The Moroccan Church is Growing Despite Overbearing Laws and Social Pressure

The North African nation of Morocco is overwhelmingly Muslim – 98 percent. Christians account for just one percent of the population, but most of them are foreigners.

Being a Christian in Morocco, especially a native Christian, is very difficult. For one, you can’t legally get married as a Moroccan believer. Only Muslim and Jewish marriages are legally recognized.

Sharing the Gospel with a Muslim in Morocco is also forbidden. Distributing non-Muslim religious literature is against the law, and even “shaking the faith of a Muslim” carries a prison sentence and a fine.

Moroccan pastor Andros* says since churches are also illegal, believers must gather in house churches.

“With these house churches, [there are] many challenges. You invite the people to your house and sometimes you don’t know these people. Sometimes they can be Islamic. Sometimes they can be against you. Also the government wants to control everything so they watch us. They watch our houses. They watch who comes to our houses. It’s not easy to be a leader of a Moroccan church.”

Andros has pastored house churches in Morocco since 2010, and over the last decade, he has seen God move in the midst of persecution.

“In 2010, it was a hard year for the Christians because the government kicked out many missionaries, and also they came to many Moroccan churches and they broke many things.”

“But the people in Morocco,…they started knowing, ‘Oh, we have a Moroccan church. We have Moroccan believers.’ So they started asking.”

In addition to increased awareness about Moroccan Christians, Andros says the Moroccan Church also had to step up in leadership.

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SOURCE: Mission Network News, Taylor Benson