Ethiopia (MNN) — The civil war in Ethiopia has seen its most intense fighting over the past few weeks. A humanitarian ceasefire in March has completely collapsed.
The embattled Tigray region faces an assault from the Ethiopian military, as well as bordering Eritrea. The northern neighbor held a full mobilization of fighting men up to age 55.
Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says, “What you’ll see now through people’s cell phone videos and in citizen journalism is large-scale troop movement and tank movement into the area. The Tigray Christians are puzzled as to why the international community is, at this point, still expressing concern but not taking any action.”
Tigray Christians
Evangelical Christians in the Tigray region have to be careful since some neighbors view them with suspicion. The president of Ethiopia, who is organizing the invasion, is also an evangelical Christian. Foley says, “So evangelical Christians, which are just a very small portion of the Tigray population, feel stuck at the level of raising their voice to be heard, both internationally and even locally.”
But their work continues. Foley says, “We were receiving a report from a Christian doctor who is the director at one of the local hospitals. He just very matter-of-factly said, ‘We have no food to feed our patients; we have no medicine to give our patients.’”
“He simply goes about his work by continuing to show up.”
VOM Korea continues to support Christians from the Tigray region, as well as Eritrea. Many Eritrean Christians remain in prison under a harsh government many have called the “North Korea of Africa.”
Foley shares another testimony from a widow in the region. “She said to us, ‘It wasn’t just the money you sent. It was the day that it came, and the testimony it made to my neighbors that God has not forgotten me.’”
Pray for peace in Ethiopia.
The header photo shows Tigrayan Christians. (Photo courtesy of the Voice of the Martyrs Korea)