{"id":47023,"date":"2025-04-25T09:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/?p=47023"},"modified":"2025-04-25T09:33:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T07:33:44","slug":"faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine a country that has had only one president since its independence 30 years ago \u2026 a country that sends Christians to military camps or locks them up for sharing the Gospel. But you don\u2019t have to imagine this country. It\u2019s a real place: Eritrea. And it\u2019s where Paulos* is from. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t accept our faith at all,\u201d Paulos explains. \u201cThey are always looking for an opportunity [to attack Christians]. Christian gatherings are often disrupted, and men and women are sometimes put in prisons. A little while ago, the authorities arrested over a hundred students when they were having fellowship.\u201d And in Eritrea, prison is the last place you want to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

Survival is not guaranteed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many times, Christians are forced to work for the military. When Eritrea sends prisoners to these military bases, they are typically put to work rather than kept idle in their cells. Reports indicate that these detainees, including those imprisoned for their religious beliefs, are often subjected to forced labour under harsh conditions. This labour can include agricultural work, construction projects and other physically demanding tasks.<\/p>\n

Others are sent to prisons. Eritrea\u2019s prison network is infamously inhumane. Some prisons are underground, and prisoners rarely see daylight. Others are simply collections of shipping containers with no heating or cooling, and prisoners are held in brutal heat. Survival is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Paulos considers himself fortunate for having escaped this fate. \u201cI grew up in a family that was Eritrean Orthodox, although we lived in a region dominated by Muslims,\u201d he says. As he grew up, he started attending discipleship training courses and realised something was missing in his relationship with God: faith. He began to truly follow Jesus for the first time and was drawn to a more evangelical expression of his faith.<\/p>\n

In Eritrea, such a decision can carry consequences from the Orthodox community. Fortunately, Paulos\u2019 family was open to his newfound faith. \u201cMy family was alright with this, but some shunned me for breaking with the more traditional faith of the Orthodox Church I was a member of,\u201d he says. \u201cFortunately, nobody beat me, but my family and I were put under a lot of pressure by the elders of the village. I was also never arrested by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean Paulos\u2019 life has been risk-free. He\u2019s a church elder and a leader in the children\u2019s and youth ministries at his church. He also leads a small group. All of this means he knows that it\u2019s possible he could be arrested at any point. \u201cWhen your pastors are arrested, all the responsibility falls on you,\u201d he says. \u201cOften, I had to run from the police. God has protected me. There were times when we were surrounded but weren\u2019t caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is he ever scared? \u201cYes, of course,\u201d he says. \u201cWe live in fear of who will be arrested next. Will it be another brother in Christ? Will it be me? But we must continue to walk with God. We build upon what others have done before us. Despite the constant anxiety and fear, we make plans and change those plans often. Maybe we meet with fewer people, maybe we change the meeting place or the meeting time.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Paulos, the pressure on Eritrean believers is mounting. \u201cThere are many children without a mother,\u201d he explains. \u201cShe is in jail for Jesus and has been robbed from her [family]. There are also many wives without husbands. Their husbands are in jail for Jesus. Meanwhile, the wives are mocked: \u2018How can you say your religion is the right one? Where is your husband? Why isn\u2019t he taking care of his family?\u2019 The Christians are often isolated by their communities.\u201d The suffering is specific to the person \u2013 but the effect is the same: The Church is wounded.<\/p>\n

God at work<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes Paulos wonder how much more he can take \u2013 but he remains confident in his calling. \u201cI have no plans to leave the country,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a \u2018Gospel responsibility\u2019 here. But the more pressure, the more suffering, the more social and financial problems \u2026 sometimes I think about leaving the country. But then I remind myself: who will preach the Gospel? I\u2019m determined to stay here and serve the Lord in Eritrea.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also not all bad news. Even as Christians are arrested, churches are shut down and believers suffer in prison, God is at work. \u201cWhat I see is that while the persecution is intensifying, the number of believers increases,\u201d Paulos says. \u201cThis is how the Gospel works. The Gospel bears fruit in times of persecution and oppression. Many people thirst for God, thirst for salvation, thirst for the right way. Often, when believers share the Gospel with their friends and family, God uses those words to win their hearts and souls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eritrea is an incredibly difficult place to follow Jesus. But that doesn\u2019t mean the Church is dead. Believers like Paulos show that the \u201clight shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it\u201d (John 1:5).<\/p>\n

Paulos asks us to pray with him and the other Christians in Eritrea:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPlease pray that the Lord will empower the Church, so that we will be strong internally,\u201d he says. \u201cGod needs to arm us with His grace, so we can complete His mission. Pray that we can raise up new ministers. Secondly, pray that persecution will cease, so that we can have a time of much-needed rest. Pray earnestly for us, so that we can have the freedom to preach the Gospel in peace. Finally, I urge all Christians to pray for our fathers of faith, who are suffering in prison for years. Pray that God will give them strength and abundant grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Name changed for security reasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine a country that has had only one president since its independence 30 years ago \u2026 a country that sends Christians to military camps or locks them up for sharing the Gospel. But you don\u2019t have to imagine this country. It\u2019s a real place: Eritrea. And it\u2019s where Paulos* is from. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t accept…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":47018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[338,162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afrika","category-eritrea-afr","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFaith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"af_ZA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imagine a country that has had only one president since its independence 30 years ago \u2026 a country that sends Christians to military camps or locks them up for sharing the Gospel. But you don\u2019t have to imagine this country. It\u2019s a real place: Eritrea. And it\u2019s where Paulos* is from. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t accept…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geopende Deure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Milandre Hartze\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Milandre Hartze\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Milandre Hartze\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/person\/5b6e7a6326a7afb19a9433adeb6a17f4\"},\"headline\":\"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\"},\"wordCount\":974,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Afrika\",\"Eritrea\"],\"inLanguage\":\"af-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\",\"name\":\"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"af-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"af-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/\",\"name\":\"Geopende Deure\",\"description\":\"The world's largest outreach to persecuted Christians in the most high-risk places.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"af-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geopende Deure\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"af-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Open-Doors-English-2023.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Open-Doors-English-2023.png\",\"width\":606,\"height\":76,\"caption\":\"Geopende Deure\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/person\/5b6e7a6326a7afb19a9433adeb6a17f4\",\"name\":\"Milandre Hartze\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/Open%20Doors%20\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/","og_locale":"af_ZA","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure","og_description":"Imagine a country that has had only one president since its independence 30 years ago \u2026 a country that sends Christians to military camps or locks them up for sharing the Gospel. But you don\u2019t have to imagine this country. It\u2019s a real place: Eritrea. And it\u2019s where Paulos* is from. \u201cThe government doesn\u2019t accept…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/","og_site_name":"Geopende Deure","article_published_time":"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Milandre Hartze","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Milandre Hartze","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/"},"author":{"name":"Milandre Hartze","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/person\/5b6e7a6326a7afb19a9433adeb6a17f4"},"headline":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels)","datePublished":"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/"},"wordCount":974,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg","articleSection":["Afrika","Eritrea"],"inLanguage":"af-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/","url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/","name":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels) - Geopende Deure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-25T07:18:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-25T07:33:44+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"af-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"af-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christian-praying-faith-fear-Eritrea.jpg","width":1000,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/faith-and-fear-slegs-in-engels\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"","item":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faith and Fear (slegs in Engels)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/","name":"Geopende Deure","description":"The world's largest outreach to persecuted Christians in the most high-risk places.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"af-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#organization","name":"Geopende Deure","url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"af-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Open-Doors-English-2023.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Open-Doors-English-2023.png","width":606,"height":76,"caption":"Geopende Deure"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/#\/schema\/person\/5b6e7a6326a7afb19a9433adeb6a17f4","name":"Milandre Hartze","sameAs":["http:\/\/Open%20Doors%20"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/afr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}