What is God Doing in Algeria?

Algeria           

Population: 32.3 million

Capital:    Algiers

People Groups:  51

Main Religion: Islam 97%

All Christians:  0.3%

 

Links to Testimonies of Muslims in Algeria who have become Christians: KADER:  http://www.arabicbible.com/testimonies/kader.htm DALILA:  http://www.arabicbible.com/testimonies/dalila.htm  (AUDIO)

Missionary work is growing in Algeria, and cases of proselytised Muslims are making the news in the North African country. Newspapers such as El-Youm and Echourouk El-Arabi reported that the phenomenon was on the rise while El-Bilad reported that the new converts already perform Christian rituals in some 15 churches. Al-Akhdar Bin Khallaf, a prominent member of the Movement for National Reform, confirmed the reports. "The missionary work first started at the tribes area and then spilled into other Algerian states like Annaba (360 miles northeast of Algiers) and Constantine (260 miles northeast of the capital)," he told Islam Online. Khallaf said he has copies of glossy Gospels and Christian books that target children. He added that missionaries are distributing CDs on the life of Jesus Christ in the widely spoken dialect of the country to appeal to a wide range of people. Authorities also have been known to order the closure of mosques after believers prayed. Khallaf said his party, which has seats in the Sri Lankan parliament, will ask the government to respond to questions on the "worrying phenomenon." Sheikh Abdul Rahman Shaiban, head of Algeria's Muslim Scholars Association, said the missionary work is an "unprecedented aggression" on Muslims in the country. He added that Christians in the country are entitled to practice their rituals and religion, but have "no right whatsoever to dissuade Muslims and shake their beliefs."    WorldWide Religious News, June 2004

"Muslims who find Jesus are regularly threatened by fundamentalist Muslims," reports a mission agency from Algeria. They are told that they are not allowed to visit Christian churches, but churches are forming in various places throughout Algeria, and experiencing astonishing growth. Two students, motivated by church planting training, planted a new church with 12 members. After only one year, the church had almost two hundred members. God shows his might through the many miracles which occur, changing many people's lives, and the area. Some Muslims recently went to the Police to complain about the Christians, but the Police told them that since the church had started, drug consumption, alcoholism and theft had significantly decreased, and warned them to leave the church in peace, because it had a good influence on society. Source: name and address withheld for security reasons.   Friday Fax, February 2004

An article was written recently in the Algerian Milat Horizons newspaper expresses concern about the number of Algerian children that are converting to Christianity from Islam. Many school-aged children are watching the programme, "As Sanabel," which is aired daily by SAT-7, an Arabic Christian television network. Sources say a "considerable number of children" are confessing their new faith and then getting free Bibles and Christian tapes. Some conducted surveys with area children to find that most have watched the programming on SAT-7 without being aware of the Christian influences. Some Muslim adults are concerned about what may happen if the conversions continue.   Mission Network News, November 2003

"Never before in history has God moved so supernaturally to draw millions of Muslims to himself throughout the world," declared Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ in a recent letter regarding the outreach of the "Jesus" film that is being shown throughout the Muslim world. He is reporting an astounding phenomenon. "His office has received thousands of letters from Muslims," says Bright. "Many tell of a dream they had: `I saw Jesus. He declared to me "I am the way." Moved by this compelling dream, they are writing the Campus Crusade's Middle East office to find out just who Jesus is. Once they know, they freely respond.  In Algeria, a number of people discovered they had the very same dream. They began to talk with one another and discovered each had experienced the same dream. The details were the same, and even the words Jesus said to them were the same. On their own, they have formed a Bible study and are following Christ. "A fanatical Muslim woman had spent four years in prison for her political activities. While there, Jesus appeared to her in her cell. He personally explained redemption and the gospel. She is now on the Campus Crusade staff, totally sold out to reaching her Muslim people for her Savior." Bright continues: "I could tell you other stories--miraculous, incredible stories of visions. Muslims are seeing the risen Christ. Can there be any doubt? Our great, wonderful Lord is calling the Muslim world to himself. Praise his holy name."  Campus Crusade for Christ, March 1999

In the midst of terrible circumstances in Algeria, where fundamentalist Muslim groups still carry out brutal attacks even on women and children, the Christian church is quietly growing. According to one of the country's Christian leaders, who can't be named here, one of the groups has grown from 1,600 to 2,000 members since November 1996. All of the new members are ex-Muslims. According to eye-witnesses, the relatively quick growth is due to "increasing manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit".    DAWN Friday Fax, May 1997

There are numerous reports that many of the Berbers living in the Algerian Atlas Mountains are coming to Christ through dreams, visions and God's word and are forming - mostly underground - cell-churches. One native Berber, now living abroad, tells he found Christ in a way which seems typical for previously Islamic Berbers: "We Berbers always believed in God, but many seek their own way under the pressure of the Islamic Arabs. We young people yearned for the right way for our lives and prayed to God for guidance. One of my friends died in a traffic accident. The following night, I dreamed that he, I and another friend drove to a bright gleaming city surrounded by a white wall. My friend told us that he now lived there. The Jesus film was once shown in our village. As I saw how Jesus was crucified, I could feel the blows and pain in my own body. After being enlisted for the army, I had once to keep watch in the desert with a colleague. Suddenly a white bird flew by and hovered over us, as though watching us. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. Later, in Thun (in Switzerland), I saw the same bird in a picture in a Christian bookshop - it was the Holy Spirit. And once when I saw a video about the heavenly Jerusalem, I was amazed to recognise the city which I saw in my dream about my dead friend!"  Ahmed is now a Christian.  Basileia Zeitung (Basileia Magazine), October. 1995

We are receiving reports of great spiritual hunger in Algeria. Other reports claim that Muslim fundamentalists have killed around 30,000 Algerians; despite this, Christian services often last until well after midnight. According to a reliable source, one man said that after his conversion from Islam to Jesus Christ, he had the most problems with his wife, who was afraid of persecution. The man prayed that God would do something so that his wife would become open for Christianity. Shortly afterwards, their small daughter died. The father was fetched from his work, and when he arrived home, found that his daughter's skin was already blue. He prayed for her, and God raised her from her deathbed. As a result, his wife and other children converted to Jesus Christ.   DAWN Friday Fax, July 1996