Thirty-three-year-old Nigisti Haile was a determined woman who found strength in Jesus Christ. From the northeastern African country of Eritrea, she daily faced the possibility of threat and danger because of her Christian faith. Years before, in 2002, the country had banned all independent Protestant church gatherings, whether private or public, closing church buildings and in effect outlawing the Protestant religion. Since then it recognises only Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Lutheranism, and Catholicism as official state religions. Despite this, Haile continued, like many other Eritrean Christians, to maintain involvement in her independent Protestant church group. At the same time, she was dedicated to improving herself; she worked diligently for a relative while studying to achieve a high-school level of education. She lived her life well, working hard and learning all she could. She enjoyed soaking in the truths of Jesus Christ, sharing them throughout her life, gaining joy, strength, and courage for the trial she would face—and which she would overcome.
One day as Haile was gathered with other believers for fellowship and worship in the village of Keren, Eritrean authorities stormed in, broke up the meeting, and arrested her along with nine other single Christian women. For breaking the law by participating in an unregistered church gathering, they were arrested and held at Wa’i Military Training Centre for several months. During that time, Haile was tortured and pressured to sign a letter renouncing her Christian faith. She suffered harsh conditions and cruel treatment in prison, with little to no medical attention, and was most likely subjected to forced labour.
Through it all she held firm to her belief in Christ, knowing that what was being asked of her was more than just saying or writing a few meaningless words. She was being asked to deny her Lord, and that she would never do. She may have thought of Jesus’s words in Matthew 10:32-33: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Her jailers continued to torture her, most likely in hopes that the pain and threat of death would supersede her bold claims of faith and trust in Christ. But they didn’t, and after months of persecution, on 5 September 2007, Nigisti Haile was tortured to death. Hers was the fourth such incident in less than a year. Three other Christians within the previous year had also been arrested for unlawful worship. They had died from a combination of torture wounds and medical conditions such as pneumonia and dehydration.
Like the other 2,800 Eritrean Christians who are currently imprisoned for their faith, Haile was held without charge and denied any form of legal counsel or a trial. She refused to give up her belief in Jesus Christ, knowing that her faith was “more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire,” and that it would “be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).
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