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Young Woman Arrested; More Churches Ordered to Shut Down
On Saturday, March 29, a young woman was arrested at a checkpoint. In her bag she carried six books about Christianity. The judicial system is secretive in Algeria, and the young woman was not informed of the official accusation at this time. Apparently carrying 6 books about Christianity was enough to keep her at the police station for 24 hours and to file a case against her to the judge for this coming May.
Local Christians say that they expect the Algerian government to “deliberately remain vague in their charges to maximize the pressure on the Christian minority in Algeria.”
On March 21, two men were arrested; one was carrying 10 Bibles meant for his congregation and the other only carried his own Bible. They were released after one night in prison, but fear prosecution on charges of proselytism.
Recently Open Doors reported that 10 of the 32 Protestant churches were ordered by the Algerian government to close . The situation is rapidly deteriorating. Since last week, a total of 19 churches were ordered to cease their activities, an Algerian Protestant leader told Open Doors.
In March 2006, the Algerian government passed an ordinance, Ordinance 06-03, which strictly limits non-Muslim religions in expressing their beliefs. It affects non-Muslim places of worship, forbids proselytizing Muslims, and bans evangelistic materials. The Ordinance made proselytizing a criminal offense and set the punishment for a church leader at 3 to 5 years jail time and a maximum fine of 1 million dinars, approximately $14,500 .
After Ordinance 06-03 was implemented, Algerian churches were required to register their church to receive a “certificate of conformity” showing their compliance with the new law.
Initially, some churches were hesitant to register, but others obtained the “certificate of conformity” without experiencing any direct problems.
In 2007, gradually more accusations against the church appeared in Algerian media. Algerians are being warned against missionaries who want to “Christianize” Algeria. A conspiracy theory is being reported, stating that foreigners are trying to establish Christian minorities in Algeria so that foreign countries have the right to interfere with Algerian politics.
However, not all media share this viewpoint, and some speak their objections about the situation. Columnist Mustapha Hammouche wrote in the Algerian daily Liberte on March 25, 2008: “The repression of evangelist proselytism has turned into the harassment of Christians.”
Currently, orders to close churches continue unabated. According to Mustapha Krim, president of the Algerian Protestant Church (EPA), most of the churches received written orders from the police to cease their activities. Eleven have received written orders, six other congregations were given verbal warning by the police and two are ordered closed by a judge. Of the 19 churches ordered to close, fourteen fellowships come under the EPA, and the other five are independent congregations.
Algerian Christians recognize their dependence on God in this situation. They feel connected to the body of Christ and deeply appreciate the prayers from Christians around the world.
Points of Praise and Prayer:
- Thank the Lord that the young woman was released after a short time in custody. Pray that the charge against her will be cancelled.
- Pray also for two men who were arrested March 21. One carried 10 Bibles meant for his congregation and the other only carried his own Bible. They were released after one night in prison, but fear prosecution on charged of proselytism. Pray that the charge will be withdrawn.
- Pray that the government will recognize that the law is unjust to the Christian minority and that they abolish ordinance 06-03.
- Pray that no more churches are ordered to close their doors. And pray that churches already ordered to close will be re-opened.
- Pray that the Algerian church stays united, especially during this time of hardship.
- Praise God for the encouragement by the Holy Spirit to the Algerian Christians despite the problems, and pray that He will continue to give wisdom to pastors and other leaders in this difficult time.
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