Morocco & Iranian Brothers, March 2008
Our witness in Morocco continues, and so does our follow up work with those already baptized. It really is so hard to be a committed Christian in this land where 99% of the population are Sunni Muslims. Bibles in Arabic are officially banned here [although permitted in French and English]; and recently a German tourist was imprisoned for 6 months for distributing Christians CDs to passers by on the streets of Agadir.
As reported at http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?article5369 : "The Christian converts [in Morocco] also have article 220 of the Moroccan 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 ... People who reveal their conversion risk being banished by their families and marginalized by their communities".
Inevitably we are heavily aware of this as we conduct our outreach in Morocco. Whilst trusting in the Father's protection as we take forth the word of His Son, we have to do all we can to ensure that those we consider baptizing are indeed genuine. We had been in correspondence for some time with a young man from one of the villages in the Sahara, he faithfully went to the internet cafe every other day to email us his answers to the Bible Basics courses in French. This involved exchanging dozens of emails, discussing many questions, and getting to know each other. This is the wonder of the internet - a young man in a village in the Saharan scrub, reading Bible Basics online in French at an internet cafe, and sending the answers back to us every other day. He took his time, as he had no Bible and had to read it online.
Here's a picture we took in a town not far from our brother's village, showing graffiti and threats against a suspected house church:
It truly was a pleasure to meet with brother A in another town some way from his village, to hear his confession of faith and immerse him in the bath tub of our hotel room. There was wireless internet there, and having presented A with the Bible Companion reading guide we were able to discuss with our brother which sites he would use to read the Bible online with.
It would be great if we could get our brother a laptop computer. If anyone has a spare one, please let us know and we'll see how it could be transported safely and effectively. And there are other brothers and sisters who could have their fellowship greatly enhanced by one too. Brother A really deserves all the support he can get. We failed to meet up with another contact who is interested in baptism, and we're hopeful that our local brothers can get to him soon. Please pray for them in this, as it is a brave effort and will require much faith.
As these small communities develop in north Africa, there arises a need for pastoral leadership and care. One thing we could do with are some sample prayers suitable for a breaking of bread service, and a baptismal service, in French or Arabic. If anyone can help, do send your suggestions to us at info@carelinks.net . These would greatly help our new brothers and sisters as they run their breaking of bread services.
[The email version of this update contained news of our Iranian refugee brothers. Let us know if you'd like to receive the fuller reports, emailed to you] We do ask for your prayers to continue for our brothers and sisters in Moslem lands.
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks