Source: Open Doors, April 30, 2014
The sun has set and darkness falls over the Mediterranean Sea. Fish is just being served on plates to us, six men grouped around two joined tables with a paper tablecloth. Next to me is “Labib,” a modern version of Peter and Andrew. He is fishing in North Africa for men and women ready to be caught in the nets of the Kingdom of God. In North Africa, one of the biggest fishing tools is satellite television.
One of the church leaders in North Africa shared, “Sometimes we see people not coming to church. For example, women are kept prisoners in their homes because of their Christian faith. With television, we can reach them and they continue to grow. I also know several farmers. Because they live far from a church, they can’t go regularly, but they can watch the programs on television.”
Recently, Mustapha Krim, President of the Protestant Church in Algeria, said: “About 70 to 80 percent of the Christians in the Algerian protestant Churches came to church through Christian television.”
After the meal, we had a walk along the seashore. Some ordinary fishermen sit on the stones with their rods to try to catch a sleepy fish, while Labib is fishing with his mobile phone.
Labib receives some ten phone calls in the two hours I am with him. He connects two of the callers with a follow-up team in one of the churches close to the place where the interested person lives.
» Readers might also be interested in a recent report, based on 2012 research, on the Christianization of Algeria (Answering Islam).