Asham, Jim Jennings, Norm Nelson, Haile
As a result, thousands of Christian refugees are fleeing Eritrea in search of safety in neighboring Sudan - primarily in the capital city of Khartoum. They come on foot, walking hundreds of miles with little or no food or water. Many of them are mothers carrying babies. If they are caught stumbling across the arid wastes of Eastern Sudan, the Sudanese authorities transport them back across the Eritrean border where they face certain arrest.
Those who make it to Khartoum find shelter in crowded, squalid, ill-equipped structures where they fight a torturous battle for legal refugee status and for some source of economic support from which to eke out their temporary survival.
Some of the refugees move on from Khartoum, seeking to walk across the Sahara Desert, (can you imagine?) into Libya and on to the Mediterranean Sea, with the objective of "sailing" to freedom in Europe.
Most of them die in the desert or at sea.
Those who stay in Khartoum find support in the Eritrean Christian Churches there - one consisting of 500 members, and another of 300 members. The spiritual fellowship of these congregations is vital. But still, physical and economic survival is tenuous with overcrowded living conditions, illness, poverty, lack of security, and the efforts of Eritrean secret agents seeking to assassinate leaders of the Christian community.
Norm Nelson, President and speaker for Compassion Radio, made a recent trip to Khartoum to supervise the delivery and disbursement of funds from Compassion Radio. He also obtained a personal update on the amazing things God is doing through the work they are supporting. While on this trip, he met with leaders of the Eritrean churches there and discussed the desperate needs of the refugees. From these discussions there emerged one overwhelming need - the need for a "safe house," where up to 500 refugees a year could find shelter and safety and be ministered to during the traumatic transitional months following their arrival in Khartoum.
Compassion Radio has committed to provide the $20,000 needed to lease a facility for one year. $55 can cover the cost for one person for one day.
