During this Advent, churches across Britain will once again open their doors to both the regular faithful, along with not-so-faithful but much desired and warmly welcomed seasonal visitors. The pews in many churches will swell with those looking for their Christmas fix of candlelight and choral songs. We take for granted that these places of worship will be open for us to meet together weekly, or perhaps less regularly, for our corporate acts of worship.
In Algeria, those who long to gather to celebrate their Saviour’s birth don’t enjoy that certainty. Of the 47 churches of l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (the EPA), 43 have been issued orders to close by the repressive authoritarian government.
Christmas is a time when the persecution and suffering of Christians often intensifies
The law they use to justify these closure orders seems reasonable enough – churches should have permits to operate as places of worship. The problem is that, in spite of all the efforts made by the EPA’s leaders to comply with the law and submit applications for these permits, not one has been issued since the law was placed on the statute books in 2006.
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