A Christmas Card from North Africa
According to the United Nations, there are seven countries in the region known as North Africa. Of those seven, six of them are on the World Watch List because they are difficult places to live as Christians. The six countries are Algeria (#22), Egypt (#20), Libya (#4), Morocco (#27), Sudan (#13), and Tunisia (#27). This means overall living as a Christian in North Africa is far from easy and Christians are faced with many forms of persecution.
Islam is the main religion in this region and leaving Islam to follow Christ comes with many consequences. Believers can face immense pressure from their families to renounce their faith, their neighbours and the rest of the community can ostracize them, and they can be left homeless, jobless and alone. If a Christian shares his or her faith with someone else, they will likely be reported, arrested and perhaps face violent punishment. Over the years pressure has worsened and many families are being forced to celebrate Christmas secretively this year. Below is a letter from two young believers who write to remind us that even though Christmas looks different for them, we are all celebrating Christ.
The Letter from Elmeera* and Aisha*
Hi, we are Elmeera and Aisha 12 and 8 years old. We are Christians from North Africa. We used to celebrate Christmas in the church with other children of our community. This year we are going to celebrate Christmas with our parents at home, just something small to mark the occasion. Since our church is closed, we couldn’t celebrate Christmas with other children of our community.
We love Christmas. Besides receiving gifts, we are reminded of the importance of the light of Jesus in our lives and want to show love to beloved ones and to our neighbours. We think we need the light of Jesus in our region to be tolerant towards Christians. We pray that next year with Christmas we can celebrate it with other children of our community.
If we would write a wish on a Christmas Card to our country, we would say we hope our church will open and we can meet with other children.
If we have to write a message to the persecutor [the government] the message to them would be: Jesus loves you. As Christians we don’t want trouble, we just want a place where we can meet with other Christians.
That’s why we ask you to pray for us that next year we can celebrate Christmas in the church with our community.
*Name changed and representative photo used for security reasons.
Please Pray
- Pray for Elmeera and Aisha that next year we can celebrate Christmas in the church with our community.
- Pray for believers who must keep their faith in Jesus secret or face possible arrest and even slavery.
- Ask God to bring stability to North Africa and make the nation a better place.
