HOME EVANGELISM & PRAYER GUIDE 4 ERITREA TIG. & ENG. APRIL 2010

I great you in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ peace be to you. I would like to say thank you for your diligent prayers. On March 17, 2010  after a long illness, Dr. Tokumbo Adeyemo went to be with the Lord. He was the general editor of the African Commentary Bible, He wrote many books, He was the Chancelor of The African Internation University-Negest Graduate School of Theology, and he was the general Secretary of African Evangelical Association. etc etc... Pray for the family's consolation. Some are released from prison and others where imprisoned in the last month. On January our sister Hana Asgedom went to be with the Lord. She was 41 of age dedicated to her faith. She has been in the national service for some years. Singled out for her faith the commander of the army in her area demanded sex with her in which she defied his demand. 

 On account of her refusal to his demand she was imprisoned and accused of her faith in Christ. She has been tortured, and developed a heart failure and passed on while in prison. No medical treatment was allowed for her to recuperate. Others where destroyed recently by the government suspecting them of running away with someone's car near the border of north Sudan.

Eritrea is inflicting worse suffering on Christians from time to time and no Churches or Human rights seem to be heard in their advocacy for the persecuted Eritrean believers. We know very clearly the government blatantly ignores the existence of the Evangelical/Pentecostal Churches in Eritrea and refuses to recognize them within the constitution. At the same time the government does not give full freedom of worship even to Islam, Catholics, Orthodox and the Lutheran Church of Eritrea that are recognized within the constitution. Recently, the government warned them not to receive any donation from outside of the country. Only the Catholic Church had rejected its claim. The others may respond of late. All the believers who are detained are being held in containers made of metal. When the sun is overheating they can easily be suffocated hazard for their health, and in the night it becomes so cold & chilly. The containers do not have windows and after they are closed prisoners cannot see any light from outside. They come out to relieve themselves after the sun goes down-when it is dark evening. If they are brought out at daytime they end up in blindness, for they stayed many months without seeing light.

Pray for the Eritrean believers who are outside of the country to take initiatives to pray together for their country in the areas they live with each other. Pray for the believers God to grant them the joy of their salvation despite that they go through hardship & detained in containers.  Pray for those who are on their run from the cruel government seeking refuge in other countries. Pray God to provide shelter, food, clean water, & security. Pray & ask God to deal with the secret weapons of Ilsam who use the government officials who are Muslims, to destroy believers in Eritrea as they strategize to expand Islam. Remember Ali Abdu's statement on December 2009 that is the minister of Information. He said that; ‘there is no one who is imprisoned because of his/her religion/faith in Eritrea. If there are religious people arrested they must be criminals' He called believers criminals. Pray & ask God the hidden agenda of Muslims against Christians in Eritrea to be exposed.  Pray God to make an end to torture, imprisonment  & killing of believers in Eritrea. Pray & ask God every ungodly prisoner, & prison wardens to be saved. What hurts me more is that when one Muslim is persecuted because of his/her faith the whole Islam world raises to voice out immediately. But the body of Christ in other countries do not even pray for them leave alone to voice out for them. In one of the Universities of this continent, one of the lecturers shared with me this. ‘I asked my student: "What could be the crime to be brought against a Christian who is imprisoned because of his/her faith?" Some of the students answered: "Why should a Christian be detained because of his/her faith? For there is not crime in it & no one should question me of my faith. So I cannot believe in persecution." These are some of the shortsighted believers & ignorant of the Christian faith in reality. They are not Eritrean, they are from other countries who do not understand well the Bible. Pray for other countries who do not know what it mean persecution to begin to pray for Eritrea and other countries like North Koria, Somali, North Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, & communist countries like China who persecute Christians to know Jesus Christ. Beloved thank you for your prayers I believe your labor in regard to this is not in vain. 1Cor. 15: 58.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor for Home Evangelism & Prayer Guide for Eritrea.