Hello and welcome to the Arise Africa podcast. Here, we shine a light on the persecution of Christians across the continent. In this interview, you’ll gain insights of what is happening in terms of the violent persecution in Africa.

We are focussing on Eritrea in this episode. It is a country that is currently number 5 on the Open Doors World Watch List. A bit about Eritrea, it is one of the world’s most difficult places to be a follower of Jesus.

Their government recognises only four religious groupings, and these exclude most evangelical and Pentecostal groups who are treated as being illegal. To give more perspective, we are joined by Haile, one of our brothers in Christ. He became a Christian early in his life.

This is his story of what happened when he converted and what the community did to him and his parents. The roof was a slate, a very thin slate. So there were young people, even sometimes like adults, throwing stones at the roof when we were worshipping.

It looked like a thunderstorm. And at that time, I was not really mature. And we have this culture of honour and shame at the early New Testament, the Roman times.

So I was really afraid, sometimes ashamed, because they considered this faith like a heretic. Not only heretic, but betrayal of the father’s religion. So even the isolation was also coming from relatives.

So it was really tough at that time. But that was all from the community, remember? It was then later, in 2002, the government officially shut down all churches except for recognised religions. The government announced that… The government officially passed a law to ban all churches except for recognised churches like Coptic Orthodox, Catholics, Sunni Islam and Lutherans.

But they declared the others are all illegal and therefore liable to be arrested. So when the government decided that, they started to just break sometimes into churches. Sometimes there were times when they wanted the main people they believed, like the pastors, the head leaders, they just picked them from their homes and then arrested.

But the church didn’t stop from following, from worshipping. Everyone started worshipping in secret, mostly in underground house churches. That was the same in my case.

I was young, I was not really mature spiritually as well as physically. So the only time I remember we were worshipping was just at our home with my parents. But that was even secretly.

But there is always this fear of what might happen. As we dive into Haley’s story, we uncover the harsh reality faced by Christians in Eritrea. Those who dare to worship outside of state-sanctioned churches live under a shadow of constant surveillance and fear.

Sometimes there are violent police raids and others are imprisoned in conditions that are nothing short of a nightmare. The unpredictability of life in Eritrea weighs heavy on our hearts as Haley recounts the experiences of his father and mother. Yet, there exists a glimpse of resilience.

Haley highlights a remarkable aspect of his community, the way Christians in Eritrea perceive their persecution. It’s quite unpredictable because the problem is that a lot of surveillance, a lot of surveillance. And the country is small, the people are not really much.

And the government spends a lot of money for just spying and surveillance. So, like believers just mentioned, my father was taken from his office because of his faith. Just from his office.

My stepmother was imprisoned twice. Once she was in an underground worship with others. So, it’s unpredictable.

Even if neighbours or the community around tell the government, oh, this is this religion. They can just get in. But the thing is, Eritrean believers often interpret suffering through a Biblical lens that expects hardship for the sake of Christ.

So, they believe persecution is part of the Christian life. And it is. It is.

It is what we read in the New Testament. They see it as following Christ and sharing in his suffering. So, they don’t see it as a political injustice.

They see it as a spiritual warfare, a spiritual battle. So, they see that as a gain. That’s what Matthew 5 says.

It says, blessed are you when you are persecuted. That’s what Matthew 5, 10, 11, 12 says about rejoicing in the Lord. And this is what I remember when my dad was released after several months from a very harsh prison.

The first time I called him, he told me those words. Today, I consider myself honoured to be persecuted for the sake of Christ. And he is an old man, actually.

So, it’s just a blessing. And I remember recently, there is this woman who spent in prison for 16 years. 16 years.

And she was released and she was testifying. She and her other friends were in this prison, a very tough prison. And they were torturing them.

They were torturing the girls. But one day, one of those sisters was very weak. Because they tortured them very severely.

And she was really very weak. And that sister, she went to be with the Lord. She died on the arms of this sister.

Now, she is in Europe. Now, this sister in Europe was testifying. When that sister died right in her arms, she cried.

But she said she cried not because she died. But she cried because she was saying, What about me, Lord? Isn’t it a privilege to die for you? Yeah, for this faith. Isn’t it a privilege? I mean, that reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said.

Going to heaven is like gain. For me, it’s better. That’s what he was saying in Philippians.

That’s how many Christians in Eritrea interpret persecution for the sake of their Lord. Paul’s words resonate deeply, touching the hearts of Eritreans even today. But Haile has a powerful message for the South African Church.

It tells us to not grow comfortable. Don’t settle into a state of lukewarm faith. He urges us all as believers to embrace our calling to be the salt that preserves and the light that shines brightly in this often dark and challenging world.

The church, I’ve never been in South Africa or that area. But I know South Africa is a little bit developed and a lot of material things, like comfort and things like that. That’s what I see killing many churches.

If we focus just on the material things, if we are just comfortable in where we are, but if we decide to follow Christ and those many Christians in Eritrea and sub-Saharan Africa, because the Bible says in Matthew 5, Seek first the kingdom and then everything will follow. Our priority is following the material things as they do in the West. It’s just getting a lukewarm church, which Christ is not happy about that in Revelation.

I believe the church needs to awake, become more committed, and I would say returning back to the New Testament church, which is our model, just following no matter the cost. Becoming salt to the earth and becoming light in this dark, wretched world. Because that’s what Jesus entrusted us with.

He said in Matthew 5, 13, 14, You are the light. You are the light. Jesus has entrusted us with the light to shine no matter the cost.

It might be like a candle. If you have to melt down, meaning to die for the sake of our Lord, by being a sacrifice, by being a martyr, that’s a privilege. That’s how many Christians in the New Testament and throughout history, and today in many countries, see living for the sake of Christ.

Hale’s encouragement to us all is that we should live for Christ no matter the cost. Let’s not just hear these words, let’s act on them, igniting a passion that transforms and inspires us to take a stand and be the ones who raise our voices for the voiceless. Sign our Arise Africa petition today and take a stand for brothers like Hale in Eritrea.

Transcribed by TurboScribe.