Becoming a Christian in Eritrea cost Abdullah* everything. His job, his freedom and eventually his life. This persecution might have ended if he’d renounced Jesus – but that was something he refused to do. He knows Jesus is worth the cost. 

Like most Eritreans, Abdullah grew up in a Muslim home. When he decided to follow Jesus, he could have been a secret believer – but he was so passionate about his new faith that he couldn’t keep it quiet. He told everyone at work about Jesus – he wanted them to know the good news too! One of his coworkers was angry, and secretly recorded him while baiting him into making political comments. The next day, Abdullah was arrested and imprisoned. 

In prison, he was only given food three times a week. His wife wasn’t allowed to bring him any extra food or clothes, or even to see him – though she did receive letters, in which she learned that he was getting increasingly sick in prison. Tragically, he eventually died.  

Those close to the family say that Abdullah was imprisoned to discourage his faith. Ultimately, the authorities wanted him to deny Christ and convert back to Islam. He was told that, were he to do this, the charges against him would be dropped. But no imprisonment, hunger, torture or sickness could separate Abdullah from the love of God.

*Name changed for security reasons

• Non-traditional Christian groups, such as Evangelical, Pentecostal and Baptist churches, face the harshest repression. Unrecognised by the state, these groups and churches endure raids, imprisonment and systemic marginalization. 

• Many church leaders are imprisoned without trial, leaving their communities without leadership.  

• Eritrea has gone up one place on the World Watch List, due to a slight increase in reported incidents of violence. 

• The regime in Eritrea has been led without interruption by President Isaias Afwerki since 1993, and so there is little likelihood of the situation changing for Eritrean Christians – except by God’s intervention. 

In this inspiring video Eyal shares how the courage of Eritrean believers is helping them to stand firm in the face of persecution, imprisonment and even death.

Open Doors works through strategic partnerships and local church networks in Eritrea to provide persecution survival training and discipleship.