MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FOCUS ON MOROCCAN EXPLUSION OF CHRISTIANS: Disturbing trend in Turkey, Jordan as well

Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia and other Members of Congress should be congratulated for holding a hearing last Thursday on “human rights and religious freedom in Morocco.” Wolf held the hearing with Rep. Chris Smith (NJ), Rep. Joe Pitts (PA), Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) and Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (LA) to explore the reasons for and possible remedies related to the expulsion from Morocco this year of more than 40 U.S. and European evangelical Christians without written charges or due process. Many of these Christian workers have lived and worked in the kingdom for years, running schools, orphanages and other NGOs aimed at blessing the lives of the people of Morocco in the name of Jesus. Several of those recently expelled testified at the hearing, as did other experts on religious freedom and observers of Morocco.

As I first wrote in this space back in April, I am deeply concerned that Morocco — one of my favorite Reformer countries in the epicenter — has reversed course and is now moving in the wrong direction on the issue of human rights and religious freedom. Turkey and Jordan are also moving decidely in the wrong direction. What is happening and why? We will discuss some of this at the 2010 Epicenter Conference this weekend. Please keep praying for believers in all of these countries and throughout the region to be strong and courageous. Please also pray for open doors for our brothers and sisters to be able to go back into Morocco and continue showing the unconditional love of Jesus Christ to the dear people of that special country.

• A useful summary of the hearing was posted on the website of the Project on Middle East Democracy.
• Weblog posting from April: Evangelical Christians Face Growing Hostility in Morocco: Please pray