistent with the article I linked to.
By all appearances, they are well on their way to accomplishing their goal. Close to two thousand believers remain in Eritrean prisons where they face deplorable conditions. According to Release Eritrea, these numbers mean that approximately one in ten Eritrean evangelicals are presently being detained. Kelati Awalom, a member of the Rhema Church, was arrested for a third time on March 17, 2004 and was detained for three months, along with two of his daughters. According to reports, he was beaten until he was partially paralyzed. After his release, he continued to suffer the effects of the beating until he died at his home on July 24, 2005. This disregard for basic human rights is not unusual. In fact, where temperatures can soar above 40 degrees Celcius, many believers are held in metal shipping containers with no ventilation or toileting facilities.
The website asks that you pray for:
Pray for strength to stand firm in their faith, for those in prison.
Pray that the government will stop the campaign against evangelicals and will allow freedom of religion for all.
