Meet persecuted Christians in Africa
African Christians face opposition from Islamic extremists and the traditional Orthodox Church. Open Doors' teams work with pastors and converts, providing practical, as well as spiritual help.
Meet
Abebe
from Ethiopia
- Attends a Christian school north of Addis Ababa, along with 140 others
- Witch doctors try to cast spells and put curses on the school and its founder
Abebe gets out of bed early in his parents' one-bedroomed house, so eager is he to get to school.
Along with 140 other children, Abebe attends a Christian kindergarten, situated in a town north of Addis Ababa.
The school was founded by a faithful Christian lady, Zinash, who has faced a lot of opposition from the local community.
Now, a large number of non-Christian children also attend the school, and this is bearing fruit for the Gospel as many - along with their parents - are coming to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Meet
Abigel
from Nigeria
- Pressured to convert to Islam
- Forced to take an Islamic name and attend an Islamic school
The battle between the Muslim north and the Christian south in Nigeria rages on. At least 12 of Nigeria's northern states, where many Christians live, have implemented Shariah law - the Islamic legal code.
Thousands have been killed and wounded in religious violence in recent years.
Whilst on holiday with her grandfather in the year 2000, Abigel was shocked to discover that he had become a Muslim and that he was intent on forcing her to convert to Islam.
When she refused, a Muslim family came and took her away. Abigel's name was changed to an Islamic name, and she was forced to go to an Islamic school.
Abigel prayed desperately for God to rescue her. After three months, with the help of Open Doors, she was joyfully reunited with her Christian parents.
Meet
Aladin Omer
from Sudan
- Rejected by his family when he became a Christian
- Arrested whilst leaving Sudan to attend Bible college
- 'Interrogated' with beatings, drug injections and death threats
However, while he was queuing to check in, security police arrested him and put him under surveillance.
After his arrest, Aladin was subjected to interrogations, beatings, drug injections and death threats by the authorities.
As soon as he had the chance to, Aladin went into hiding.
He has now been able to escape Sudan and is settling in a 'safe' country.
Meet
Antoine
from the Comoros Islands
- Arrested just after his baptism and beaten with batons and thick electrical wires
- Pressured to renounce his faith in writing, as were his friends
Angered by his conversion to Christ, local Muslims had reported him to the authorities.
Antoine was severely beaten with batons and thick electrical wires.
He was also pressured to sign a document renouncing his faith.
He refused and was later released.
Antoine's friends from his village have also been beaten and pressured to deny their faith.
"I know persecution will come again," says Antoine, "but I am not afraid."
Meet
Markus
from West Africa
- A Fulani Muslim by birth
- Rejected by his family when he came to Christ
- Arrested and beaten
- Lost his home and cattle
Within the tribe, there is a small number of Christians, all of whom, like Markus, have suffered severely for their faith in Christ.
Often it is the believers' fathers who invoke the problems, ashamed at having an 'apostate' in the family.
Markus and his brother, Toma, together with a few of their friends, have been arrested and beaten.
Their houses have also been destroyed.
Despite his suffering, Markus holds fast to Jesus, saying he's glad to suffer for his Lord.
Meet
Pastor Tony
from Sudan
- Church and orphanage he built was burnt by an armed, cultish, rebel group
- He now lives and ministers amongst displaced people
Tony lives and works in a very dangerous region of southern Sudan where thousands of Christians have been displaced from their homes and land as a result of attacks by government forces from the North of the country.
Many have suffered untold atrocities and are in desperate need, being forced to eat leaves from the trees.
It is also an area where the rebel group, the 'Lord's Resistance Army' (LRA) is wreaking havoc.
In early 2002, Tony received word that the LRA was about to attack his town.
He quickly warned his friends, family and congregation, who fled in fear of their lives.
The LRA arrived soon after and destroyed the church buildings and the orphanage Tony had built.
Now Tony lives among these displaced people, ministering God's love to them.
Meet
Rahmet
from Ethiopia
- Forced out of her famil's home when she became a Christian
- Rejected by her friends
Rahmet came to know the Lord Jesus when she was just 15 years old.
"A Christian man took me to another town to see the 'Jesus' film"; Rahmet explains.
"I started to weep when I saw how Jesus suffered for my sins."
But when Rahmet's Muslim family found out about her new faith, they were enraged.
"My father said that if I wanted to follow Jesus, I'd have to leave the house," Rahmet laments.
Her father forced her out of the family home and she was also rejected by her friends.
Rahmet now lives with a Christian family however, and is doing well at school.
Meet
Salawa
from Sudan
- Widowed by Sudanese government soldiers
- Her daughter died when her school was bombed
Salawa has experienced untold grief in recent years as a result of the ongoing civil war which has been particularly fierce in the Nuba region of Sudan.
In 1997, Salawa's husband was killed during a raid by the government of Sudan.
Then, in Februrary 2000, Salawa's daughter, Mimra, was also killed when an Antonov plane bombed her school.
Mimra's twin brother, Gandi, was not at school that day so he survived the bombing raid.
Now 11 years old, Gandi helps care for his two younger siblings.
Meet
Sofia
from Ethiopia
- Widowed by Sudanese government soldiers
- Her daughter died when her school was bombed
- Beaten by her husband for her conversion to Christ
- Sheltered by Christian friends
When Sofia became a Christian, her husband turned on her, beat her severely and threatened, "If you don't change, I'll kill you!"
Desperately frightened, Sofia left home and found shelter with a member of her fellowship, which has also helped her to set up her own business to support herself and her children.
"I have decided to follow Christ to the end," declares Sofia. "It gives me great joy to think that God chose me - an illiterate woman - to know Jesus Christ."
"God has given me strength to deal with trials. I live by the grace of the Lord."