Algeria

Answer to Prayer

The Church is a very indigenous, truly Algerian expression of faith. Scriptures and study materials, worship styles and, increasingly, training and leadership are all expressed in culturally relevant ways. The resources available to believers in their own languages and forms, once scarce, are multiplying.

Challenge for Prayer

Islam in Algeria is volatile and deeply polarized between secularists – who espouse a more liberal Islam and a Western view of progress – and Islamists, who want to submit all of society to shari’a principles. Since 1992, fundamentalists led by the Islamic Armed Group (GIA) have waged a bloody war of terror – with the state, the media and foreigners as targets. There is once again a strong push to re-enter the political sphere as Islamists gain ground in popularity. Meanwhile, they are moving at the grassroots level by gaining control of schools and mosques, and intimidating or even murdering imams who oppose them. Pray that God might use Islamists to draw many more into discovering Christ, as He has done elsewhere. Pray for powerful conversions to Jesus among Islamist leaders in Algeria.

     For an additional 8 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.