A senior Algerian pastor tells Release International’s John Lawson how believers are paying a high price for phenomenal church growth in recent years.
In a recent interview with Release International, a senior leader in the Algerian church requested prayer for the 53 Algerian Christians, almost all pastors, who have been arrested and prosecuted in the past five years simply for living out their faith. Five have already spent months behind bars, but the majority have prison sentences hanging over them (usually of two to five years) pending appeal at the Supreme Court.
Although grateful that currently there are none in prison, he spoke frankly about the impact these long, drawn-out, and sometimes bizarrely unpredictable, legal proceedings have had on them and their families, contributing to stress-related conditions such as hyper-tension, diabetes, psychological trauma and exhaustion.
In Algeria, a North African country with close ties to France and other EU states, and perhaps not keen to earn the same kind of reputation and international isolation as Eritrea, it seems the authorities are trying to intimidate Christians through the prolonged threat of incarceration without actually jailing them. A veneer of due legal process through interminable waits for Supreme Court appeal hearings thinly disguises the fact that Christians are being arrested, tried, convicted and then sentenced to imprisonment and fined in contravention of the freedom of worship and other civil liberties enshrined in their constitution. Their places of worship are being shut down, with 43 out of the 44 member churches of the Protestant Association of Algeria (EPA) having been closed since 2018, for holding ‘unauthorised worship’ despite the EPA having registered as an official denomination in 1994. Recent laws, which also contravene the constitution, forbid Algerian Christians from sharing their faith with Muslims (around 98 per cent of Algeria’s 44 million population would identify as Sunni).
As a result Christians are constitutionally free to practise their faith, but outlawed from sharing it; are members of a legally registered church, whose places of worship are all closed; while many of their leaders are convicted criminals with jail sentences hanging over their heads, and yet, for now, still free. Although relatively short, these two to five-year prison sentences cannot be completed if they are not started so remain over people indefinitely, creating an atmosphere of pressured uncertainty. This is a direct response to the phenomenal church growth seen in Algeria in one generation: Christians numbered from the tens in the mid-1980s to the tens of thousands by 2016.
A sign of love from the UK
The church leader expressed his thanks to UK Christians for their support during this time of increased persecution and requested continued prayer for a once vibrant and still very young church – almost entirely comprised of new Muslim-background believers – that has been forced underground.
He thanked Release International for the financial support that we have started to give which helps to provide for some of the affected families as well as helping to cover some of the legal costs of their defence and appeals.
He said: ‘This aid, truly, the brothers and sisters who have benefited from it, have perceived this as a sign of love and of solidarity on the part of the body of Christ in the UK. It’s a sign of love and solidarity, and that’s what makes the brothers and sisters want to continue; truly it encourages them, it really makes them want to continue, to walk the path, to persevere in the faith. And above all, it’s proof that we’re not alone, we’re not forgotten, but we have brothers and sisters who think of us and pray for us. And that helps us a lot in our walk.’
Although burdened by the ongoing challenges, he remains hopeful. ‘I think that God has made a promise, that God has visited this nation, even if we pass today through a very difficult time, but I know that this situation contributes positively to the affirmation of the church. I know that the church in Algeria is no exception. Like everywhere else, churches go through times of peace and of adversity. I think that’s the church’s destiny. Everyone knows that. God asks us, simply, today, to be confident, to remain faithful as a Christian in Algeria, all the while knowing that this will be just a passing persecution. God has happy plans for our country, especially for his church here.’
Please continue to pray for Christians in Algeria who are facing persecution, especially those suffering ill-health as a result of their trials. Pray for courage, wisdom and patience, and that they will all retain their hope in God.
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