The Parish Magazine February 2024

PARISH NOTICEBOARD — 5
This month we look at the steadily
worsening situation for Christians
in Algeria.
There are around 139,000 Christians
in Algeria, which is about 0.3% of
the country’s population of over 45
million.
Most Algerian Christians are
converts from Islam and they can
face pressure from their family
and community to follow Islamic
customs.
Laws regulate non-Muslim
worship and are sufficiently vague to
be used to harass believers.
Low status is given to women
in Algeria and Christian women
can experience additional intense
hostility to their faith. Male converts
can face ostracism, beatings and
threats from family and community.
It is getting harder to be a
Christian in Algeria.
In 2023, the country went up
three places to number 19 in the
World Watch List Top 50 countries
where Christians are most at risk of
persecution.
In 2022, at least 10 Christians
were sentenced for charges that
included ‘shaking the faith of a
Muslim’.
The government has ordered
churches to close and cease
activities.
A Spectator article in December
reports that of the 47 churches of
l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (the
EPA), 43 have been issued orders to
close.
The law used to justify the
closures is that churches should
have permits to operate as places of
worship.
However, despite the EPA’s efforts
to comply and submit applications
for permits, none has been issued
since the law was placed on the
statute books in 2006.
The vice president of the EPA,
Pastor Youssef Ourahmane, is a dual
national, with British citizenship.
He oversees a number of
congregations in the Kabilye region
of Algeria and has been interrogated
The Parish Magazine - February 2024 15
THE persecuted church by colin bailey
It's getting harder to be a Christian in Algeria
'SHAKING THE FAITH'
CLOSURES
An Algerian church in the Sahara desert
26 separate times by the Algerian
authorities. Tried and sentenced
without his prior knowledge, he now
faces prison for the alleged crime of
hosting an unauthorised religious
assembly.
As The Spectator writer, Miles
Windsor, says, ‘[o]ne hopes that the
Foreign Office is fighting for him in their
diplomatic conversations.’
GOOD INTENTIONS
Please pray for Christians in
Algeria, that they may persevere and
hold on to Jesus, and for their words
and witness to lead others to him.
Pray for softening of the hearts
of those in authority so they may
see the value and good intentions of
Christians.
Please also pray for Pastor Youssef
and his family at this time.
References and further
reading
— Open Doors World Watch List –
Algeria - https://www.opendoorsuk.
org/persecution/world-watch-list/
algeria/
— The Spectator article on Algerian
Christians - https://www.spectator.
co.uk/article/algerian-christians-willface-persecution-this-christmas/
Sergey Strelkov, dreamstime.com
Faith persecutions
rising in India
The recent anti-conversion laws
in India have led to the arrest of
hundreds of Christians, according to
church sources.
UK-based Release International,
which raises the voice of persecuted
Christians worldwide, warns: 'The
persecution of Christians and other
religious minorities in India increases
dramatically with each passing month.'
Twelve of India’s 28 states have
now passed anti-conversion laws,
and momentum is building to impose
a national law across the whole of
India. This would limit the freedom
of religious minorities, including
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and
Sikhs, from sharing their faith.
Police are arresting Christians
under a law that is intended to
prevent conversion by force, but in
practise prevents any Christians
from sharing their faith — even
though their right to do so is
enshrined in the Indian constitution.
India is set to hold national
elections in 2024, raising the
possibility of further gains for the
Hindu nationalist BJP.