Eritrean Government Imprisons 150 Christians for Praying Together

Sunday, November 10, 2013

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

ASMARA, ERITREA (Worthy News)-- Eritrean security forces recently raided yet another prayer meeting, arresting about 150 Christians in a suburb of Asmara, the African nation's capital, according to Religion Today.

The Christians -- members of an underground fellowship known as "Living God" -- reportedly met to pray about Eritrea's refugee crisis and other national concerns.

"Living God" is part of a network of underground fellowships that sprang up in Eritrea after 2002 when the government banned all religious groups with the exception of three state-sanctioned denominations: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea. All of the Pentecostal and independent evangelical groups that had established missions in Eritrea were excluded, according to The Christians.com.

In August, Eritrean authorities also arrested 30 members of the Church of the Living God when they gathered for prayer in the Kushet suburb of Asmara.