Evangelicals in Eritrea & Ethiopia, Enemies of the State
When it comes to religous freedom in Eritrea, it is hard to imagine. The only thing I can think of or relate it to is what my parents told me about the persecution during Mengistu Haille mariam in 1980s Ethiopia. . . . The situation in Eritrea today seems exactly what happened in Ethiopia before.
Full Story  September 29, 2007

'Deteriorated' religious freedom may trickle into evangelism in Eritrea
"If you ask the Eritrean government if there are any Christians in jail because of their faith they will tell you, ‘No, there are no Christians in jail. There are only criminals in jail.' What they've done is to criminalize Christian activities."
Full Story  September 29, 2007

Eritrean Christians tell of torture
It is one he knows well. It was in this excruciating position, he claims, that soldiers left him tied up for 136 hours, in an attempt to force him to recant his faith. " They kept asking me to sign a document," he recalls, "and agree to not participate in church activities or express my faith in any form. I was told I would be untied and released the minute I agreed to their requests."
Full Story  September 27, 2007

A woman died in Wi'A as a result of torture
Christians in Eritrea confirmed that Nigsti Haile (33) passed away at the Wi'A Military Training Centre. She reportedly died  September 5 morning, as a result of torture for refusing to sign a letter recanting her faith. Haile was among a group of 10 single Christian women who had been arrested at a church gathering in Keren and spent 18 months imprisoned under severe pressure
Full Story  September 5, 2007

Pastor disappears, 10 Eritrea Christians arrested
The Christians in Eritrea confirmed yesterday that a Protestant pastor in Asmara who disappeared 11 days ago remains missing. . . . In Dekemhare,  a Kale Hiwot Church pastor and 20 members of his congregation arrested  in late May and early June have yet to be released from custody
Full Story  August 27, 2007

Death Threats for Convert After Dreaming of Jesus
The morning after he saw Jesus in his dream, he committed his life to the Lord and started attending church. He testifies: “After my conversion my house and all my property were burned. Several times the Muslims came to my house with a spear threatening us, trying to hurt someone."
Full Story  August 27, 2007

Eritrea denies persecution of Christians
The Eritrean government calls the reports of mass Christian detentions "hyperbole."  A senior government official categorically denies religious repression and suggests the reports are exaggerated.
Full Story  August 3, 2007

Persecution of Believers Continues in Eritrea
He met with the pastor’s wife, Hadas, and their three daughters. Working as a hairdresser      . . . she said: “There are times when things are too much for me. Then I cry before God. I ask friends and relatives to pray for me to come out of that situation. Then God reminds me of His promises and I am encouraged."
Full Story  August 1, 2007

Christians to Unite in Support of 200 Million Persecuted Christians
The event, UNITE, will draw together Christians from across the church to stand together to support, among others, the thousands of Christians in Eritrea and North Korea serving prison sentences because of their faith.
Full Story  July 31, 2007

Eritrean police arrest more christians
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia is visiting Eritrea 16-19 May 2007. Kobia will meet church and other religious leaders as well as top government officials.
Full Story  June 13, 2007

WCC Head Visits Orthodox Christians, Evangelicals in Eritrea
The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, arrived in the east African nation on Wednesday for a four-day visit that includes meeting with WCC member churches. Kobia plans to meet with leaders of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church as well as the leadership of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus – which has its headquarters in neighboring Ethiopia but is also present in Eritrea.
Full Story  May 17, 2007

World Council of Churches General Secretary visits Eritrea
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia is visiting Eritrea 16-19 May 2007. Kobia will meet church and other religious leaders as well as top government officials.
Full Story  May 16, 2007

Eritrea Prayer Warriors Expect Miracles, God's Intervention
Hundreds of Christian prayer warriors from around the world congregated in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday for the first National Day of Prayer for Eritrea, sharing afterwards that they feel change was imminent.
Full Story  May 15, 2007

National Prayer Day ended with powerful prophetic declarations
The May 13 prayer meeting started in the afternoon and ended at in the late evening only because the venue "had to close for the night. It was marked by powerful prophetic declarations, insights and visions alongside intercession and praise.
Full Story  May 14, 2007

Eritrean Christians to Unite for First Nat'l Prayer
The event, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, was organized by the newly-inaugurated Nairobi-based Eritrean Evangelical Fellowship in Africa and the Middle East (EEF-AME), which seeks to empower the churches in the region and to advocate for persecuted Christians inside and outside of Eritrea
Full Story  May 11, 2007

Eritrea is listed as a religious freedom violator country
Religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate in Eritrea, where the government engages in systematic and egregious religious freedom violations, including: a prolonged ban on public activities by all religious groups that are not officially recognized; arbitrary denials of recognition; closure of places of worship; disruption of private religious and social gatherings of members . . .
Full Story  May 5, 2007

Security Forces raided Eritrean Presbyterian Church, and arrested its  80 members
In still another police raid in the Eritrean capital, local authorities last weekend arrested 80 members of the Mehrete Yesus Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Asmara at the close of a Sunday worship service.
Full Story  May 4, 2007

Pastor Gotzen jailed after requesting to visit Patriarch Abune Antonious
It seemed a heaven-sent opportunity when the Eritrean President, Isaias Afwerki, arrived with his entourage to have dinner in the hotel where Gerard was staying. After the meal was over, the Torquay man introduced himself and initially had a warm reception. “He shook me by the hand and asked what he could do for me,” Gerard recalls. “But when I asked his permission to visit the Patriarch, his mood changed and he said “that is not possible.”
Full Story  March 12, 2007

Persecution intensifies and widens
PLEASE PRAY FOR - the courageous Eritrean Christians continuing to meet for prayer, Bible study, teaching, worship and fellowship; may God protect and preserve them. 'Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.' (Psalm 17:8,9) - revival to keep spreading through the Orthodox Church, and that Christian unity will be a real and lasting fruit of this persecution.
Full Story  March 09, 2007

Another Christian dies in Eritrean jail, ten more are in jail..
Torture, illness claim life of  a 30 year old Mogos Solomon. Mogos was denied medical treatment unless he recanted his faith to the Almighty God.... On Sunday (February 18) afternoon security police in Asmara arrested 10 Eritrean Christians who were visiting a private home in the Travelo district of Asmara to congratulate a new bride and groom after their wedding.
Full Story  February 23, 2007

Founder of Full Gospel Eritrea Arrested
Just days after Eritrean security police arrested one of the founders of the Full Gospel Church last month, two Protestant pastors and another church leader jailed months ago have been released on bail without explanation. ... Ongoing complaints and dissatisfaction” began to surface in January from a number of priests and adherents of the Eritrean Orthodox Church inside the country
Full Story  February 16, 2007

Eritrea Intensifies Crackdown Against Orthodox Church
It seems like where a lot of the evangelism is happening is in the Orthodox Church. ... It seems like the revival movement there is gaining momentum, gaining growth…It obviously makes them nervous.
Full Story  February 15, 2007

Recent clampdown in Eritrea reveals new tactic
For the first time, the government has now arrested people who were employees at different government offices, simply for being evangelical Christians, for no other reason than their Christian faith.
Full Story  February 13, 2007

Authorities Continue to Disrupt Christian Weddings and Mournings
Eritrean Authorities disrupted a wedding and detained, the groom, his bride and about thirty of their close relatives. . . .The incident comes on the wake of yet another arrest of a Pastor from Full Gospel Church in Asmara.
Full Story  February 07, 2007

Religious crackdown in Eritrea under way
Pray for Christians in Eritrea. They are living under a government who is consistently ruthless in oppressing the Christian Church, which recently is also affecting the Orthodox Church as well.
Full Story  January 25, 2007

250 Bibles burned , 68 more Eritrean Christians are in Jail
Police and military authorities in the East African nation of Eritrea jailed 68 more Christians in three official round-up operations conducted the first week of January.  . . . After burning all the Bibles before the entire military camp, the commanders arrested 35 of the teenage students and ordered them subjected to severe military punishment, including physical torture
Full Story  January 23, 2007

Troubles in Africa's Horn severs contact with Christian project
Pray for the church in Eritrea. We're just praying that our children that we're sponsoring are okay and they're safe. That eventually, things of this region will settle down.
Full Story  January 8, 2007

Thousands of Eritrean Christians Behind Bars This Christmas
Prisons are so overcrowded that airport hangars, police stations, containers and "other unsuitable accommodation function as long or short term holding cells for the country’s burgeoning population of detainees," UK-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide claimed.
Full Story  December 28, 2006

Eritrea imposes new controls on Orthodox Church
In an ultimatum delivered to the church’s Asmara headquarters on December 5, the state demanded that all offerings and tithes collected through the Orthodox Church be deposited directly into a government account.
Full Story  December 14, 2006

Attacks on Christians in Western Ethiopia
There were two new attacks against Ethiopian Christians over the past few weeks, according to a report from VOMC sources.
Full Story  November 26, 2006

Thousands Demonstrate Against Eritrea Crackdown On Believers
Up to 2,000 Christian protestors gathered in front of the Eritrean embassy in the Dutch town of The Hague early Friday, November 10, to demand the release of about 2,000 fellow believers, most of them evangelicals, who they say are imprisoned across Eritrea for their faith.
Full Story  November 10, 2006

Authorities in Eritrea release Helen Berhane
Release Eritrea has learnt that the incarcerated Eritrean gospel singer Helen Berhane has been released and is currently at home with her family in Asmara. Helen was imprisoned for over two years since 2004 for refusing orders to stop singing and participating in religious activities. 
Full Story  November 2, 2006

Eritrea Authorities "Kill" Christians, Detain over 160 Believers
Eritrean authorities detained over 160 other Christian believers from at least five of the country’s banned churches as part of an ongoing crackdown on evangelicals in the African nation.
Full Story  November 1, 2006

Eritrean police arrest more Christians.
Mendefera police did a house-to-house search for known members of Pentecostal churches and the Orthodox renewal movement.
Full Story  November 1, 2006

Police Arrest 150 More Christians
Starting at 6 a.m. last Wednesday (October 25), security officers in the town of Mendefera began going from house to house, arresting 150 local Christians from a list they compiled of known members of Pentecostal churches and the Orthodox renewal movement.
Full Story  October 30, 2006

Two Eritrean Evangelical Christians tortured to death
Eritrean security police tortured two Christians to death yesterday, two days after arresting them for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara.
Full Story  October 19, 2006

Pastor Aregahegn is behind Bars
Sources out of Asmara report the detention of Pastor Aregahegn, the director of The Nehemiah Project in Asmara.
Full Story  October 19, 2006

Eritrean Gospel Singer Helen Berhane Hospitalised in Asmara
CSW has been informed that Helen Berhane, the Eritrean gospel singer jailed since May 2004, has recently been transferred to a hospital in Asmara in a serious condition.
Full Story  October 15, 2006

Eritrea Authorities Crackdown On Churches
In the past few days, the government of Eritrea has ordered [the evangelical church] Kale Hiwot, Lutheran, and Catholic churches to surrender all their offices operating in the country," said eritreanchristians.com a website investigating the plight of reportedly persecuted believers in the African nation.
Full Story  September 25, 2006

Government Orders Kale Hiwot Church Assets Confisicated
The Eritrean government demanded this month that the Kale Hiwot Church surrender all its property and physical assets to the government.
Full Story  September 20, 2006

Parliament Receives Religious Abuse Report On Eritrea
The report, handed over to the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs in The Hague comes amid growing pressure on the Dutch government to better protect Christian refugees seeking asylum in the Netherlands, as at least some of them, risk imprisonment, torture and even execution when they return home.
Full Story  September 13, 2006

Eritrea Jails Nearly 2,000 Christians
Nearly two thousand Christians spent another Sunday, behind bars in Eritrea where they are allegedly subjected to torture and forced labor because of their religious beliefs.
Full Story  September 11, 2006

Eritrea’s Religious Prisoner Count Tops 1,900
Newly compiled statistics smuggled out of Eritrea indicate that at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens are imprisoned and being subjected to torture and forced labor because of their religious beliefs.
Full Story  September 11, 2006

One in Ten Eritrean Evangelical Christians are in prison.
News coming out of Asmara indicates that at least 29 Eritrean Christians have been detained from three towns across the country in the month of August.
Full Story  September 1, 2006

Saudi Arabia Deports Four East African Christians
Arrested on June 9, the church leaders were beaten and imprisoned for more than a month in torturous conditions. ... Plainclothes security police arrested the four men at their Friday morning worship service in Jeddah’s Al-Rowaise district on June 9. At 11 a.m., more than 20 officers descended on the rented room where approximately 250 Eritreans and Ethiopians were worshipping, Wendewesen said.
Full Story  August 25, 2006

Modern Day Crucifixion in Ethiopia
For converting from Islam to Christianity, Shek Hamed Adem was hanged on a cross and brutally tortured on July 5th as an angry Muslim mob exclaimed, “Jesus was hanged on a cross and beaten, and as His follower, you also deserve the same punishment.”
Full Story August 15, 2006

"Severe" persecution for Christians in Western Ethiopia, believer crucified
Evangelical meetings are regularly broken up by mobs who beat and occasionally kill, those gathered. The reports are still coming to light. More details on these and other incidents are expected to be released. In the meantime, pray for those involved in evangelistic work in Ethiopia.
Full Story   August 14, 2006

Eritrean Christian Pays High Price For His Freedom
Daniel (pseudonym) was proud to serve his country and willingly joined his allotted regiment when he received his conscription papers to join the Eritrean army. However, life delivered a sharp lesson as he quickly learned that wearing a smart uniform could never compensate for the loss of his freedom as a Christian.
Full Story   July 26, 2006

Religious Liberty in Eritrea
Following a decree that imposed registration for all religious groups, since 2002 in Eritrea only the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical church affiliated to the World Lutheran Federation and Islam enjoy official acknowledgement by the state.
Full Story   July 25, 2006

100,000 Christians Demand Release Eritrea Believers From Prison
Up to 2,000 Christians are believed to be imprisoned in Eritrea. Some have been locked away in camps or metal shipping containers in the searing heat of the desert, investigators and other sources said.
Full Story   July 20, 2006

Eritrea Christians In "Great Danger" After Escape From Containers
A group of Christian men remained "in great danger" Monday, June 26, after escaping from a military prison camp in Eritrea, where they were held in metal containers for refusing to abandon their faith in Christ, investigators said.
Full Story   June 25, 2006

Police arrest mother of a dying baby, Christian Students Punished
Two days after an evangelical Christian mother was arrested from her home and jailed by Eritrean police, her 6-month-old son has died on his sickbed in Nefasit, 10 miles east of Asmara.
Full Story May19, 2006

Rights Groups Unite Against "Religious Repression" in Eritrea:
Several key Christian human rights groups have launched a united campaign against what they see as "widespread religious repression" in the Eastern African nation of Eritrea where they claim at least 1,700 Christians are detained for their faith.
Full Story   April 1, 2006

Tragedy in Eritrea:
“Our faith is to our God! I learned a lot in prison. I was in isolation for five months. I was in a cell in complete darkness under very bad conditions. After five months they moved me to a bigger cell. I immediately started sharing the gospel. When they discovered that I was evangelizing, they asked me if I have not learned my lesson. They threatened to punish me and send me back to the isolation cell. When they told me this, the words . . .
Full Story   March 20, 2006

Priests forced to betray their religion and sign on a petition:
The group led by Yoftahe Dimtros is terrorizing people at the Mekane Hiwet Medhane Alem church in order to execute the conspiracy it orchestrated together with Abune Dioceqroson who usurped the holly authority of the Patriarch to sit on the unholy chair of authority and the former priest Habtom Rusom who was condemned by the Patriarch.
Full Story   February 26, 2006

Urgent Appeal Launched to Help Jailed Eritrean Christians:
An urgent appeal has been launched by Release International to help Christians in Eritrea who are currently being rounded up and imprisoned for their faith. 
Full Story   February 07, 2006

Eritrean military authorities jailed 75 Protestant Christians:
The jailed Protestants are routinely subjected to physical beatings and severe psychological pressure to deny their religious beliefs. Police and military authorities continue to demand that the prisoners return to one of the three “official” Christian denominations recognized by the government. 
Full Story   February 06, 2006

Eritrean Patriarch Under House Arrest as Government Repression Increases:
Latest reports have revealed that the Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church has been ousted from his office and officially placed under house arrest.
 Full Story   January 23, 2006

Abune Antonios challenges state-controlled synod’s arbitrary dismissal:
Holy Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Church last week served formal notice to Abune Antonios that he is no longer the patriarchal head of the nation’s largest religious body.
Full Story   January 18, 2006

Government rounds up leaders from five churches :
At least 40 pastors, elders and leading laymen from five of Eritrea’s banned Protestant churches have been arrested from their homes or offices in the past two weeks in the capital of Asmara. Starting early on the morning of December 22, security police began tracking down leaders of the Church of the Living God, along with clergymen and elders in the Full Gospel, Rema, Hallelujah and Philadelphia churches.  Full Story

Christmas Raid on Eritrean Christian Business Owners:
Over the last few days, the government of Eritrea conducted a series of raids on Eritrean businesses owned by Evangelical Christians, arresting owners and staff, closing establishments. Full Story

Eritrean Government Intensifies Crackdown on Christians:
The Eritrean government is intensifying its efforts to crackdown on Christianity, jailing nearly 2,000 Christians held most indefinitely and without charge. The small East African nation of Eritrea was recently listed by Open Doors USA as one of the top three countries this year for Christian persecution, along with North Korea and Indonesia.  Full Story