Breaking News/Eritrea prisoners released (merged)

[Shannie]

Someone already posted the video of him being released no need for me to!!! Hallelujah 

[Thesauron]

:offtopic:We got the same announcement in DE. But I agree that the local Branches relay relevant  instructions to the countries under their oversight.
 
(Sigh, I wish I lived in Australia/NZ....how does it feel to not have COVID and the related restrictions? Are the brothers back in the KHs and ministry?)

Yes, that was announced in countries where it applies. It was not announced in Sweden.

[Omoyeme]

16 hours ago, HoneyflakeT said:

I wonder why they dont wear masks? [...]

The continent of Africa has the lowest rate of infection worldwide.  More notable, it has a favourable (read: tropical) climate which greatly helps in warding off the infection.  From the article it states: "A study conducted by researchers in the University of Maryland in the U.S. found a correlation between temperature, humidity and latitude, and the spread of Covid-19."

 

And according to the latest New York Times global chart of the covid spread, you'll see Africa's lowest rate of infection in relation to other continents.  That said, it doesn't surprise me that many Africans (including Eritreans as seen in the video above) are eschewing masks. 

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Omoyeme

[boodles]

What wonderful news this was! There are some families from Eritrea in our congregation, and everyone was rejoicing at our meeting today. 

[hatcheckgirl]

8 hours ago, Skye said:

We got the same announcement in DE. But I agree that the local Branches relay relevant  instructions to the countries under their oversight.

 

(Sigh, I wish I lived in Australia/NZ....how does it feel to not have COVID and the related restrictions? Are the brothers back in the KHs and ministry?)

It still feel surreal.  Pandemic has affected us in different ways.  Mentally, I think we all feel fatigued and triggered whenever another case crops up from an overseas returned traveller.  I'll discuss more in the other more appropriate thread.

 

As for our topic here, Yay and  seeing 28 of our brothers out of prison, and praying for the rest to come out soon!!

[sunshine]

18 hours ago, HoneyflakeT said:

But I thought the instructions are worldwide the same for the brothers and sisters....

The instructions are to obey the instructions given by the various branches, which in turn will take into account the local /national situation and of course to respect the law and use good sense.  The World isnt in masks, the western world mostly is but that is certainly not the case in Africa.

Edited December 6, 2020 by sunshine

[Patinage]

A couple of days prior to their release, I was reading the 'Imprisoned for their Faith' report about all our brothers imprisoned in Erythrea and other countries.

The report about Erythrea states clearly that "their imprisonment amounts to a de facto life sentence". "Most of the imprisoned male Witnesses are incarcerated indefinitely, with no hope of release until they die or are near death."

 

What happened this week is a miracle undoubtedly. 

 

The moment when they meet again with family members and brothers/sisters must have been a moment of very high emotion. To me, it looks like a resurrection.

What we will feel when we will welcome resurrected ones will be immense, an emotion never experienced before. 

[Skye]

2 hours ago, Patinage said:

What happened this week is a miracle undoubtedly. 

Nothing short of a modern-day miracle!

[Patinage]

I was re-listening to the 2016 annual meeting : Part 3 / Br. Jackson : Expect the unexpected / min 48:13

What a powerful talk !

Without any doubt, Jehovah can act beyond what we would expect ! 

That has been the case with our brothers this week in Erythrea.

[LoneWanderer]

On 12/5/2020 at 7:16 AM, Bluebell said:

I think HoneyflakeT is right

If you compare the picture of the two you see clearly they are not the same person...skin colour/nose etc

 

Our brother was 26 years in prison ....so the age is not right either....He  looks very fit and healthy and young

 

He also is carrying a Mobile....."Dear son, after 26 years the very first thing you deserve is a smartphone"  really???

 

Then where are the Brothers? Only Women?

And regarding the sound they are making:  is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue and the uvula...........

Ululation is practiced either alone or as part of certain styles of singing, on various occasions of communal ritual events (like weddings) used to express strong emotion....................

In Ethiopia and Eritrea, ululation (called ililta) is part of a Christian religious ritual performed by worshipers as a feature of Sunday or other services in the ... Churches. And it is also randomly (spontaneously) uttered during secular celebrations such as parties or concerts. Elsewhere in Africa ululation is used as a cheer, mourn or attention seeking sound by women

I expect at least singing of one of our original songs

Sorry sister, but did you quote that from Wikipedia or have you actually been exposed to East African culture? They may be third world/developing countries, but you’d be shocked how wide-spread cellphone usage is even if most plans are prepaid and you go to your local corner kiosk to top up money to call/text for.

 

I can by no means claim to be an expert, but I was part of Ethiopian/Eritrean language activities for several years, and can say that as @Sepie93 noted, the ululululu sound is part of their culture. While it may be used by churchgoers, it is a cultural phenomenon. If it wasn’t accepted by brothers and sisters, you wouldn’t hear in connection with Witness parties, weddings and alike.

 

Keep also in mind that the “spiritual soil” of Ethiopians and Eritreans is very tough. Preaching to obstinate Orthodox believers for years, even decades, with seemingly little tangible results can be frustrating to say the least. Read more about our history in Ethiopia in the 1992 Yearbook (https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/301992016) and find out about a brother whose family was crying as they basically pressured him to

give up his faith in Jehovah.

While Ethiopian/Eritrean pop music is very popular locally, and will drive a Westerner nuts after listening to it for a couple of weeks straight. Yet, our Habesha (Ethiopians and Eritreans speaking either Amharic and/or Tigrinya) brothers and sisters, as much as of an example of faith and perseverance as they are, they are according to my experience in general not into singing “our style of music”. As beautiful as many of the Kingdom melodies are, many of them suit more the Western preference of music most of us are accustomed to.

 

And keep in mind that the territory being so tough and the work having been on ban for a long time, there is probably quite a limited number of brothers and sisters able to translate the publications into these languages. Our “brown” song book released in 1984 (?) had 225 songs in English. In Tigrinya (Eritrea) about 30! (Not available on wol.jw.org it seems.) After the new song book was released in 2009~, instead of 135 songs with notes, all we (as did several other smaller languages) had was an edition of 55 songs with lyrics only. Since I am no longer close to a large Habesha diaspora, and do not attend meetings in those languages, I don’t know about the availability of original songs. But I doubt many, if any, are available.

 

As @Omoyeme brought out, Covid cases in many parts of Africa have been surprisingly low even though there was a lot fear what would happen when many of the poorer countries would be hit by Covid.

 

I definitely am all for masks and social distancing if it helps to stop the spread of pandemic, but would you hug your relatives after being imprisoned for 26 years (if indeed the person in the video is one of the three brothers who was jailed the longest)? Even if you didn’t plan for it, for many us our emotions would be difficult to control after such a long time apart. Many of them probably never thought they would see you alive in their lifetime, considering how the “justice system” there operates. You can be kept behind bars for years without a sentence, and then all of a sudden be released. Your relatives have to bring all the provisions to the prison if you are to survive.

 

—

 

Sorry to derail a topic where we express our gratefulness that Jehovah strengthened all these brothers and sisters during those years they were locked up. Let’s remember that there are still many left in prison, some of them who have been incarcerated for 15 years. We need to continue praying for Jehovah to strengthen these brothers and sisters. Even the ones who are now “free”, have to face a different challenge altogether. Many, if not most, might flee to neighbouring Sudan where there are Amharic/Tigrinya congregations, and from there many eventually end up in European countries or North America as refugees. These brothers and sisters still need to continue making Jehovah their refuge and not be swept away by materialism or other common desires and temptations.

 

By the way, I do not really like either that a private video like this has spread around the JW world like a wildfire, but considering the emotions running high as they are, I can understand why some don’t think things through and share clips such as this. It just really irks me when rumours are spread and someone’s situation is judged without possessing the FACTS.

 

When I saw the absolutely wonderful news article on jw.org, a picture that Habesha brothers/sisters had been sharing on Facebook and other social media the previous day (yes, with their cellphones) suddenly made much more sense:

Edited December 6, 2020 by LoneWanderer

[Rain]

8 hours ago, Patinage said:

I was re-listening to the 2016 annual meeting : Part 3 / Br. Jackson : Expect the unexpected / min 48:13

What a powerful talk !

Without any doubt, Jehovah can act beyond what we would expect ! 

That has been the case with our brothers this week in Erythrea.

That is one of my faves!

[Omoyeme]

Quote

[...] I do not really like either that a private video like this has spread around the JW world like a wildfire, but considering the emotions running high as they are, I can understand why some don’t think things through and share clips such as this. It just really irks me when rumours are spread and someone’s situation is judged without possessing the FACTS.

 

Proverbs 25:11

[Cushi]

On 12/5/2020 at 7:48 AM, HoneyflakeT said:

I wonder why they dont wear masks? This man looks very fit and healthy and young....

It may not be a requirement. COVID is not affecting Africans like it is other people around the world. In fact COVID has killed far less people in Africa than any other continent.

 

*edit* just seen @Omoyeme response.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Brother Jack

[Shannie]

Who CARES what Kinda Noises they were making...

Remember  they are In Africa and they are Tribal..and have their Customs...witness or not!!

 

 

[Bluebell]

The News about the release of the brothers in Eritrea is not anymore on JW.org   🙄

Maybe because Brothers were so silly to circulate this video and as Eritrea is under ban

this would be dangerous for our Brothers there

Edited December 7, 2020 by Bluebell

[LoneWanderer]

2 hours ago, Bluebell said:

The News about the release of the brothers in Eritrea is not anymore on JW.org   🙄

Maybe because Brothers were so silly to circulate this video and as Eritrea is under ban

this would be dangerous for our Brothers there

Yes and no.

 

You seem to be correct in that the news is now gone as well as the neatly designed infographics of the brothers released.

 

Brothers and sisters with an Eritrean background are

relatively few in number, and while spreading that video was not the best thing to do, please don’t blame them for being joyous for enduring such a persistent trial.

 

It could be that openly revealing names of released Eritrean brothers creates more problems for them than the news article is worth. Things in Eritrea don’t always follow the logic, and the political forces there are likely not happy having received increased exposure on how they consistently violate basic human rights. Hence, to make it easier for our friends, the organization (note: speculation) MIGHT have decided to unpublish the article (which in itself is of course very unusual). It’s a bit like mainland China. We know we have brothers there too, some of whom appear to be incarcerated. Yet, we don’t hear news about them either. Not because the organization has to make sure their government approves of the exposure, but perhaps because the wellbeing of our friends there is more important.

Edited December 7, 2020 by LoneWanderer

[Bluebell]

This was already reported in September 2020

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cz4pr2gdgjyt/eritrea

9:33 10 Sep

Eritrea 'releases Christian prisoners on bail'

Kahsay Tewoldebirhan

BBC Tigrinya

The Eritrean government has released on bail more than 20 prisoners who had been in detention for years because of their faith, sources have told the BBC.

The prisoners from Christian evangelical and Pentecostal denominations are among those being held in a prison outside the capital, Asmara.

He said their conditional release could be linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Campaigners advocating for religious freedom say three Jehovah Witnesses have been in prison in the country for more than 25 years.

 

 

[Chris7]

On 12/5/2020 at 11:13 AM, Chris7 said:

I have been reliably sent a video showing the release of one of our brothers....

 

However, we have been asked to remove this video from our devices please.......

[Tortuga]

29 minutes ago, Chris7 said:

However, we have been asked to remove this video from our devices please.......

Mod Note::The video and images are hidden while the moderators discuss this. Thank you.

[Tortuga]

5 hours ago, Bluebell said:

The News about the release of the brothers in Eritrea is not anymore on JW.org   🙄

Maybe because Brothers were so silly to circulate this video and as Eritrea is under ban

this would be dangerous for our Brothers there

The news report is still available

https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1012732&srcid=share

[Cool Cat]

19 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

The news report is still available

https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1012732&srcid=share

It doesn't seem to be advertised on the website anymore so if you saved the link you can find it but if you haven't then it is not there.

[Tortuga]

The link to the update is also available on the World Report.

 

https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1012730&srcid=share

[Cushi]

It’s so sad how some have taken something that was so beautiful and positive and have turned it into something to complain about 🙁

[Cool Cat]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

The link to the update is also available on the World Report.

 

https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1012730&srcid=share

A bit more discreet and hard to find the update now. I suppose they want to try to keep our brothers and sisters as safe as they can.

[Chris7]

3 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Mod Note::The video and images are hidden while the moderators discuss this. Thank you.

Thank you Richard, appreciate your quick response. At least we can try to limit the possible pain caused done and pray that no one suffers for this innocently shared video.

Just shows, how careful we need to be with social media. (Matt 10:16)