Story number 1 for 28 May 2002

(Eritrea)–Topping the news, there are reports that the Eritrean government has closed all churches in the country other than the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran denominations. It’s a surprise move, and one that may be a result of outreach that took place during the war with Ethiopia. For security reasons, we’ll call our source ‘Dan’. He details the effect on their outreach. “Many of these young men and women were led to the Lord out on the battlefields, both by radio programs that they were listening to, as well as by the personal witness of many people from the believers in that country.” Dan says the future for their work is unclear; please pray. “It seems as if the government has some major concern about these people coming back into the city and coming back into the evangelical churches. So, last week, the minister of religious affairs in Eritrea called all of the evangelical church leaders together and announced to them that their churches would be closed, that they would need to register with the government.”