If it’s possible to be an “underrated” country of persecution, Eritrea might be it. It sits at 6 on the 2022 World Watch List, but Open Doors does not often get the chance to talk about it. But Christians continue to face severe persecution despite geopolitical change that had many hoping for better days. Since 2002 when the government outlawed worship outside of Sunni Islam and the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran branches of Christianity, thousands of Christians have been imprisoned for defying that law.
One of them is Shiden*.
A man in his 30s, Shiden became a Christian in his late teens. He knew the risks of following Christ. Sure enough, when he was in his early 20s, he was caught in secret worship and arrested with around 40 others. He went on to spend more than a decade in 3 different prisons.
During this time, Shiden faced exposure to severe temperatures, sickness-inducing lack of sanitation, and regular taunts that he could end his suffering by renouncing his faith. He refused to give in, and for that, he endured regular, extended solitary confinement in a space that resembled, in size and in atmosphere, a coffin more than a cell.
Once he was briefly “released” into national service, but when spies found a few precious sections of the Bible with him, he was back in solitary confinement for another three months. He saw no one.
Brokenness
Shiden was eventually sent home unexpectedly and without any explanation. He was gladly reunited with his family, but the devastation wasn’t over. Even the victory of leaving prison intact faith wasn’t enough to stave off the trauma. After all the physical and emotional torture, Shiden was a broken man.
“When he was released, he was too skinny. He stuttered when he spoke,” his mother told us.
Shiden struggled to come to grips with the fact that he had missed out on so much: education, career, marriage, fatherhood… So deep became his sense of loss and the battle to process all he had experienced in prison, that his brother, John, and their mother feared for the worst. John told us, “Since his release we have seen Shiden change in front of our eyes day-by-day. He fell into deep depression, and there are times when he is completely irrational. We have to watch him all the time, even at night, to make sure that he does not harm himself.”
John sobbed when Shiden shared some of the things he had been through during his incarceration. But it helped him understand to some extent what caused his younger brother’s bouts of severe anger followed by a despondency that caused him to sleep for days.
Sadly, most of the Church’s resources are channeled towards supporting Christian prisoners and their families during the incarceration, leaving very little capacity to offer the specialized care long-time prisoners like Shiden need upon release. Thousands of others who spent time in one of the many prisons that form part of expansive network of formal and informal incarceration institutions, face similar challenges.
Healing
When we recently connected with Shiden’s mother, the elderly woman told us: “Glory be to God. My child is doing so much better. Now, when I give him food to eat, he eats…”
But Shiden’s battle continues. John told us that Shiden still gets frustrated about having missed out on so many things while he was in prison, and by the seeming lack of options available to him in carving out a fruitful life. “Sometimes he gives up. He feels very lonely,” John explained. “I try to encourage him by telling him, ‘God will strengthen you. God is here; do not give up. You are a hero of the faith. He will recompense your love.’ When he feels sad, I remind him, ‘Do not look to man. You belong to God. He alone can help you. Hope in Him!’”
And although things do feel overwhelming at times, John remains hopeful because of the progress he has seen in his brother. “God’s grace is limitless. Although it has not been easy for him, Shiden has come so far. And these days he often encourages me by reminding me of the story about the fathers of faith in Hebrews 11. He says, ‘I will serve the Lord until I die; I want to serve the Lord for the rest of my days; I want to be a hero of the faith too and one day in the future claim the crown of righteousness that is laid up for me, which the Lord will award to me on that day.”
The importance prayer support cannot be overstated. “The prayers of righteous people have availed much,” John concluded. “Please continue to pray for him: I believe God will continue to help Shiden.”
Prayer
- Please pray for complete healing from brokenness for Shiden.
- Pray that that the Lord will make a way for Shiden to find a vocation that will allow him to live a fruitful and productive life
- Pray that God will work in Eritrea and the government will allow for greater freedom of religion.
Eritrea
Open Doors has been involved in Eritrea through the local church since the 1990s. Our vision is to see a strong church that is holistically empowered to support one another and disciple members so that they remain faithful and reach out to others in the face of persecution. We work to:
- Enable the church to respond biblically to persecution.
- Empower the church economically
- Enable discipleship of all believers