Displaying items by tag: Algeria

The world’s largest Arab country (95% Muslim), once home to the Phoenicians, Romans, Ottomans, and French is now home to a growing number of Christians, despite significant persecution. Believers face intolerable pressures from family and neighbours militating against any open expression of Christianity, along with anti-conversion and blasphemy laws. Yet in God’s economy, as much as Satan attempts to squeeze the church, the faster it grows. In 2008 there were 10,000 Christians - by 2015, it was 380,000. It could now be approaching 500,000. A healthy portion of the growth is attributed to Christian satellite programming into North African countries. Joshua Project, tracking church growth, confirms that there are now 600,000+ professing Algerian Christians. So many are coming to Christ that there are regular baptism services for 60 to 100 new believers and one church has already planted 14 daughter churches.

Prosecutors sought a six-month prison sentence and a huge fine for a 35-year-old father in the coastal town of Mostaganem because he invited a Christian couple to come and pray with him in his home. The judge instead awarded a two-month suspended prison sentence and a small fine to the new Christian, who requested anonymity as he fears for his life in the officially Muslim country. He was accused of organising Christian worship; and the law forbids non-Muslim worship for unregistered churches. Sources said that a neighbour had denounced him; he is frightened and shocked by this accusation. Algeria is ranked 22nd on the World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, up from 42nd last year.

Windows International Network reported, ‘Christian churches are locked down, Believers are threatened and beaten, homes are invaded, Bibles are confiscated and destroyed, pastors are imprisoned’ and ‘the Muslim persecution of Christian Believers has drastically increased since 2017.’ Algeria is a former French colony, and the French government is so disturbed by this new intolerance that the French parliament has officially opened an inquiry into persecution of Christians in Algeria which has risen to number 22 on the 2019 Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. Pray for Christian believers as they face increased persecution and the pastors who are imprisoned to be sustained by the Holy Spirit. Pray also for Muslim-background Christians to be strengthened in their witness to family and friends.

In Algeria and Sudan, peaceful protesters are continuing to demand genuine change, but the military - the most powerful institution in both countries - resist the calls. Both countries know that ousting an authoritarian leader is no guarantee of reform. In each case, Christian communities have added their voices to the calls for greater democracy and transparency. In the Holy Land, recent violence saw Islamic militants from Gaza launch 600+ rockets into Israel, and Israel responding with a heavy bombardment. Both sides eventually agreed a ceasefire, which is currently holding, but the UN envoy to the Middle East warned on 13 May that the risk of another war ‘remains imminent’. Half the Christian population has returned to Iraq following the collapse of IS, but they are returning to broken towns and Iran-backed militias in the Nineveh area. The search for peace, good governance, fairness, justice and dignity continues.

With President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quitting, Al Qaeda terrorists could now fill the political vacuum. Bouteflika held office for 20 years, then the military told him to go following continuing street protests. In March, leading Al-Qaeda official Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi urged Muslims to unite to ensure Algeria is ruled by sharia law. Al-Anabi, designated a ‘terrorist’ by the US state department, called on citizens to reject any regional or tribal identities and unite as ‘sons of Islam’ to create an Islamic emirate. The speaker of the upper house of parliament has become the country’s 90-day caretaker president until elections are held. But one protest leader said that the street demonstrations will continue because ‘we do not accept the caretaker government’. Young Algerians are demanding jobs in a country where one in every four under the age of 30 is unemployed, in an economy dependent on oil and gas exports.

Last week you prayed for the aged President Bouteflika to withdraw from standing in the next election, and for God to raise new leaders for the nation. On 12 March the state news agency reported that the president was withdrawing, and would not stand as a candidate in the next election. He has named the interior minister as the new prime minister, and plans to create a new government with a special body to draft a new constitution to respond to the protests. May God continue to bless Algeria with His purposes.

82-year-old President Bouteflika has not spoken in public in years. At public ceremonies or meetings his handlers place a framed picture of him on an easel. The government has announced that Bouteflika, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013, will seek a fifth term of office. Protests erupted, and continue. 70% of Algeria's population is under 30. Millions are fed up with a state-run economy that is flagging. Despite demonstrations, Mr. Bouteflika’s circle still plan to wheel him out for April’s elections. Meanwhile influential legislators from the opposition resigned from parliament to support the grassroots demands for change. The stakes are high. Europe counts the country as a major energy exporter, a counter-terrorism ally, and a partner in controlling migration flows from Africa. A young population with high expectations no longer accepts an authoritarian system. Repercussions could spread far beyond Algeria. See

The 41 million people of this Muslim-majority country depend on fossil fuels for their export income. Recently finances have been hurt by the drop in oil prices, prompting cuts in state subsidies. Algeria struggles to provide jobs and homes for its people. Democracy and human rights exist on paper, less so in reality. In the midst of this, people are coming to Christ. Most new believers are from non-Arab backgrounds, but faith is also growing among Arabs and other people groups. New fellowships begin as believers move into Arab areas to share the gospel. Persecution is a fact of life. One Christian woman wrote, ‘Women converts to Christ face challenges which sometimes cost them dearly - rejected by their families, repudiated by their husbands, deprived of their children.’

The UN has urged the Algerian government to stop harassing its Christian minority, after several churches, Christian bookshops and a day-care centre for Christian children were closed down in recent months. Dozens of other churches also received notifications ordering them to close. The UNHRC is reviewing Algeria’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and said it ‘remained concerned’ over the closures. It has called on Algeria’s government to ‘guarantee the full exercise of freedom of thought, conscience and religion to all’. It also said Algeria should ‘refrain from obstructing the religion of persons who do not observe the official religion, by destruction and closure of establishments or refusal to grant registration of religious movements’.

In Algeria, friends asked for prayer after their church in Aïn Turk was closed by the local authorities. After seven months, the authorities finally reopened the church. In Turkey, Pastor Ramazan Arkan leads two congregations in Antalya, just 12 miles from where Paul and Barnabas planted a church in New Testament times. His growing church is reaching out to many young seekers in this city of two million people. Iran is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, yet thousands of underground Iranian believers are practising their faith in secret. For those with no-one to talk to about Jesus, SAT-7’s satellite Christian broadcasting has become not just a television channel, but also a virtual pastor, church, community and friend.