Displaying items by tag: Algeria

Church leader Rev Youssef Ourahmane has been convicted of holding an unauthorised religious assembly and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine equivalent to approximately £600. He is vice-president of the Èglise Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), an association of around 45 Algerian churches which have been suffering under a severe crackdown that began in 2017. Many EPA-affiliated churches have been forced to close. In March 2023 a small number of Christian families spent three days in a church compound under Rev Youssef’s supervision. The small church in the compound had been sealed by order of the provincial governor in 2019. The pastor was charged with holding an unauthorised religious assembly and holding worship in a building not permitted for worship. He was convicted in absentia and was not informed of the court hearing or the verdict until mid-September. He has appealed the verdict: a hearing date has been set for 19 November.

The Sahara Desert covers over four-fifths of Algeria. Nevertheless Algiers, the capital, is an oasis of culture and enterprise in the north. Many Algerians have become Christians in the past twenty years, but 99.9% of the country is still unreached by the Good News. Algiers has 2,854,000 residents: 96.5% are Muslims. Pray for God to protect and encourage the underground house churches as they send out teams, especially to the Arab people group. Pray for Holy Spirit wisdom to fill those translating the New Testament into the Chenua language. Pray for the exaltation of Jesus and the healing of the minds and hearts of new Jesus-followers. Pray for leadership schools to be established in Algiers that enable new believers to grow in their faith and boldness. During Ramadan, pray for the Kingdom of God to come through dreams and visions, freeing those trapped in darkness to see the Light of the World.

Officials in Algeria are making it increasingly difficult for missionaries to evangelise or challenge Islam in any capacity. Algeria’s government-issued ordinances and restrictions on non-Muslim organisations attempting to attract Muslims to Christ are enforced with animosity, hefty fines, and the very real possibility of between three and five years in prison. Algeria’s population is 99% Sunni Muslim. The laws against blasphemy, proselytisation, and worship make ministry work extremely difficult and can come at a high price. They criminalise any individual offending the Prophet or belittling the precepts of Islam through writing, artwork, speaking, or other mediums. Laws regulating worship keep Christians confined to approved worship spaces made purposely in places difficult to attend regularly. Pray that church leaders will be strong and wise while enduring hardship, and for opportunities to distribute Bibles throughout the country, especially in the south.

African countries have some of the world’s deepest gas reserves. President Hassan said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an opportunity for gas sales: Tanzania aims to secure a new energy market outside Africa and has been working with Shell to utilise their vast offshore gas resources and export elsewhere. He said, ‘Whether in Africa, Europe or America, we are looking for markets.’ Nigeria, Africa’s largest gas producer, has similar plans. They intend to build a trans-Sahara pipeline, taking their gas to Algeria and Europe. They recently signed an agreement with Algeria and the Niger Republic to construct the 381-mile-long Trans-Saharan Natural Gas Pipeline, beginning in northern Nigeria. However there are concerns over the historic lack of investment in gas infrastructure that has hampered the energy industry. Many African countries with massive gas reserves have struggled to attract investment to build gas infrastructure projects that would have supplied the European market. Ask God to use the current Russian gas situation to take many African nations out of poverty.

An Algerian message: ‘Christians eagerly wait for Christmas. We wait for joyous worship services, time to gather with family and friends, presents to open, and the celebration of the hope we have in Christ. But since authorities closed our churches in 2019, we won’t be able to celebrate Christmas together for the third year running. The churches are doing their best to take care of their sheep in an impossible situation and are waiting for heavenly intervention. In the midst of these hardships, Christians meet on Zoom, and watch church services on TV. We believe in a mighty God: nothing is impossible with Him.’ Pray for God to renew the spiritual strength of Algerian Christians waiting on God to shift the things beyond their control. May we join with the pastors who proclaim that the best is yet to come. Pray that Algerian churches will be permanently re-opened.

Abdel-Nour witnessed violence and humiliation from the Arab rulers of Algeria. ‘I was a racist, I disliked Arabs.’ He fought against the Arabic language forced upon him at school; when his sisters watched Arabic he turned the TV off. Then he met some people from a local church. He said, ‘They did not stop talking about Jesus Christ. I was curious so I went with them to the church. Verses like “Love your enemies” had a big impact on me. I loved God’s Word, this strengthened my faith, and I accepted Christ as the Saviour and Lord of my life. Christ radically changed my life. God loves us as we are, regardless of our nationality and language.’

A Muslim-majority country of 41 million, Algeria depends on fossil fuels for its export income. It struggles to provide jobs and homes for its people. Democracy and human rights exist on paper, less so in reality. A movement to Christ is happening in Algeria. Most new believers come from a Kabyle Berber (non-Arab) background, but faith is growing among Arabs and most other people groups as well. New fellowships have begun throughout Algeria, partly because Berbers have moved into Arab areas to share the good news. Persecution is a fact of life. One Christian woman wrote: ‘Women who convert to Jesus Christ face new challenges, which sometimes cost them dearly. They face rejection by their families. Others are repudiated by their husbands because of their faith. They can even be deprived of their children.’ Pray for new hope for Algeria’s youthful urban population and its rural poor.

Thirteen churches in Algeria have been closed since 2018. Hope Evangelical Church is the latest to be ordered to shut down as the government’s crackdown on houses of worship continues. A 2006 law is being used as a pretext to clamp down on churches, even though the commission it created is yet to meet to consider the requests it has already received. The law requires non-Muslim places of worship be authorised by the National Commission for Non-Muslim Worship. Concern is growing for Algerian Christians, as it is unable or unwilling to fulfil this essential part of its mandate. The government should either reconstitute it entirely, or the law itself should be repealed in order to ensure the right to freedom of religion or belief for religious minorities in the country. Pray for churches to know the Lord's peace, wisdom and guidance in the face of the growing pressure. Pray also that Christians are not discouraged by this fierce campaign against them.

Christians in Algeria have requested prayer as a campaign to close churches intensifies. Representatives of l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), the umbrella group of Protestant churches in Algeria, said most EPA-affiliated churches have been challenged to prove they have licences according to a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship. However, the government, ignoring applications from churches, is not issuing licences to them under this ordinance, and several churches have received written orders to cease all activities. By the beginning of September at least seven church buildings had been sealed and services are no longer held there. Recently, after gendarmes attempted to close a church in Ighzer, the congregation occupied it, refusing to leave. However, it has now been sealed. Pray for churches and EPA leaders to know the Lord’s peace, wisdom, and guidance; and for God to turn circumstances around so that closed churches are soon allowed to re-open.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has called on Algerian authorities to guarantee freedom of worship to churches and religious institutions, and to allow all closed churches to re-open. A press release on 12 August states, ‘We deeply regret that in May and in August 2019 two churches were forcibly closed in the city of Boudjima. This brings the number of forcibly closed churches to six, including one house church. Five of them belong to the Protestant Church of Algeria, a WEA member. Many more churches are threatened with closure, amid denial of formal registration and recognition by authorities. We also call on the Algerian authorities to suspend and revise the February 2006 ordinance setting out the conditions and rules for the exercise of non-Muslim religions. This ordinance is cited in each of the decisions to close churches.’