They hate you because of me - Agape Press has a great piece by Chad Groening on the current situation in Eritrea for Christians.
For those of us that didn't know, Eritrea used to be part of Ethiopia.
Groening notes that Eritrea, though wearing the mask of a Republic, is essentially a communistic government seeking to control everything. As such they closed all evangelical Churches. Like China and other communistic regimes, Eritrea gives comrades the choice of a handful of government controlled religions. For Eritrea these are Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim, and Orthodox.
Groening reports the Voice of the Martyrs spokesman Todd Nettleton reports that the evangelical Christians who worship God outside of government control are at great risk of persecution and that they have asked for prayer.
But amazingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, the Church is growing under this persecution. Groening writes:
But despite the severe religious persecution, Nettleton observes that Eritrea's Christians have a spirit of contentment about them. He says this is because they accept that this is the path God has put before them, and they are determined to walk boldly in their faith.
The Great Separation continues.
