What Church Looks Like in North Africa
In North Africa, professing Jesus as your Savior can be dangerous. Not only will your neighbors likely shun you, the government may even step in and you find yourself in jail. But that does not stop the small community of believers from meeting to worship their Lord.
Here is a look at what one small house church meeting looks like in North Africa …
In a modest living room, no bigger than 150 square feet, four believers gather to worship Jesus Christ and encourage one another. Because they are a small group—in fact, all members of the same family—they don’t have to worry just yet about suspicions of “church activity.” Yet they meet in secret in one of their homes.
They greet one another joyfully … embracing one another fully as they begin to share their lives with one another. As they begin, each of the believers takes a turn sharing a Scripture that touched them this week and explaining what that portion of God’s Word means to them.
Once they complete their time of sharpening one another through Scripture, they each take a turn praying—a particular source of joy for the women who were not allowed the same rights to prayer as men before when they were Muslims. The practice of every member praying is important to them because it shows that they are all equal in God’s eyes.
Last, the members join in the Lord’s Supper—taking the bread and the cup just like Jesus Christ once did and just like we in the United States do in remembrance of Him.
They take the loaf of bread they purchased at a local bakery and pass it around, each tearing off a piece to represent Christ’s body broken for them. And they pass around a glass from the homeowner’s kitchen filled with red wine to represent Christ’s blood shed for them. Then they eat and drink … reflecting on Christ’s love and sacrifice and repenting.
Once their time of worship is complete, the believers share a meal and go back into their community to share their lives and their faith with those they know … looking expectantly to the day when they are no longer the only four believers in their village.