Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: May 16, 2026
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.
Perplexed, but not in despair.
Persecuted, but not abandoned.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
These words from 2 Corinthians 4 have been foundational over the many years we have been praying and advocating for the people of Eritrea.
This is a country known as the ‘North Korea of Africa’ due to the extreme levels of repression. Yet the words of scripture remind us that no earthly power compares to the Lord.
So year after year – for as long as it takes – we will continue to persevere for freedom in Eritrea.
Please pray especially on Thursday 21 May, when we will be gathering outside the Eritrean Embassy in London for this year’s prayer and protest vigil.
If you want to show your solidarity in person, we’d love to see you there! Visit csw.org.uk/FreeEritrea for details.
1) Remember the prisoners of conscience.
Thousands of Eritreans are detained without charge or trial – held in harsh facilities that include metal shipping containers, overcrowded cells, and even holes dug in the ground.
It’s hard to say exactly how many Christians are currently imprisoned in Eritrea. The numbers fluctuate due to a continuous series of arbitrary arrests, releases and rearrests, but the current estimate is around 300, including those from permitted denominations.
Some are only released if they renounce their faith, or when their health has deteriorated so drastically that they are close to death.
- Pray that imprisoned Christians would be sustained in body, mind, and spirit, and would feel God’s comfort. May the Lord open doors that no one can shut.
- Pray specifically for the seven Christian leaders who have been detained indefinitely for over 21 years – cut off from the outside world – simply because of their faith.
2) Pray for families enduring painful separations.
We remember those whose loved ones are detained, disappeared, in indefinite military service, or have escaped from Eritrea. Some are vulnerable to being punished themselves, as the government has a policy of ‘guilt by association’.
- Ask God to comfort and protect these families, and provide practical help.
- Pray especially for children who are missing parents or siblings, and are quietly living with trauma.
3) Pray for churches meeting surreptitiously, whose members live under constant threat of being reported and detained.
- Ask God to make their faith resilient and wise, and that fear wouldn’t dominate their daily lives.
- Pray for practical provision and supportive relationships – even from sympathetic members of the regime operating in secret.