“We want you to tell the world about us”
Last April, a missionary who visited Eritrea, a country north of Ethiopia, gave this report. “I visited to learn how believers with ties to Mennonites were faring in the current situation. It’s been 12 years since Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia, and two years since many churches were ‘deregistered.’ The believers told me, ‘Don’t pray that the persecution will stop. Pray that we will be strong.’
“The Eritrean government maintains that it has not closed churches and, in fact, church offices are allowed to remain open. However, believers who meet to worship and pray together are likely to be arrested. The government views them as extremists – the Christian equivalent of Muslim fundamentalists. I was told that over 350 believers were being held at the time of my visit. Many of them are being held in shipping containers in tropical heat. The believers said, ‘We want you to tell the world about us,’ but they cautioned against using names, either personal or denominational.
“I tasted a bit of what brothers and sisters in Eritrea face as I accompanied leaders to prayer meetings. We went from house to house after dark. Doors were locked and lights were turned out for secrecy. It was like nothing else I have ever experienced.
“Up to 18 people would pack into a small room. The order of service started with about one hour of prayer for personal repentance, followed by repentance for the nation and prayer for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and power to resist evil. A teaching followed, and then another hour of prayer, before we’d move to another area and home to start the same process over. At times, when someone knocked on the door, people seemed a bit anxious. The believers left two by two over a period of about a half hour, to avoid the appearance of a large gathering.
“When I asked the believers of Eritrea what message they had for the North American church, they said, ‘Pray for us. Tell the church to be strong and to stand for truth even if it is costly.’
“The persecuted groups maintain denominational identities but cooperate freely. Christians in Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran churches are not currently under legal restrictions.”
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