Morocco

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Official name: Kingdom of Morocco
Area:
Government:
Official languages:
Monetary unit:
Cities:

DEMOGRAPHY
Population: 34 million
Population density:

ECONOMY
GDP (PPP):
per person:
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LIFE & LIBERTY
HDI

Contents

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

[edit] Region

North Africa

[edit] Climate

[edit] Natural Resources

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Peoples

  • Arab, Moroccan: In 670 AD, the first Islamic conquest of the North African coastal plain took place, by the Umayyads of Damascus. These men went to what is now Morocco, which they called "Maghreb al Aqsa" or "The Far West". Arabs and Berbers have shared this region since, and at one point ruled most of Northwest Africa. Scholarly advances were made in science, mathematics, astronomy, geography, and medicine.
  • Ministry Obstacles: Access to Morocco is limited, and essentially non-existent for Christian missionaries.

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Life

[edit] Economy

[edit] Government

[edit] Religion

  • Sunni Islam is the state religion and the government is committed to preserving Islam as the religion of all Moroccons, 99.8% of whom are Muslims. Christians are only .1% of the population. Moroccons have a pride in their country as a center for Islamic learning and heritage. Less than 5% of the population have ever met a Christian or heard the Gospel.

[edit] Islam

[edit] Buddhism

[edit] Christianity

[edit] History

[edit] Churches

[edit] Church and State Relations

[edit] Challenges for Christians:

  • Any Muslims converting to Christianity faces persecution. There are some Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches, which are recognized by Morocco, but they are only for foreigners living in the country. Moroccan Christians have no right to pray in these churches. But many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco’s churches. Thousands of people are reportedly converting into Christianity from Islam in Morocco. Earlier this year, a Moroccan court in Agadir jailed German tourist Sadek Noshi Yassa, 64, for six months for attempting to convert Muslims in November 2006. Yassa, who is of Egyptian origin, was arrested for distributing books and CDs about the Christian faith to young Muslim Moroccans in the street. A court also fined him the equivalent of $60.
  • In early December 2010 police in Morocco raided a meeting of 17 Christians. Local believers were interrogated and released after several hours; a number of foreign workers were expelled from the country. Their return in the foreseeable future seems unlikely. Other workers continue to minister in four cities across the country. The attitude of the Government has generally been fairly positive, but they are under pressure from fundamentalist Muslim groups to clamp down on Christian activities.
  • The Moroccan Church is growing — A very small number of Moroccan believers exist (possibly only a few thousand). Their numbers are slowly increasing, but at great cost and many believers are isolated from regular fellowship. Knowledge of the Gospel in Morocco is very limited. Believers have suffered significant threats and mistreatment. Pray along the lines of Isaiah 40:9-11; 52:7.
  • Pray for:
Deep trust and fellowship to be established between believers so that they can meet together despite the risks and that a strong, indigenous, economically self-sufficient, Moroccan Church might develop.
Grace, fortitude and deliverance from fear when pressured or harassed by family, police and the authorities. Over the years some believers have been questioned, intimidated, confined to psychiatric wards, temporarily detained and occasionally imprisoned by the police who maintain an active surveillance of anything Christian. The most acute persecution still comes from the families of believers.

[edit] Village of Hope

  • It has been an intensive few days and news of what happened at the Village of Hope is spreading through Morocco and through the world. On Monday night, when I sent out the news about the government takeover of VOH, I was stunned and the emotional weight of what happened intensified over the next day. The number of Christians deported from Morocco grew and many foreign Christians, including myself, wondered where this was going to stop.
  • The papers accuse the Christians at Village of Hope of proselytism. When my daughters were young, if I had discovered someone was teaching them after school about Hinduism, Islam or any other philosophy, I would have been outraged. So the statement that these young children were being proselytized has some truth to it - except that these children had no other parents. Remember the circumstances. Ain Leuh is in an area known for prostitution in Morocco. When young women get pregnant, they often come to this area to have their baby and then are forced by their family to leave the baby behind. In an honor/shame culture, a woman can get married if blood can be produced on the wedding sheet, even if everyone knows she was not a virgin. But if she has a baby, there is no way she can get married. So these babies are abandoned. In 1999 Christians asked the governor for permission to restart an orphanage that had closed a few years earlier (because the two women running the orphanage were advanced in years and then the healthier of the two died) and to begin taking in these abandoned babies. They did this overtly as Christians. Their Christian faith was never hidden. The governor gave them permission and the process of building homes and kitchen and dining hall began. And they began taking in children. Over the years, there have been multiple inspections of VOH by different Moroccan agencies. Social services, education, etc. In every case the inspectors left impressed with the quality of care. Each time VOH passed with flying colors. All through the years it was clear that these were Christians who were raising these children.
  • This was not an institutional orphanage. This was a family-based children's home. Each set of parents committed to taking in a maximum of eight children and staying until the last child turned eighteen. The goal was to provide a safe, secure, loving home for these children. We wanted the children to grow up to be patriotic Moroccans who loved God, their king and their country. The children received instruction in Islam because it is impossible to be Moroccan without knowing the Koran. VOH complied with the law about Islamic instruction. But the children also followed the model of their new parents in VOH. This is natural. So were the children proselytized? If you look at the circumstances, they were rescued when they were abandoned, loved and cared for. I say to the Moroccans who are now so keen on removing these children from the influence of their Christian new parents at VOH, "Where were you when these children were abandoned?" "Why did you give permission for Christians to raise these abandoned children in the first place?” For ten years the parents at VOH and directors of the Village of Hope have been open and transparent. For ten years they have received positive reports from the inspections that were made.
  • Unlike in the United States of America, there is no court to go to. There is no due process. The authorities came in, claiming that this was routine questioning and then on Monday announced that the parents of VOH and staff had to pack and leave. Seven hours after this was announced the bus pulled away with the tears and cries of the children in the ears of the parents and staff. Personal possessions, wedding albums and the like, were left behind because the parents were more concerned with their children they had to say goodbye to than their possessions. The government has confiscated the bank accounts, the land that VOH purchased, the house and other buildings VOH built, the cars and other vehicles. But all of that would be gladly given up if it meant the parents of VOH could be reunited with their children. This was a heartless decision on the part of the Moroccan authorities.
  • If anyone tells you the parents were proselytizing, remind them of the facts. Ask why Moroccans were uncaring of the children when they were abandoned and now seem to care so much about them. This Sunday we will have a service to grieve for this tragedy and ask God to heal the hurt we have experienced and pray for those most affected, the children and parents and other staff. There is intense diplomatic pressure being applied to the government of Morocco. I pray this will intensify. The media is catching on to the story. Use your contacts to expand awareness of what is happening. The issue is broader than just Christians. The government has closed one of the magazines that was critical of the government. The government has taken actions against Shiites and homosexuals. There is a definitive policy shift on the part of the government and the society has lost the freedom and liberty it was experiencing.
  • Morocco needs our prayers. A small but vibrant church movement in the country is now under great pressure because of a heavy clamp-down by the authorities. About 45 foreign workers, have been suddenly been kicked out of the country. Pray for a lifting of this oppressive control by the government and that the believers will have continued freedom to worship and serve the Lord without being hassled. Pray too that the foreign believers will be able to return to serve and that the orphan children they had to leave behind will be well taken care of. The orphanage website is http://www.voh-ainleuh.org/ if you want to read more about this situation.

[edit] Mission

  • Pray that there would be greater freedom for Christians to share their faith and protection for Muslims who want to find out more about Christianity.

[edit] Broadcasting

[edit] Councils and Networks

[edit] Future Trends

[edit] For More Reading

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