Evening prayer raided by Eritrean authorities

Eritrea (MNN/ODM) ― Eritrean authorities arrested 30 members of the Church of the Living God gathered for evening prayer on August 24.

The Christians were located in the Kushet suburb of the capital Asmara. Their group includes 12 women.

Map of Eritrea. (Photo courtesy
of the CIA World Factbook)

Sources with Open Doors USA say the Christians are being held at Police Station 5 in Asmara and are under pressure to recant their faith.

Since the beginning of the year, the religious atmosphere in Eritrea has deteriorated with authorities arresting at least 261 Christians.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the government of Eritrea continues to incarcerate prisoners under inhumane conditions.

Officials continue to deny access to organizations like The Red Cross to investigate the state of prisons.

"The Church in Eritrea is deeply saddened by the continued scrutiny and distrust from the government and highly appreciates the prayers of our brothers and sisters around the globe," commented an Open Doors source who remains anonymous for security reasons.

Eritrea is ranked 10th out of 50 countries for extreme persecution of Christians on the Open Doors 2013 World Watch List. Evangelical churches in Eritrea were closed in 2002 after a government ban on religions other than Orthodox, Lutheran, Catholic and Islam.

Please pray for religious freedom in Eritrea and for the arrested Christians to be released.

Religious freedom a stuttering pulse in Central Asia

(Cover photo courtesy of Stefan Krasowski/Flickr.
 Story photo courtesy of SGA.)

Central Asia (MNN) ― There are 12 nations either in Central Asia or sometimes included in listings of Central Asia. Of those 12 countries, 10 of them are on the World Watch List for worst persecution of Christians.

That means Central Asia makes up 20% of the World Watch List.

Countries on the World Watch List located completely or partially in Central Asian include Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and China.

Islam is the prominent religion in Central Asia, and restrictions on Christians make ministry difficult.

Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) is currently holding children’s summer camps to share the Gospel in Russia and the surrounding Central Asian countries with heavy Muslim presence. Last weekend, SGA President Bob Provost received a disturbing e-mail from one camp’s church leaders.

15 agents including law enforcement and alleged medical personnel swept into an SGA-sponsored children’s camp. The authorities took several photographs, arrested the camp leaders, and heavily fined them. Some of the frightened kids were even interrogated. When parents heard about the incident, they were alarmed.

Joel Griffith with SGA says, “The specific wording of the charge was ‘holding an unsanctioned religious gathering,’ and even that can be very difficult. I mean the church is trying to follow the law there, and the law says that they have to register their churches; so they do everything they can possibly do to follow the law, and then the authorities throw obstacles in their way to make it impossible for them to register their churches.”

They’re seeing a step-up in persecution of Christians in Central Asia. Even for security concerns, SGA was unable to share the specific nation and needed to protect the identities of the church leaders.

“We know of situations in this same country where there are churches that have to meet discreetly, even going out in the woods sometimes,” says Griffith. “They circulate the word of the services by word of mouth and try not to communicate it electronically or by telephone because they’re watched carefully. That’s basically the reality of how Christians in this particular country have to operate.”

Even the requirement that churches register in Muslim-dominated countries is difficult. Griffith states, “These laws that these countries are passing can be very arbitrary. Sometimes the provisions in these laws can be very contradictory. I know that some of them at times have been appealed to places like the International Court of Human Rights. I know that a lot of religious rights and human freedom watchdog organizations keep an eye on this sort of thing to see when new legislation comes out that could potentially impact the freedom of the churches.”

Now the church leaders from the SGA children’s camp could face property confiscation if they can’t pay the fines in a short amount of time.

“These church members and church leaders do not have a whole lot of resources. The fines, if I were to give them in American dollars, would not sound necessarily like a whole lot of money,” says Griffith. “But to these people who are largely very poverty stricken, these fines are sometimes insurmountable. It is a serious situation.”

Despite the oppression, believers in the Central Asian country are pressing on, says Griffith. “They lived under the communist system, and they know what it’s like to have to operate under these restrictions--and even worse. They’re certainly going to keep proclaiming the Gospel as they always have.”

Griffith goes on to share, “The purpose of our ministry at SGA is basically to come alongside them and serve them however they need us. First we help by getting the word out for intercessory prayer, and then we do our best to help sponsor in terms of some of the financial resources they need for the children’s Bibles, materials, supplies.... Yet, as I say, we have to do it very discreetly because of the issues that get raised.”

When SGA was founded around 80 years ago, founder Peter Deyneka's motto was, “Much prayer; much power.” Please pray for the church leaders to be able to pay the fines and to continue in ministry somehow. Pray for the kids and their families, and for religious freedom in Central Asia.

If you’d like to support SGA’s ongoing ministry with churches and children’s summer camps, click here.

A registered church is raided in Kazakhstan, says Forum 18

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― In former Soviet Union countries, preaching or attending an unregistered church is against the law. But if a church is registered, they have so far flown under the governmental radar.

However, according to a recent article from Forum 18 News, that seems to be changing.

Forum 18 says a visiting pastor was delivering an Easter sermon at a New Life congregation in Kazakhstan when four police officers raided the church. The pastor was accused of being a missionary and conducting illegal missionary activity; but in reality, he was a local pastor associated with the New Life network.

He and the lead pastor were brought to the Police station to write down their statements, but the police found no evidence of any law-breaking, so they were allowed to leave. This is one of the first raids on a registered church in this area.

Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association says, "If this is now something that is being done by authorities on a registered church that actually has an existing legal charter, that's a definite change in the game on the ground there."

Kazakhstan's restrictions against the church have risen in the past few years, but this raid is something Griffith hopes doesn't become a regular occurrence. He says, "We're going to have to watch and see how this filters down to the rest of the registered churches."

Because of increased pressure, SGA has made it a point to be discrete when it comes to their ministries. Griffith says the pastors' safety is a "top priority."

If the situation worsens, SGA will be with Kazakh Christians every step of the way. "We're going to try to serve them however they need us to serve them," he states. "We will be there to support them in prayer and we will be able to support them however they have need for us."