Jesus Music Goes to ... Morocco?
The recent Friendship Fest featured some of Christian music's top artists playing their songs for a crowd of some 85,000—mostly Muslims— in the North African nation of Morocco.
by Andree Farias | posted 5/16/2005
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While religious, political, and cultural relations between the U.S. and the Islamic world are often tense, the universal language of music has a way of cutting through all that.
Friendship Fest 2005 proved as much.
The crowd of 85,000 even included a mosh pit of sorts
Held May 6-8 in Marrakech, in North African nation of Morocco, the lineup featured some of Christian music's biggest names—Jeremy Camp, Newsboys, Delirious, Phil Keaggy, Rock 'n' Roll Worship Circus, Out of Eden, and Joy Williams. Friendship Fest—which drew an impressive 85,000 attendees during its three-night stint—could've easily been mistaken for a typical Christian music festival, even though it was held in a predominantly Muslim country.
Festival organizers had said they wanted to "use the universal language of music to bridge cultures and make friends, to show that people of different cultures and faith traditions can be friends and live in harmony with one another."
The event's website described it as "a celebration of friendship in the midst of diversity in cultures and faith traditions." That diversity was reflected in the equal stage time given to the Christian acts and to Moroccan musicians.
Some opposition
A few Moroccan news outlets reported the event as "controversial," noting "fierce opposition from Islamists" and implying that the musicians were there to convert Muslims to Christianity.
American Harry Thomas, one of the festival planners, said some Moroccans initially showed resistance. "There was pressure being placed on the people of Marrakech saying, 'Maybe you shouldn't do this event. You shouldn't trust these Americans.'" But Thomas alleviated their concerns, assuring them that proselytizing wasn't on the agenda.
Out of Eden's Andrea Baca performs
Out of Eden's Andrea Baca said, "It wasn't a trick to convert anybody to Christianity, but a chance to build relationships."
Keaggy agreed: "We didn't go to Morocco with the purpose of proselytizing," he said. "[Our intent] was to connect with our friends there. We all went there with a real sensitivity, knowing we're guests in this country. There were no incidents, no embarrassments, or unfriendliness from anyone. We weren't there to clobber people with a Bible."
But the musicians didn't exactly water things down on stage. Though they couldn't explicitly talk about Jesus, they weren't prohibited from singing about him. Newsboys and Delirious, known for their stadium-sized worship set lists, didn't change a thing from their normal shows.
"We did what we normally do," said Delirious frontman Martin Smith. "If the music is good, people will respond to it. In our set, people were jumping up and down, faces were beaming."
Muslim women enjoying the multicultural event
Williams noted that during the Newsboys' set, "thousands of Moroccan people were dancing and shouting and clapping. God was very present in that."
Baca said OOE's set was virtually identical to their typical U.S. show: "The only song that we changed was 'Soldiers.' We wanted to be sensitive to everything going on in Iraq and America, so we chose a hymn instead, 'Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise.'"
Planting seeds
Despite the ban on proselytism, the musicians had opportunities to plant seeds of faith by their actions.
"We're not allowed to evangelize," said Williams, "but we were allowed to make connections, make friends, and share Christ that way."
In their downtime, the three sisters in Out of Eden were invited to visit a local village, where a couple asked them into their home for tea.
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