By Isolde Doubell
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10
For months, he could only stand. Packed into a prison cell measuring just three by two metres with other men, there was no room to lie down. Before that, he had been imprisoned in a shipping container in the Eritrean desert—sweltering during the day and freezing at night. In another prison, there was so little air that prisoners lost consciousness. Elsewhere, he was forced to walk barefoot on scorching ground and was tortured. His crime? Following Jesus Christ and refusing to give up his faith.
This is the reality for many Christians in Eritrea, one of the most closed and repressive countries in the world. Yet despite decades of persecution, the Church continues to grow, quietly and courageously proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Eritrea is a small nation on the Horn of Africa, bordering the Red Sea. Independent only since 1993 after Africa’s longest war of liberation, which lasted 30 years against neighbouring Ethiopia, it has never held a national election. President Isaias Afwerki, who led the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front during the war, has remained in power ever since independence, governing without a functioning constitution. Citizens are conscripted into military or national service for an indefinite period, and the United Nations has described Eritrea as a state where virtually every aspect of life is tightly controlled. By 2023, an estimated 800,000 Eritreans—around one-fifth of the population—had fled the country, many seeking refuge from political repression, indefinite military service, or religious persecution.
Among Eritrea’s estimated population of 3.6 million people, only about 2.4% are Evangelical Christians. The population is divided almost evenly between Sunni Muslims and members of the Eritrean Orthodox Church. While traces of the country’s Italian colonial past remain visible, today’s Eritrea is known less for its history than for the severe restrictions placed on its people. For Christians, those restrictions are especially costly.
In 2002, the government ordered all evangelical and Pentecostal churches to register. According to an Eritrean doctor who is now living in the UK, none of these churches has ever been granted registration. Instead, pastors and ordinary Christians were arrested. Many remain imprisoned to this day without trial.
Today, only four religious groups are officially recognised: Sunni Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Even these recognised communities operate under strict government oversight, including limitations on leadership and public teaching. Christians belonging to other churches are regarded as members of illegal organisations.
According to Open Doors, Eritrea ranks fifth on the World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. Believers are regularly arrested, detained without charge, tortured, and imprisoned simply for gathering to worship, owning Christian literature, or even singing Christian songs during a birthday celebration. Human rights organisations consistently rank Eritrea among the countries with the worst human rights records in the world. Freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and association is severely restricted, while state control extends to the media, communications, and many aspects of everyday life. For example, there is only one newspaper, one TV channel, and no credit cards.
Yet persecution has not silenced the Gospel. A friend of INcontext (the one mentioned in the introduction) escaped Eritrea after serving severe prison sentences and enduring torture. He shared how the Lord sustained him through unimaginable suffering. During his years in four different prisons, he survived conditions that are difficult to comprehend. Through it all, the Psalms he had memorised became his daily strength. “I held on to Jesus,” he says, “the One who was also persecuted.”
Many believers never leave prison. Others do not survive. By God’s grace, he managed to escape, but his heart remains with the Church in Eritrea. He smiles ruefully as he describes the Church he left behind. “The Church in Eritrea is like mushrooms. They are cut down, but they grow again.”
He recalls seasons when hundreds of people came to salvation every week. They could not keep up with discipling them. Even now, as leaders are imprisoned, new leaders have to be trained frequently. “This is how the Gospel works. It bears fruit in times of persecution and oppression. Many people thirst for Jesus, for His truth and His salvation—something this world can neither offer nor take away.”
He challenges Christians around the world not to think of Eritrean believers as distant strangers. “We are one body,” he says. “If one part suffers, we all suffer. We must remember those in prison as if we ourselves are in prison as we are encouraged to do in Hebrews 13.”
Open Doors quotes another Eritrean believer, still in the country, who describes the daily reality of following Jesus: “Despite the constant anxiety and fear, we make plans to get together and change those plans frequently. Maybe we meet with fewer people, maybe we change the meeting place or the meeting time. Sometimes it takes two hours just to gather safely. There are many children without a mother because she is in prison for Jesus. There are many wives without husbands because they are in prison for Jesus. The Church is wounded. Sometimes I think of leaving the country, but then I remind myself: Who will preach the Gospel?”
“Please pray that God will arm us with His grace so we can complete His mission. Pray that we will have the freedom to preach the Gospel in peace. Pray that our fathers in the faith who have suffered in prison for years will be released and that God will give them strength and abundant grace.”
The story of the Church in Eritrea reminds us that the Kingdom of heaven advances even where governments seek to suppress it. Prison walls cannot imprison the Gospel. Fear cannot extinguish the light of the Gospel. God remains the King of kings over Eritrea, and His Church continues to stand.
As the global body of Christ, may we remember our brothers and sisters in Eritrea.
Please join us in prayer:
1. For those who suffer in prison and for families separated by persecution.
2. For Jesus to give grace and strength to His Church, so that they will remain strong and rooted in Jesus Christ.
3. For the government of Eritrea to be touched powerfully by the Holy Spirit, and for change to come.
