This Advent, churches across Britain will once again open their doors to regular worshippers, as well as less faithful but much-desired and warmly-welcomed seasonal visitors. The pews in many churches will fill with those looking for their Christmas fix of candlelight and choral singing. We assume that these places of worship will be open so that we can gather weekly, or perhaps less regularly, for our corporate acts of worship.
In Algeria, those who aspire to gather to celebrate the birth of their Savior do not enjoy this certainty. Of the 47 churches of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), 43 have been subject to closure orders by the authoritarian and repressive government.
Christmas is a time when persecution and suffering of Christians often intensify
The law they are using to justify these closure orders seems pretty reasonable: churches should have permits to operate as places of worship. The problem is that despite EPA leadership’s best efforts to comply with the law and submit permit applications, none have been issued since the law was signed into law in 2006.
