Thousands of people converting into Christianity from
Islam in Morocco. Salem Voice Ministries requesting prayers for the
converted christians of Morocco to be protected from the persecutions
and also to be growing in the Spirit.Christian persecution in Morocco is
increasing fastly.
At the end of the last month, a Moroccan court in Agadir jailed a German tourist named Sadek Noshi Yassa of 64 years of old for six months for attempting to convert Muslims on Wednesday, the 29th of November. He is a German of Egyptian origin. He was arrested for distributing books and CDs about the Christian faith to young Muslim Moroccans in the street. The court also fined him 500 dirhams ($60) in its verdict issue.
Islam is the state religion in Morocco around 30 million people. There are some Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches which are recognized by Morocco, but they are only for foreigners living in the country. Moroccan Christians have no right to pray in these churches. But many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco’s churches.
Some of the Christians discovered their faith accidentally, while others have been converted by churches, mostly Baptists.
"I discovered Christianity by His grace alone," a young Moroccan woman who wants to remain anonymous said. "I found a Bible on my night table in a French hotel room, and what I read appealed to me. On the same trip, I met a Moroccan Christian, and we had a long discussion."
But like hundreds of her sisters and brothers in faith, she has to practise her religion secretly in Muslim Morocco.
At the moment, they are preparing to celebrate Christmas clandestinely at home, possibly in the presence of a pastor who also has to hide his faith.
The converted Christians of Evangelical Protestant Group have fifty independant churches across the big cities of the Kingdom. Out of it, six churches are in the city of Casablanca, five churches in Rabat and one church in El Ayoun, the regional capital of the western Sahara.
Seven of these are "Free Churches" in Marrakesh, having no links with any international Protestant churches.
"As we are tolerated, but not recognised (by the state) we must, for security reasons, conduct ourselves as a clandestine organisation," said the 57-year-old, who also preferred to use a pseudonym.
"As soon as a church has 20 worshippers it splits in two," said Dr. Abdul Halim, who converted to Christianity 16 years ago when he was living abroad. At the beginning of the 1990s there were only 400 christians in Morocco. But when he returned home seven years ago, he was astonished by the growing number of converts around 700 and today more than 1000. Abdul Halim told SVM News.
Though they are Christians, in the eyes of the state they remain Muslim. And their names also like Muslim names.
Dr. Abdul Halim said, "Officially, my son and I are Muslim. We hold Christian marriages and bless the young couple but this is not recognized by the state. They must go before the Muslim clergy and marry according to Sharia (Islamic law). If they don’t do this, they can be charged with adultery."
The same goes for death also. They cannot be buried in a Christian cemetery, only in a Muslim one.
"We have to be careful because ordinary people cannot understand that we can be Arabs without being Muslim. For us the biggest danger is ignorance," Dr. Halim added.
Discretion is the order of the day for Morocco’s Christians, with the faithful holding services in their homes, against a background of suspicion from the Islamic world.
The Christian converts also have article 220 of the penal code hanging over their heads, which provides for prison sentences of between six months and three years for anyone who tries to undermine a Muslim’s faith or to convert him to another religion.
"For many of us, Islam is perceived as a social straitjacket and not as a real faith, and Christianity as a religion of tolerance and love," said the businessman, who converted at the age of 19 and was later followed by his family.
"We have to live as if we were criminals," a young woman from Casablanca. People who reveal their conversion risk being banished by their families and marginalized by their communities.
Christians in Morocco badly need prayers from the children of God around the globe for their spiritual gowth and physical protection.
http://mnnonline.org/article/16974
Two years ago, many foreign Christians were expelled from Morocco. It changed the face of the Moroccan church. The Christians, for example, now meet in smaller groups than they were used to. Twenty members are a big church nowadays.
2010 was a difficult year for the church in Morocco. "After the foreigners were expelled, almost half of the churches stopped; it was really a big crackdown" says an Open Doors worker responsible for North Africa. A year later, things turned normal again for the estimated 3,000 Christians, but the tendency is to split up the groups of believers into smaller groups.
The current year is seen as a crucial year for the church. There are some signs that things might become more difficult. In the beginning of March, three brothers were arrested at a coffee shop. "It was clear that they were arrested because of their Christian activity. The police asked questions about this and tried to find Christian literature or material." According to the Open Doors spokesman, they also tried to find the pastor of the three men. He was warned, however, and went to a safe place. The three men were released a day after their arrest because of lack of proof.
"For the Christians in Morocco, these arrests are a sign. The country is now governed by a government with clear influence of Islamists. Christians believe that the arrests are the start of a new trend," says the Open Doors worker.
According to the Open Doors worker, the fact that many foreigners had to leave the country has turned out to be a positive thing for the Moroccan church. "The church needs its own personality to organize itself. The only big difficulty is financial. The churches have less money now."
Becoming a Christian in Morocco is, in itself, not forbidden. But it is almost a miracle when someone converts. "It is forbidden to share the Gospel with non-Christians," says the worker. One of the tools Open Doors uses to support and to strengthen the church are Christian TV programs, Web sites, and follow-up. For Web sites, Christians need a lot of wisdom and discernment. "The government tries to infiltrate this with spies," says the worker about the Web sites.
The face of the churches has changed in the last years. "Ten years ago, I would have said that most of the members were singles; now you see families in the churches. That also makes the churches stronger. I would say that the church has potential to grow by itself. The church has good leaders that have no fear. The foundation is good."
Open Doors is helping Christian leaders in Morocco. "We offer training and help the leaders to be able to train others so they can stay in the country."
One
of the nations in our Restricted Nations page is Morocco. Morocco is
99.9 percent Muslim and has a tiny Christian population of about a tenth
of a percent.
As a result, it's not surprise that Christians are at risk and are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. You can click here to see numerous previous reports about the persecution that has taken place there.
Mission Network News is reporting on the lastest with our brothers and sisters in that country. Here's some of their report:
At the end of the last month, a Moroccan court in Agadir jailed a German tourist named Sadek Noshi Yassa of 64 years of old for six months for attempting to convert Muslims on Wednesday, the 29th of November. He is a German of Egyptian origin. He was arrested for distributing books and CDs about the Christian faith to young Muslim Moroccans in the street. The court also fined him 500 dirhams ($60) in its verdict issue.
Islam is the state religion in Morocco around 30 million people. There are some Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches which are recognized by Morocco, but they are only for foreigners living in the country. Moroccan Christians have no right to pray in these churches. But many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco’s churches.
Some of the Christians discovered their faith accidentally, while others have been converted by churches, mostly Baptists.
"I discovered Christianity by His grace alone," a young Moroccan woman who wants to remain anonymous said. "I found a Bible on my night table in a French hotel room, and what I read appealed to me. On the same trip, I met a Moroccan Christian, and we had a long discussion."
But like hundreds of her sisters and brothers in faith, she has to practise her religion secretly in Muslim Morocco.
At the moment, they are preparing to celebrate Christmas clandestinely at home, possibly in the presence of a pastor who also has to hide his faith.
The converted Christians of Evangelical Protestant Group have fifty independant churches across the big cities of the Kingdom. Out of it, six churches are in the city of Casablanca, five churches in Rabat and one church in El Ayoun, the regional capital of the western Sahara.
Seven of these are "Free Churches" in Marrakesh, having no links with any international Protestant churches.
"As we are tolerated, but not recognised (by the state) we must, for security reasons, conduct ourselves as a clandestine organisation," said the 57-year-old, who also preferred to use a pseudonym.
"As soon as a church has 20 worshippers it splits in two," said Dr. Abdul Halim, who converted to Christianity 16 years ago when he was living abroad. At the beginning of the 1990s there were only 400 christians in Morocco. But when he returned home seven years ago, he was astonished by the growing number of converts around 700 and today more than 1000. Abdul Halim told SVM News.
Though they are Christians, in the eyes of the state they remain Muslim. And their names also like Muslim names.
Dr. Abdul Halim said, "Officially, my son and I are Muslim. We hold Christian marriages and bless the young couple but this is not recognized by the state. They must go before the Muslim clergy and marry according to Sharia (Islamic law). If they don’t do this, they can be charged with adultery."
The same goes for death also. They cannot be buried in a Christian cemetery, only in a Muslim one.
"We have to be careful because ordinary people cannot understand that we can be Arabs without being Muslim. For us the biggest danger is ignorance," Dr. Halim added.
Discretion is the order of the day for Morocco’s Christians, with the faithful holding services in their homes, against a background of suspicion from the Islamic world.
The Christian converts also have article 220 of the penal code hanging over their heads, which provides for prison sentences of between six months and three years for anyone who tries to undermine a Muslim’s faith or to convert him to another religion.
"For many of us, Islam is perceived as a social straitjacket and not as a real faith, and Christianity as a religion of tolerance and love," said the businessman, who converted at the age of 19 and was later followed by his family.
"We have to live as if we were criminals," a young woman from Casablanca. People who reveal their conversion risk being banished by their families and marginalized by their communities.
Christians in Morocco badly need prayers from the children of God around the globe for their spiritual gowth and physical protection.
http://mnnonline.org/article/16974
Two years ago, many foreign Christians were expelled from Morocco. It changed the face of the Moroccan church. The Christians, for example, now meet in smaller groups than they were used to. Twenty members are a big church nowadays.
2010 was a difficult year for the church in Morocco. "After the foreigners were expelled, almost half of the churches stopped; it was really a big crackdown" says an Open Doors worker responsible for North Africa. A year later, things turned normal again for the estimated 3,000 Christians, but the tendency is to split up the groups of believers into smaller groups.
The current year is seen as a crucial year for the church. There are some signs that things might become more difficult. In the beginning of March, three brothers were arrested at a coffee shop. "It was clear that they were arrested because of their Christian activity. The police asked questions about this and tried to find Christian literature or material." According to the Open Doors spokesman, they also tried to find the pastor of the three men. He was warned, however, and went to a safe place. The three men were released a day after their arrest because of lack of proof.
"For the Christians in Morocco, these arrests are a sign. The country is now governed by a government with clear influence of Islamists. Christians believe that the arrests are the start of a new trend," says the Open Doors worker.
According to the Open Doors worker, the fact that many foreigners had to leave the country has turned out to be a positive thing for the Moroccan church. "The church needs its own personality to organize itself. The only big difficulty is financial. The churches have less money now."
Becoming a Christian in Morocco is, in itself, not forbidden. But it is almost a miracle when someone converts. "It is forbidden to share the Gospel with non-Christians," says the worker. One of the tools Open Doors uses to support and to strengthen the church are Christian TV programs, Web sites, and follow-up. For Web sites, Christians need a lot of wisdom and discernment. "The government tries to infiltrate this with spies," says the worker about the Web sites.
The face of the churches has changed in the last years. "Ten years ago, I would have said that most of the members were singles; now you see families in the churches. That also makes the churches stronger. I would say that the church has potential to grow by itself. The church has good leaders that have no fear. The foundation is good."
Open Doors is helping Christian leaders in Morocco. "We offer training and help the leaders to be able to train others so they can stay in the country."
Moroccan Church Faces Difficulty
Stacy L. Harp
As a result, it's not surprise that Christians are at risk and are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. You can click here to see numerous previous reports about the persecution that has taken place there.
Mission Network News is reporting on the lastest with our brothers and sisters in that country. Here's some of their report:
Morocco (MNN) ― Two years ago, many foreign Christians were expelled from Morocco. It changed the face of the Moroccan church. The Christians, for example, now meet in smaller groups than they were used to. Twenty members are a big church nowadays.
2010 was a difficult year for the church in Morocco. "After the foreigners were expelled, almost half of the churches stopped; it was really a big crackdown" says an Open Doors worker responsible for North Africa. A year later, things turned normal again for the estimated 3,000 Christians, but the tendency is to split up the groups of believers into smaller groups.
The current year is seen as a crucial year for the church. There are some signs that things might become more difficult. In the beginning of March, three brothers were arrested at a coffee shop. "It was clear that they were arrested because of their Christian activity. The police asked questions about this and tried to find Christian literature or material." According to the Open Doors spokesman, they also tried to find the pastor of the three men. He was warned, however, and went to a safe place. The three men were released a day after their arrest because of lack of proof.
"For the Christians in Morocco, these arrests are a sign. The country is now governed by a government with clear influence of Islamists. Christians believe that the arrests are the start of a new trend," says the Open Doors worker.
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