Morocco

A number of visits have been made to Morocco over the last few years, slowly building up a small body of brethren in the small towns that border the Sahara desert. It's hard to imagine fully what life is like in those places. Everyone knows each others' business; Islam is the norm; you all show up at Friday prayers; tradition and being normal, like the rest, not shaming your family, not appearing 'odd'- these are values that are upheld even to the point of death. It's from those small towns that suicide bombers are recruited, fighters go off to Iraq. They would seem the last place where Biblical Christianity could take root, embracing as it does the hope of Israel and the radical call to follow the Lord's principles rather than those of the world, accepting His counter-cultural call... And yet against all odds, it has. The internet cafe has become an important addition to the otherwise very traditional and unchanging culture of those dirt poor towns. Here young people hang out, enduring terribly slow connection speeds to have a look at the wider world and check their Yahoo accounts. It's almost impossible to mail Biblical literature to those places - but that's where the internet has opened up the world. People can sit and read through our material at their own speed. Of course, for those brave few who take their interest all the way and have been baptized, difficulties and rejection of all kinds await them as they take up that radical, counter-cultural call of the Truth. Our visit was partly to assist the brethren in these problems. Additionally, it was a pleasure to spend time with SAMI, one of a very large family who had boldly accepted Christ some time back, then got involved with Jehovah's Witnesses in Morocco, and then again, thanks to the internet, came to understand their errors. The family run the hairdresser's shop in the small town, and again, there are serious social consequences for our brother. He gave a good confession of his faith, but it was necessary to take him to another town to perform the baptism. He was very clear as to the errors of the trinity, and is firmly looking forward to the Kingdom being established on earth. We discussed the idea with him of establishing an Arabic language portal on the net, as there must be many others like him throughout the Arabic world, eager for online contact and information about the Gospel. Hopefully our new brother will be able to join us at the CCM's online breaking of bread [held on Tuesdays at midday GMT, run by Br Joel Pickering. Any who are interested in joining in can view more information at www.carelinks.net ].

The other issue to report and ask for your prayers for concerns a Jewess, we'll call her SALI for security reasons. Most of the Jews of Morocco - they numbered nearly 400,000 in the 1940s - have moved to the West or to Israel. The community is in serious decline. Sali's parents lived in a small town with little contact with other Jews, occasionally taking her to the synagogue in Rabat- one time home of Maimonides. They died, and she was adopted by Moslem neighbours. They made her documents out as their daughter, and she has no documentary evidence of her Jewishness which would enable her to emigrate to Israel. Thanks to the internet, she studied Judaism and feels herself very strongly 'Jewish', and makes no secret of who she is. Living in a large house inhabited by her adoptive extended family, this makes her an embarrassment to them and despised in the town. She refuses to wear the hajib, the Moslem female head covering, nor will she go to Friday prayers. That was bad enough for her adoptive family, but then she met an Australian brother and sister on the internet, who directed her to our sites, from where she learnt the true Hope of Israel and decided she must accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. She's a very brave young woman, and she shared her convictions about this matter too. She is utterly despised in the town, abused in various ways, totally alone, her only friends being those of us she knows on the internet. It was therefore a pleasure to meet her and spend time discussing her faith, and to baptize her into Jesus. She sees herself as a Jewish Christian who has found in the Lord Jesus the true One for whom Israel hopes. She has a very clear understanding of the promises to Abraham, the Kingdom, and the way that Christianity generally is astray from its Jewish foundation. Her situation is difficult and she really needs assistance to get out of where she is, and we're working on trying to enable this.

Photo: Sis S outside the 'needle' gate along the old city walls in Rabat

You can clearly see the small 'needle' gate and the wider gate for loaded camels. We discussed the Lord's teaching, that to enter the Kingdom, we have to kneel down as a camel would have to, shed our burdens, and pass with difficulty through the narrow, 'needle' gate. Meanwhile please remember our sister, our new brother, and our existing Moroccan brethren in your prayers.