{"id":35236,"date":"2021-02-16T13:22:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T04:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=35236"},"modified":"2021-02-16T16:46:08","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T07:46:08","slug":"vomk-report-143","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2021\/02\/16\/vomk-report-143\/","title":{"rendered":"NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: TIGRAY CHURCH STAYS AND SERVES AS CITIZENS FLEE WAR ZONE"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35212″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor \u201cT\u201d (name withheld for security reasons) conducted a wedding at his church yesterday. While Ethiopian weddings normally require Pastor T to coordinate many details, this one required more coordination than most.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]Pastor T\u2019s church is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>currently\u00a0<\/span><\/span>located in one of the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hottest\u00a0<\/span><\/span>war zones on earth<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Simmering c<\/span><\/span>onflict between the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF)<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and Ethiopian government forces<\/span><\/span>\u00a0broke out in early<\/span><\/span>\u00a0November. A<\/span><\/span>n estimated\u00a0<\/span><\/span>two million people<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in the region<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>roughly\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a third of Tigray’s population,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>are currently\u00a0<\/span><\/span>displaced<\/span><\/span>. R<\/span><\/span>oads in and out of the region have been barricaded<\/span><\/span>, according to international observers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35217″ img_size=”600×600″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>There is currently no\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Internet<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and<\/span><\/span>\u00a0no banks, but we got lights (electricity) this week, praise God<\/span><\/span>,\u201d Pastor T told Voice of the Martyrs Korea<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>To our people the problem is deep. Many elderly people and children are hungry and dying. In my church one child died. Because of the war, young\u00a0<\/span><\/span>women\u00a0<\/span><\/span>are\u00a0<\/span><\/span>being\u00a0<\/span><\/span>raped by the troops. Many buildings are destroyed. Still the war continues around us, now 10 km from my city.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Pastor T and his church have been long-term partners with Voice of the Martyrs Korea in serving Eritrean\u00a0<\/span><\/span>underground\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Christians who fled\u00a0<\/span><\/span>across the border\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Tigray region as the result of persecution in their homeland, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. \u201c<\/span><\/span>Eritrea has long been called the \u2018North Korea of Africa\u2019 due to its severe persecution of Christians and political dissidents,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span><\/span>For years we have worked with Pastor T to provide trauma counseling and spiritual and physical care to the large Eritrean Christian population that spills continuously across the Eritrean\/Ethiopian border<\/span><\/span>\u00a0into the Tigray region of Northern Ethiopia<\/span><\/span>. But now\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the Tigray region has\u00a0<\/span><\/span>been reduced to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a state of refugees.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Many people have fled, but Pastor T and his church are staying<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>out of concern for the Eritrean Christians who<\/span><\/span>\u00a0rely on the church as their only source of help now that UN and Ethiopian\u00a0<\/span><\/span>aid agencies<\/span><\/span>\u00a0have been blocked from accessing two of the many Eritrean refugee camps in the region<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35207″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley does a trauma recovery training with Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Representative Foley\u00a0<\/span><\/span>says\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u00a0<\/span><\/span>is following up on multiple reports that Eritrean Christian refugees\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in Tigray are being\u00a0<\/span><\/span>rounded up\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by Eritrean government forces\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and repatriated\u00a0<\/span><\/span>amidst the chaos\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in the region.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cThe refugees regard the camps as no longer safe<\/span><\/span>, and certainly no longer able to supply basic living necessities,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cPastor T and his church are\u00a0<\/span><\/span>presently providing care for these Eritrean Christians despite being unable to care for themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Pastor T wrote<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Voice of the Martyrs Korea<\/span><\/span>, \u201c<\/span><\/span>Y<\/span><\/span>ou taught us to serve our people by whatever we have: our body, our blood, our food. Even though we don\u2019t have enough food even for ourselves, we are using the opportunity of the hunger to share our love.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea<\/span><\/span>\u00a0has\u00a0<\/span><\/span>found a way to transit funds into the region and has\u00a0<\/span><\/span>pledged\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to send\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the equivalent of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>10,000,000 KRW to Pastor T\u00a0<\/span><\/span>this month<\/span><\/span>, for his church and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the Eritrean Christian refugees they are supporting.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cOther NGOs are meeting the needs of those who are fleeing<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Tigray<\/span><\/span>\u00a0to saf<\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span>ty<\/span><\/span>, but at Voice of the Martyrs Korea our role is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>always\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to aid Christians who choose to stay\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>share the love of Chris<\/span><\/span>t\u2014especially those\u00a0<\/span><\/span>like Pastor T\u00a0<\/span><\/span>who remain behind to care for the families of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Christians\u00a0<\/span><\/span>who have been\u00a0<\/span><\/span>martyr<\/span><\/span>ed or imprisoned because of their witness for Christ<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>designating donations made\u00a0<\/span><\/span>this month\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>its\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Korea Families of Martyrs and Prisoners fund to this emergency.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”35215″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Representative Foley prays with an Eritrean widow, whose husband died in prison due to his faith in Jesus Christ. Refugees like this woman are in danger of being repatriated to Eritrea.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Donation to VOMK\u2019s Families of Martyrs and Prisoners (FOM\/FOP) fund can be made at\u00a0<\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/donation<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or via electronic transfer to<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\uad6d\ubbfc\uc740\ud589<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(KB Bank)<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\uc608\uae08\uc8fc<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(Account Holder)<\/span>: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please include the name \u201cFOM\/FOP\u201d on the donation.<\/span>\u00a0Representative Foley says that if\u00a0<\/span>donations\u00a0<\/span>are received\u00a0<\/span>in excess of\u00a0<\/span>the amount of the emergency pledge, Voice of the Martyrs Korea will allocate them to its regular monthly\u00a0<\/span>financial\u00a0<\/span>support of the families of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>other\u00a0<\/span>Eritrean martyrs and prisoners<\/span>, in Eritrea and the surrounding regions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s partnership with Eritrean underground Christians,\u00a0<\/span>please visit\u00a0<\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/country-profile\/eritrea<\/a><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PeVYhOE5hD4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35212″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor \u201cT\u201d (name withheld for security reasons) conducted a wedding at his church yesterday. While Ethiopian weddings normally require Pastor T to coordinate many details, this one …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":35249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}