Page 14 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Jul-Sep 2023 - 123

Aster’s sister Azieb, who was beaten to death in prison
Aster woke up in hospital again, but when she was returned to the prison
‘I don’t have any bitterness or grudges against them. They all seemed depressed. As for now, I have a good relationship with God and it is like I have been given an extra life because
They separated us and then started. I don’t remember how long they were beating me because I fainted. I think they carried on beating me.
‘At first I had to lie on my stomach and they were beating me on my back. Eventually they beat me on my chest and I couldn’t breathe. That’s when I passed out. I was semi-conscious and I didn’t know where I was. When I woke up they started beating me again. The whole thing lasted until midnight.’
‘It is like I have been
given an extra life’ I might not have lived. So I will live for
Aster ended up in hospital for two
weeks. Then she was sent back to the prison because of long-term ill health. prison and the various punishments She spent about 18 months in Asmara started all over again. and then managed to flee to Sudan.
‘About two months later we had the second round of beating. There were three of us: me, my sister and a friend. They took my sister about 50 yards away and I could hear them beating her. I was being beaten at the same time. Then I lost consciousness again. I don’t know how long they carried on beating Azieb. One of them had been beating me so hard he had to rest: he was tired!’
From there she was eventually able to travel to Paris, where she now lives.
‘I tried to give some spiritual meaning to what had happened. No one has authority unless God allows it. If you are spiritually active you are going
to get in trouble with the government [in Eritrea]. The person who beat my sister was full of anger. I felt sorry for them, because they didn’t seem to have any soul.
her friends told her that Azieb was dead. She had died while Aster was unconscious.
Him.’
Aster remembers, ‘I started praying to the Lord to help me. I started to isolate myself from others and started crying a lot. Eventually I felt the
Lord assuring me that he had chosen my sister to be with Him – and that consoled me.’
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Eventually Aster was released from
HOW WE HELP CHRISTIAN
PRISONERS IN ERITREA
Release International provides packages for Christian prisoners as well as financial support for families of prisoners and former prisoners.
Continued from p11
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