Sudan
(MNN) — Torture, beatings, arrests, imprisonment. These are among the brutal
acts imposed by the Communist government
of Eritrea against Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians in this East-African
nation.
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.
