Persecution is a basic teaching in our church, says North African pastor

ICC Note:

The number of Christians in North Africa is estimated to be tens of thousands, and despite persecution, church growth continues to rise. However, with persecution, the church faces vastly different challenges than the church in the West, a North African pastor explains at the Lausanne conference in South Africa.

By Maria Mackay

10/20/2010 North Africa (Christian Today) – For Imad Dabour, persecution is part and parcel of being a Christian in predominantly Muslim North Africa.

It is a region that has had next to no church for eight centuries, but now the church is rising again in spite of daily challenges, the pastor told delegates at Cape Town 2010 last night.

Although there are no exact figures, the number of Christians in North Africa is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

In the likes of majority-Muslim Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria most of the Christians are converts from Islam.

In such a hostile environment, growing in their new identity as a Christian is not easy and many new converts face losing their friends and family, Dabour explained.

With persecution occurring daily across the region, becoming a Christian is a “serious decision”.

“There are two things about Christianity that we teach people. That it gives you salvation and a lot of joy with it – and persecution.

“Persecution is a basic teaching in our church, he said.

Despite the difficulties, the church continues to teach converts the truth that Jesus is the only way.

“It is a hostile environment [and] a daily challenge for Christians with a new identity from a Muslim background,” he said.

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