Pastor Kiflu Gebremeskel and Pastor Haile Nayzgi have been incarcerated for over 7,000 days now, yet neither pastor has been formally charged with a crime. As such, they have no access to a legal team that can advocate for their release and no trial to clear their name.

Approximately 400 Eritrean believers find themselves in a similar scenario: trapped behind bars with no way out.

 In 2002, the Eritrean government ordered nearly all Protestant churches to close, forcing many believers into clandestine house churches and secret meetings.

Authorities began apprehending these defiant believers—labeled “traitors” by the government—and detaining them in inhumane desert camps, underground bunkers and small shipping containers.

According to the Christian Post, most were forcibly asked, “Will you deny Christ?” But these steadfast believers maintained their commitment to Jesus amid truly horrific circumstances—ultimately bolstering the faith of other Eritrean Christians. One Eritrean pastor even remarked, “Nothing comes to us without the will of God. Through persecution the church grows.”

Source: globalchristianrelief.org