A growing church in the Kabyle region of Algeria was to begin meeting in their new building on Saturday, December 26. This is their usual meeting day, but they were planning to have a special celebration of the birth of Jesus. When the believers started to arrive at their new premises, they found around 50 Muslim protesters barring the doors. The church leaders contacted the authorities who responded by sending police who monitored the situation but didn’t intervene. The protesters continued their threats, saying that if the Christians continued to meet in this building, they would slaughter the pastor and his family.
This church has seen incredible growth in the last few years, with many miraculous signs and wonders taking place while they meet. Many hopeless families and young people have found hope in Jesus through this ministry. The church leaders are not afraid or discouraged. They returned to their premises the next day and discovered 20 protesters still gathered there. They were able to share the Christian faith with them and give out New Testaments.
This incident was reported in one of the national newspapers, El Watan. According to the paper, the protesters were local residents who were upset at finding that a church building with many visitors from outside the area would be opening up next to their houses. The article highlighted some of the misconceptions that Muslims have of the church growth in Algeria, stating that they were afraid that their youth would be lured into the church with promises of money, visas, foreign wives or cell phones. The newspaper tried to play down the involvement of the Muslim fundamentalist groups, but it is highly likely that these groups will capitalize on local unrest and use this as an opportunity to further their agenda.
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