#17 in Christian persecution, Algeria

LoricaLady

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Rising violence and pressure in North Africa

Algeria has seen a rise in every persecution category over the last year, which is why it’s risen five spots on the 2020 World Watch List. The most visible example of persecution in 2019 was the seemingly systemic closure of Protestant churches. In some of these cases, Christians were forcibly expelled by police in the middle of church services. Pressure from family also remains high, particularly for Christians who were previously Muslim. Extremist Islamist groups continue to pressure the government to restrict Christians’ freedom, as well.

Christians must be very careful about how they share their faith. Churches are allowed to exist—but only if they agree to the government’s rules. These rules forbid churches to hold Bible studies, host foreign preachers or even run a Sunday school. Very few churches agree to these rules.

Church leaders report that female Christians from Muslim backgrounds are sometimes placed under house arrest by their families when their faith is discovered. They are not allowed to meet other Christians or to have any contact with them. They are not allowed to watch TV or listen to the radio, as Christian channels are broadcast into Algeria.

Despite all this, the church in Algeria is growing. Most Christians in Algeria come to faith through dreams, visions and Christian broadcasts. Churches send their sermons out of the country to be broadcast back into Algeria over satellite TV.

How Christians are suffering
Algeria’s blasphemy laws make it difficult for Christians to share their faith out of fear their conversation may be considered blasphemous and used against them. In Algeria, it’s forbidden by law to “shake the faith” of a Muslim or to use “means of seduction” to convert a Muslim to another religion. Christians also suffer from harassment and discrimination in their daily life. Family members and neighbors try to force converts to adhere to Islamic norms and follow Islamic rites. The pressure Christians face is particularly high in the rural and religiously more conservative parts of the North African country. These regions acted as a stronghold for Islamist insurgents in the fight against the government in the 1990s.

Examples
During the 2020 World Watch List reporting period, the Algerian government continued its crackdown on Protestant communities. Eleven churches were closed by the government, adding to those already closed in the 2019 reporting period. Some were allowed to re-open after a few months.

In a new wave of increased pressure, at least 90 Christians were harshly treated and detained during a public protest against the closure of the Full Gospel Church in Tizi Ouzou.

There were reports that several Christian families faced harassment from other community members.

Population and number of Christian statistics: Johnson T M and Zurlo G A, eds., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed April 2019).




Pray for Algeria
  • At the same time radical Islamic influence is growing, the number of Christians is growing. There is a real openness to Christian faith. Pray believers are bold in sharing the gospel.
  • The government has continued its’ campaign of closing Protestant churches, including one of the largest ones (about 700 members). Pray the sense of community is not lost and that Christians are still able to gather.
  • Churches are mainly made up of first-generation Christians. Pray that local churches will be strengthened and rooted in the Word of God. Thank God for those churches that invest in discipleship training. Pray that new believers will be trained to live as disciples of Jesus.
  • Please also pray that the Bible Society in Algeria will get permission to open shops throughout the country, to make Christian literature available to all citizens.

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SANTOSO

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Let us pray together!

Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray on behalf of Your children who are
prosecuted in Algeria.

O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
Direct Your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Your foes have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.
They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees.
And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
They set Your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of Your name, bringing it down to the ground.
They said to themselves, "We will utterly subdue them"; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?
Why do you hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Take it from the fold of Your garment and destroy them!

Yet God our King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by Your might; You broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
You split open springs and brooks; You dried up ever-flowing streams.
Yours is the day, Yours also the night; You have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles Your name.
Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise Your name.

Arise, O God, defend Your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at You all the day!
Do not forget the clamor of Your foes, the uproar of those who rise against You, which goes up continually!
Amen
 
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Paul4JC

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Pray for Algeria
  • At the same time radical Islamic influence is growing, the number of Christians is growing. There is a real openness to Christian faith. Pray believers are bold in sharing the gospel.
  • The government has continued its’ campaign of closing Protestant churches, including one of the largest ones (about 700 members). Pray the sense of community is not lost and that Christians are still able to gather.
  • Churches are mainly made up of first-generation Christians. Pray that local churches will be strengthened and rooted in the Word of God. Thank God for those churches that invest in discipleship training. Pray that new believers will be trained to live as disciples of Jesus.
  • Please also pray that the Bible Society in Algeria will get permission to open shops throughout the country, to make Christian literature available to all citizens.
...Yes Lord I agree, watch over your children in Algeria. Protect them from evildoers. Meet their daily needs. In Jesus name, Amen.
 
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