Source: Mission Network News, May 9, 2022
Libyan authorities have arrested several young men this year. Their crime? defying Muslim values. Authorities released videos of the young men being forced to confess conspiring with “feminists” and “agnostics.” Others have gone into hiding after facing death threats.
Once a heartland for Christianity, Libya has also become a country known for the persecution of Christians. Sammy, a Libyan Christian, says, “It was a very rich and important part of the first centuries of the Church. But when Islam conquered North Africa, the Church was eradicated from Libya. That was 1,200 years ago now.
“All of that time, there has basically been no indigenous Christian testimony in Libya, with very few known believers.”
He says these believers need support because the persecution is fierce. “It comes from the top of the government, from the ministers from the security apparatus, down to the extreme Muslims that operate in Libya: al-Qaeda and the Salafist movements.”
But a lot of persecution also comes from families, who seek to preserve their honor. Sammy says, “Recently, we had a young kid who was stabbed by his uncle, and only saved by a friend. He was then forced to be a practicing Muslim afterward.”
But now, Christianity has begun to spread again.
You might also appreciate a recent story about women in a North African refugee camp who discovered God’s care for them (Frontiers USA).
From another part of Africa, read about a disciple-making movement in a Zambian prison (Movements blog).