Eritrea (MNN) — The persecution in Eritrea has not let up as hundreds of Christians remain imprisoned, many of whom are tortured and eventually killed.
Eritrea is currently ninth on the International Christian Concern Hall of Shame. The Hall of Shame is a list of the ten countries with the worst Christian persecution worldwide. Eritrea follows other very high-risk areas, including North Korea, Iraq and Iran.
Eritrea has no constitution and is run by a singular communist ruling party. Since 2002, 2000 Christians have been imprisoned in military barracks and sometimes metal shipping containers. ICC remembers the deaths of three martyrs this month.
All three faithful followers were arrested for being believers outside the specified ramifications. Anyone outside of approved Christian denominations (which consist of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Lutheran Evangelical Church, and the Roman Catholic Church) does not have permission to worship and may be imprisoned, forced underground or thrown out of the country. For these three believers, imprisonment, torture and death were the results.
One woman was horrifically tortured until she was finally given the option to either sign an official document recanting her faith, or be killed. Two other men were also given this option on separate occasions. Two of the three were purposely exposed to malaria and given the incentive of medicine if they recanted. After suffering immeasurable torture, all three faithful believers were killed for their bold refusals to deny Christ.
These direct attacks affect many other believers indirectly. Believers who are imprisoned or have been martyred leave families behind. One of the three martyred Christians mentioned was 42 with a wife and children at home. ICC pleads for you to pray for the victims of this spiritual warfare, including those who are imprisoned, tortured and killed, as well as their afflicted families.
