This morning as I've been reading some of the leading news on Christian persecution I am reminded again how different religious freedom is here in America. To my knowledge I do not know any Christians who have been forced to move from their home because they are Christians. Yet in Iraq, Christians are being forced to leave their homes because they are being threatened by militant Muslims who are telling them to convert to Islam or die.
The Washington Times is also reporting that many of these Iraqi Christians end up paying bribes to these militants so they can buy time in order to move their families to a safer region.
And The Christian Post has an article today describing how Christians in Eritrea have been persecuted for their faith.
As I read through this article, my heart is so pierced with two things. First, the depravity of the human heart, which we know the Scriptures say is deceitful above all else, and also the triumph of the human spirit who has been tranformed by faith in Jesus Christ.
Some of the torture methods described by those who have undergone this torture include:
- Being forced to balance on their belly with hands and feet tied together and legs bent behind their back.
- Eritrean security forces raid weddings, baptism, worship services, prayer meetings, and other religious gatherings and arrest both hosts and guests.
- Regular beatings
- Backbreaking hard labor
- Being hung from a tree with arms stretched in the form of a crucifixion for three days.
- Being held in metal shipping containers under the hot sun, beatings, and deprivation of food.
Eritrea has also been labeled as the worst violator of religious freedom by the United States. Please keep all Eritrean Christians in your prayers.