Growing Church in Algeria

The growth of the Algerian Church over the past decade is an answer to prayer. A long road of tearful sowing by a tenacious succession of missionaries and intercessors is bearing beautiful fruit – while impossible to assess accurately, some believe that the number of believers far exceeds 100,000. The large majority are Kabyle Berber in background, but faith is growing among Arabs and almost every other people as well. New fellowships are popping up all over the country. This is in part due to the commitment of Berber believers to move into unreached, Arab areas in order to sow the seeds of the good news.
Challenge for Prayer
The unreached comprise virtually the whole nation.
a) The growing cities – the educated elite, the middle class and the teeming slums. Algeria rapidly urbanized as people fled into the cities to escape the violence of civil war.
b) Young people are frustrated and disillusioned. Many attempt to move to Europe (often illegally) in search of more freedom and a better life. Those under age 30 make up 65-70% of the population, and this generation comprises the large majority of the Christians in Algeria.
c) The Berber peoples of the Atlas Mountains. Apart from the Kabyles, the other 13 groups are among Africa’s least evangelized. But there is now a Christian witness in the midst of all these, and possibly groups of believers as well.
d) The Tuareg and Bedouin peoples. Only a handful of believers were known just a few years ago. They are now rapidly responding to the gospel. Creative strategies will be required to effectively reach those who maintain the traditional nomadic lifestyle.
e) The Mzab oasis towns in the Sahara. Even these tight-knit and deeply religious communities are being reached by Algerian believers; a very small but growing number have come to Christ.