Church in Chains, 26 May 2022 (excerpts)

Christians from Britain and elsewhere joined together for an online vigil to mark the 20th anniversary of the closure of churches by the Eritrean government in May 2002.

The decision to close all churches – apart from the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches – marked the beginning of the persecution of Christians in Eritrea which has continued ever since.

Church in Chains has joined with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Eritrean Orthodox Church in the UK, Human Rights Concern-Eritrea and Release Eritrea in an annual vigil outside the Eritrean Embassy in London since 2005.  The event moved online in 2020 (due to Covid-19).

The Church in Chains rep led the event and introduced participants. An Eritrean pastor spoke about the churches in Eritrea while an Eritrean human rights activist spoke about Christian prisoners including his own pastor, Dr Kiflu Gebremeskel.  There are currently an estimated 200 known Christian prisoners in Eritrea.

The Human Rights Concern-Eritrea rep spoke about the desperate suffering of Eritrean refugees including victims of trafficking while the Christian Solidarity Worldwide rep spoke about the Tigray crisis in neighbouring Ethiopia (in which Eritrean army conscripts are fighting). Each topic was followed by prayer.

During the vigil, a joint letter from the five organisations to the Eritrean Embassy in London calling for the unconditional release of every prisoner of conscience was posted to the embassy’s Facebook page and vigil participants were encouraged to do likewise.

Voice of the Martyrs, May 26, 2022 (excerpts)

After putting her trust in Jesus, Sumi received a New Testament.  Her younger brother noticed it and told their Hindu father, who shouted at Sumi and threatened her with a knife.  He told her to leave her Christian faith or leave his house. 

When Sumi left, her father burned her clothes, Bible and other Christian literature.  Her pastor let her stay at the church for 15 days before she returned home.  Eventually, her father and other villagers emotionally abused her for leaving Hinduism. 

The persecution kept Sumi from completing high school.  Today, 21-year-old Sumi works odd jobs in Kathmandu and attends church in a nearby city.  Pray for her to form strong relationships with other believers and make peace with her father and other family members.

The government of Nepal is taking an increasingly strong stand against religious conversion.  Despite the 2015 constitution that guaranteed religious freedom, Parliament passed a bill in 2017 criminalizing conversion to Christianity. 

There is a small, visible Christian community in Nepal, but believers experience opposition from extremists among the Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Marxist groups.  Christians face harassment and beatings from local Hindu nationalists who envision Nepal becoming a “pure” Hindu nation.

Voice of the Martyrs, May 26, 2022 (excerpts)

Christians in Oaxaca state recently celebrated baptism to proclaim their faith publicly despite ongoing opposition from their community.  In the past few years, members of the community have openly opposed the Christians, making false accusations against them, calling them thieves, destroying their homes and shooting at them randomly.

Because of this hostility, the Christians planned a baptism celebration, expecting members of the community to oppose or prevent the gathering.

However, the Christians held the service publicly and the pastor preached the gospel openly, baptizing many new believers in obedience to God’s Word without opposition from the community.

Praise God for the believers’ bold obedience in the midst of a hostile community.  Pray that their faithful witness will lead others in their community to faith in Christ.

Specific areas within southern Mexico have a high concentration of indigenous minority groups.  These minority communities, which maintain a separate identity and language, are systematically oppressed by local authorities.

Christians among them are persecuted by Marxist and animist groups as well as village leaders.

These communities are remotely located and difficult to reach.  Despite persecution, the number of Christians has continued to grow in these areas.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide – 13 May 2022 (excerpts)

CSW condemns the murder of Deborah Yakubu, a student in Sokoto state, northwest Nigeria, who was lynched on 12 May, following an unproven blasphemy allegation.

Ms Yakubu was a Level 200 Home Economics student and a member of the Evangelical Church in her home state of Niger.  She was accused of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed in a WhatsApp group chat, where she reportedly expressed frustration at the discrimination experienced by Christian students.  There are also unconfirmed reports that she had rejected the advances of a Muslim student, who later made the allegation.

Video footage circulating on social media shows an unconscious and bloodied Ms Yakubu being stoned, beaten, and then immolated in a pile of tyres by a predominantly male mob who chanted “Allahu Akbar,” and continued to stone her and fuel the flames.  In a video, a young man claims responsibility for Ms Yakubu’s murder, which he describes as good and justified.  The college authorities had hidden Ms Yakubu in the security room following mounting threats to her life.  However, her killers had dragged her out and burnt the building after killing her.

The Sultanate Council of Sokoto state “condemned the incident in its entirety” and “urged the security agencies to bring perpetrators of this unjustifiable incident to justice.”  The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Mathew Kukah also condemned the murder “This matter must be treated as a criminal act and the law must take its course.”