North Africa was the vibrant homeland of Christianity for centuries before Islamic armies rolled across its shores and subjugated the population in the seventh century. Islamic sharia slowly choked the existing Christian communities, leaving one of the most concentrated Islamic populations in the House of Islam. Today, North Africa’s 100 million Muslims constitute 98-100% of the population in Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya.
North Africa has experienced waves of conquerors in its history, each leaving their mark, but it is the Arabs who continue to dominate both government and religious life. As North Africa emerged from European colonization in the 20th century, North African governments have used Arab culture, and with it, Islam, to unify their nations against further foreign influence. Yet, at the heart of each North African nation is a stubbornly persistent aboriginal Berber populace whose roots are lost in antiquity. For the Berbers, North Africa is their homeland.
Despite centuries of cultural oppression, there remain at least 19 distinct Berber people groups in North Africa, with 30–40 million speakers of Berber languages. These range from the Moroccan Riffi (4–6 million) and Algerian Kabyle Berbers (5–6 million) in the
north, to the nomadic Tuareg (1.2 million) of the Saharan Desert.
Though their numbers are difficult to determine, the appearance of new Christian churches in North Africa attests to a growing allegiance to the Christ who laid down His life as the Good Shepherd. Traveling through the villages of the Berber mountains, visiting homes and churches of believers, I often
noticed the framed pictures of Jesus depicted as the Good Shepherd. Written beneath were words in a local Berber language:
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A Berber woman named Zeinab explained to me, “The shepherd means so much to us because we are a people who have sheep. We know how the shepherd must love the sheep and hold the sheep close to his heart.”
These Berber believers are no longer sheep without a shepherd. They have found their Shepherd and are listening to His voice.
LET’S PRAY
- Pray that the emerging Christian movements in North Africa will endure despite government efforts at Arabization and Islamization.
- Pray that new Berber translations of the gospel will awaken the faith of North Africa’s indigenous Berber populations.
- Scripture translation, radio and satellite television, and indigenous witness are contributing to a rediscovery of the new yet
ancient faith of Christianity in North Africa. - Pray for the workers who produce these messages
Post credited to the editors at Worldchristian: visit http://www. worldchristianconcern.org/donate to support mission efforts to reach the unreached for Christ.