Ellis Heasley, CSWs Press and Public Affairs Officer

My church meets in the sports hall of a local school. We have a large congregation, with multiple teams serving every Sunday – kids, youth, worship, prayer… There’s even a ‘roadies’ team that gets there early to put up a stage and speakers and helps people find parking before the service. 

Because we share the space with the school, everything we use has to be packed away at the end of every service. We store most of it in a shipping container out the back. In the winter it gets so cold that you can see the condensation on the gear that’s stored inside. In the summer it’s so hot and stuffy that it feels like the air hasn’t moved for days. Every time I go in there I think of Eritrea. 

I think of the fact that shipping containers exactly like this one are often used as detention facilities in the country. I think of Helen Berhane, who spent over two-and- a-half years imprisoned in one after she was arrested in a raid on a house where she was teaching young Christians. 

And I think of the fact that, for countless Christians across Eritrea, the way I have just spent my morning – worshipping and praying and listening to teaching – remains completely forbidden. 

Since May 2002, Eritrea has outlawed religious practices not affiliated with the Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran or Orthodox Christian denominations, or Sunni Islam. In practice, it is completely impossible for any other religious community to obtain legal status, with the government detaining thousands of adherents of groups it refuses to recognise. 

None of those detained have been formally charged or brought to trial, and many will only be released if they deny their religion or belief, or once years of severe mistreatment have rendered them close to death.  Every year since 2003, CSW has marked the anniversary of the government’s crackdown by protesting outside the Eritrean Embassy in London. This year will be no different. We would love for you to join us.  

Stand in solidarity 

Visit csw.org.uk/FreeEritrea for details of our prayer vigil in May. If you can’t join us in person, could you pray in your church or small group?