As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, places of worship in many nations have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus. In Algeria, all places of worship and entertainment have been closed since March. In August, governing officials decided to gradually reopen places of worship, beginning with large mosques consisting of over a thousand worshippers.
On 27 October, authorities in Tizi Ouzou province, where most Algerian Christians reside, released a list of 183 mosques that have been granted permission to reopen. There has been no mention of any churches being reopened, including the 25 affiliated with the Eglise Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), an umbrella organisation of Protestant churches.
For the past three years, authorities in Algeria have been waging a campaign against the EPA churches, resulting in 13 being forcibly closed, with others receiving orders to cease all religious activities. There are concerns that the pandemic closures may be used as part of this campaign, keeping all the churches in the country closed indefinitely.
Source: Middle East Concern
- Pray for believers in Algeria who are continuing to persevere and bear witness to God’s love in the midst of intensifying persecution.
- Pray that Algeria’s governing authorities will treat all citizens equally and allow the closed churches to reopen soon.
- Pray the country’s Christian leaders will be filled with the wisdom and the peace of God as they confront this difficult situation, and the assurance that ultimately nothing can stop the advancement of His Kingdom.
Post your prayer in the comments below.
Gracious God and Father, you hear the cries of your people and know the injustices they suffer at the hands of those who oppose your Gospel. Bring to the various EPA and other churches in Algeria especially in the Tizi Ouzou province, joy and refreshment as they suffer discrimination and isolation at the hands of the authorities. Strengthen their trust in you and help them to be the bringers of the ‘momentous news’ of Jesus Christ to their fellow citizens. We rejoice Lord in their steadfastness of faith. Give wisdom to Christian leaders and help them with grace to progress the Gospel of God in this nation. All to your glory!
Lord Yeshua we are seeing world wide satan trying his best via co vid to limit your church in every country. We are reading reports were temples and mosques are allowed to open in many countries, but not churches. Or other religions are allowed to enjoy their feast days with way more numbers of people getting together than churches are allowed to have. We can see there is a definite persecution world wide against christians and also Jews happening, but not people of other religions. Just shows we are truly in the end times, and heading so fast for the great tribulation.
We pray for your will to be done in this situation in Algeria, not satans. We pray that christians will be able to gather together, whether in a church or home, and that they will be able to fellowship with each other and you. Lord nothing is impossible with you. Lord help these christians in their time of need, and strengthen their faith and trust in you as they continue to deal with the persecution they face.
In your mighty name we pray.