Christians in Algeria ask for continued prayer for Pastor Rachid Seighir, and his bookshop assistant Nouh Hamami, as they wait for a court verdict scheduled for 30 May.
Pastor Rachid leads the Oran City church (L’Oratoire) and also owns a book and stationery shop, where Nouh Hamami works as a salesman.
On 27 February both were convicted in absentia of “proselytising,” as the bookshop contained books which were considered to “agitate the faith of Muslims.” An article in the law regulating non-Muslim worship criminalises “… producing, storing, or disseminating printed documents, audiovisuals, or using any other means with the intent to shake the faith of a Muslim.”
Police raided the bookshop in September 2017, finding Christian books, publications (including Bibles) and printing machines. The two Christians were sentenced to two years in prison and fined. Their appeal was heard on 16 May.
Prayer Points
Christians in Algeria request prayer:
- that the two Christians will know the peace of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit
- for justice, that they will be acquitted on all charges
- for other Christians sentenced to prison in the past months for “blasphemy.”
- for the organised campaign against Christians and the Algerian church to cease,
- that those responsible for the persecution of Christians will know the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness and new life offered by Jesus
