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> January/February
God's Time for Algeria
The power of the gospel is stirring souls in a once-impenetrable Muslim nation.
By Deborah Meroff
 1 of 4
I was standing in Oran Airport, hopefully eyeing the baggage belt with a crowd of other passengers, when a tall, narrow-faced Algerian materialized by my side. He greeted me in Arabic, and when I responded with a blank stare he grinned and switched to English. A visitor unable to speak Arabic, Berber, or even French was unusual. The fact that I was also a journalist, female, Christian, and American didn't add to my popularity rating in this part of the world. After obtaining a visa, securing the translation services of "Davy," an Algerian believer fluent in four languages, had been essential.
Over the last 20 years I have had the privilege of covering stories of God's people in 94 countries. This was my first trip to Algeria, the fabled northwest African country bordering the Mediterranean Sea. My assignment that April 2005 was to report on the fastest-growing church-planting movement in the Muslim world.
My translator was a product of this phenomenon. On the way to my accommodations, Davy shared how he had loved to listen to Christian music on Radio Monte Carlo when he was a university student. Eventually, at his request, they sent him a copy of the Gospels. Reading Jesus' Sermon on the Mount made a big impact, especially the phrase "love your enemies."
"I had never found that phrase anywhere in Islam," he explained. "There was a great difference between the Qur'an (Muslim holy book) and Injil (New Testament). In the Gospel it was like talking to God as a friend. In Islam you are a servant. I accepted Jesus because He practiced what He preached—and He gave me fellowship with God."
One young believer exclaimed, "I didn't know it was possible for a Muslim to become a Christian!"
Unfortunately, Davy hadn't had any other fellowship, since it was 12 years before he met another Christian.
A Young Church in Action
I spent the next few days at the House of Hope, a strategic ministry center established on the west coast by an Algerian Christian leader about eight years ago. Its goal is to encourage and equip churches, providing the resources, training, and fellowship so badly needed by scattered believers.
"Ali" and "Lilly," a delightful couple on the staff, are former Muslims who have the responsibility of following up responses from Christian TV. Two years ago the channel began listing Ali's mobile phone number as a contact. It was a risk, of course, and the pair is sometimes hassled by hate calls. But they'll never forget the very first response they received, at 6 a.m. The caller said he had been following Christ since 1999 and he couldn't wait to meet Ali. Until he saw that number on the screen, he hadn't known that there was another Christian in all of Algeria!
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