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, reported the persecution watchdog ministry Open Doors.
Migsti Haile, 33, died this past Wednesday at the Weaa Military Training Center and is the fourth Christian known to have been killed this way in the past year.
Open Doors said Haile was tortured specifically 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 on the Eritrean government to take action to guarantee religious freedom.
At least 2,000 mostly Christian evangelicals are detained in Eritrean prisons, police stations, military camps and other facilities, including even shipping containers, according to a number of human rights groups. The Eritrean government, however, has denied any such abuses.
The director of the Office of the Eritrean President, Yemane Gebremeskel, said recently that reports of mass arrests are "distorted and exaggerated."
Open Doors has expressed grave concerns over the possibility that more prisoners, including priests and pastors, may be killed by the same method of torture.
The Christian organization reported that the prisoners "remain locked up and [are] subjected to severe torture for their religious beliefs in the nation’s jails, police stations and military camps. All have been denied legal counsel or trial, with no written charges filed against them."
“We need to keep up our prayer vigil for the Christians in Eritrea,” Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller commented. “Eritrea is a small country in Africa, but that doesn’t mean the persecution is less intense than in larger countries."
In May, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Eritrea be re-designated as one of 11 “countries of particular concern” for 2007. In including Eritrea on the list, the report noted that “religious freedom conditions continued to deteriorate in Eritrea, where the government engages in systematic and egregious religious freedom violations….”
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Jeremiah 33:3 Jeremiah 32:27
Alas, holy martyrs are still with us. This too, was foretold. Lord... have mercy.
Rev. Darren Simpson
Anglican Church of the Trinity
Acworth, Ga.
Isaiah 60:1Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isaiah 62:3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
James 1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Revelation 2:10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Aquinas,
I am warmed by your excellent point of seeing the hope for all humanity in that wondrous forgiveness gained for all in the blood of Christ. Still, I see in Paul's example (the Saul of Tarsus we learn about in his persecution of Christians in Acts 8:1b, 3) a perverse joy in such actions due to a blind devotion of service to God. But Paul was mistaken in what he believed was devotion to God. Paul needed a Damascus Experience to see the horrors of his activities. Jesus took this man aside to show him the light. This is the hope we have, and proclaming this hope is all we can do. The Spirit accomplishes far more than we hope. Let's pray for this experience. Even Saul the persecutor can be Paul the Apostle.
Isn’t it ironic that Christians are often willing to die for our God, but certain others are often willing to kill for their God. I hope and pray that if the Lord ever calls me to make that measure of sacrifice, that His Spirit will give me I the kind of courage to which Miss Haile bears witness.
There have been Christians in Eritrea for centuries, and they have often be subject persecution. But as Tertullian observed, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Father, I pray that the martyrdom of your saints in Eritrea will be the seed that brings forth an outpouring of evangelism and renewal in this troubled land. I pray also, that the perpetrators of these vile deeds might come to see the evil of their acts, and find forgiveness in the Blood of Jesus. Amen.
mfrizze
What you really mean to say is that we are so blinded by our "freedom" that we prefer to look away from such things. We think being in this country Christians are isolated and immune.
We should never believe that our great Accuser only operates on foreign soil.
Disciples of Christ must expect persecution
Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646)
http://polemos.net/Articles/Disciples%20of%20Christ%20must%20expect%20persecution.html
please pray for our Christian brothers & sisters who are being persecuted. It's hard to believe such terrible atrocities are happening when we live in "freedom". It is a reminder that as I write this there are people suffering for Christ and the very least we can do is lift them up in prayer and for God to intercede,sustain,comfort and encourage them.