Today, you have a chance to pray or some Christians you may never know the names of. They are your brothers. God knows their names. And they are in prison in one of the places where it's hardest to follow Jesus. Receive the gift of praying with them, right now.
Open Doors just received a report that two Christian men were arrested in ###. When Christians are arrested for their faith in this East African nation, no official statistics are kept, and the prisoners are never charged. Because of this, it's difficult to estimate how many believers are in prison, but local sources estimate the number to be anywhere from ### to ### people.
A 2002 law permits only Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran churches to operate. Christians belonging to any other church group face a very high level of pressure from the state and the ### church, including discrimination, monitoring, raids and arrests.
"Since 2020, the government began releasing arrested Christians, raising hopes that it was relaxing its repressive policies," said ###, persecution analyst with Open Doors World Watch research. "However, recent reports of further arrests have dampened such hopes. Especially Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians continue to be regarded as 'instruments of foreign governments.'"
In March alone, nearly ### Christians were arrested during a series of raids in the capital city of ### and in ###.
It's not just Christian groups who are raising the alarm. In his annual report to the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN Special Envoy on Human Rights in ### called on the ### government to release those imprisoned for their faith "immediately and unconditionally."
We may never know the names of the persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in ###an prisons, but let's remain fervent in prayer with them.
Pray that God will continue to grow His church in ###.
Pray church leaders will have wisdom as they interact with the government and find ways to advocate for greater freedom.
Pray for God's provision for the hundreds of Christians who continue to endure hardship in prison, and for their families.
Thank you so much for praying, God bless.
Open Doors just received a report that two Christian men were arrested in ###. When Christians are arrested for their faith in this East African nation, no official statistics are kept, and the prisoners are never charged. Because of this, it's difficult to estimate how many believers are in prison, but local sources estimate the number to be anywhere from ### to ### people.
A 2002 law permits only Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran churches to operate. Christians belonging to any other church group face a very high level of pressure from the state and the ### church, including discrimination, monitoring, raids and arrests.
"Since 2020, the government began releasing arrested Christians, raising hopes that it was relaxing its repressive policies," said ###, persecution analyst with Open Doors World Watch research. "However, recent reports of further arrests have dampened such hopes. Especially Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians continue to be regarded as 'instruments of foreign governments.'"
In March alone, nearly ### Christians were arrested during a series of raids in the capital city of ### and in ###.
It's not just Christian groups who are raising the alarm. In his annual report to the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN Special Envoy on Human Rights in ### called on the ### government to release those imprisoned for their faith "immediately and unconditionally."
We may never know the names of the persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in ###an prisons, but let's remain fervent in prayer with them.
Pray that God will continue to grow His church in ###.
Pray church leaders will have wisdom as they interact with the government and find ways to advocate for greater freedom.
Pray for God's provision for the hundreds of Christians who continue to endure hardship in prison, and for their families.
Thank you so much for praying, God bless.
