[2025 Ramadan] Day 19 Spiritual leadership of the early church, from death to life, Libya! Algeria, the land flowing with milk and honey!

<Libya>

Libya is located in central North Africa, and most of the area west of the Nile River in North Africa was called Libya in the 2000s BC, after the tribes that lived in eastern Cyrenaica. Libya was a Mediterranean trading hub in ancient times, but suffered a long history of colonization due to successive foreign invasions, including Phoenicians, Ottoman Turks, and Italians.

Libya was home to a revival of the early church that survived Roman persecution after its incorporation into Rome in 64 BC, but was Islamized by Arab invasions beginning in the 7th century AD. After 42 years under Gaddafi's dictatorship following his military coup in 1969, the Middle East pro-democracy protests that began in Tunisia in January 2011 spread to Egypt, Yemen, and the entire Arab world, sparking a civil revolution in Libya to overthrow his dictatorship.

Gaddafi's policy was to use young men as human shields in the face of heavy attacks by NATO and rebel forces. Young men were killed indiscriminately, and while the conflict ended with the dictator's death on October 20, 2011, it left more than 50,000 casualties. More than 1,700 Islamist militants, including al-Qaeda's Maghreb branch and Ansar al-Sharia, have taken advantage of Libya's lack of security and control, setting up training camps and grooming young men into Islamist fighters, leading to terrorist attacks and civil war in the country.

Libya's long-running civil war has destroyed the country's critical infrastructure, forcing struggling Libyans to flee the country to Europe in ever-increasing numbers, often in dilapidated, tiny boats, with hundreds of people drowning when their boats sink while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, refugees who are dramatically rescued after drifting away in refugee boats are being sold into slave markets. In Libya's slave markets, adult African men are sold for as little as $400, women are sold as sex slaves, and even children are traded.

On December 5, 2013, a 33-year-old young American missionary was martyred in Libya. The missionary, who was serving as an English teacher in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, and who usually described himself as one of Libya's best friends, was shot and killed by gunmen while jogging on the morning of December 5. Then in February 2014, seven Egyptian Christians were killed in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. According to eyewitnesses, a man with a gun went from house to house asking people if they were Christian or Muslim, then dragged the Christians away and shot them in the head.

During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. (Exodus 2:23-25)

In the midst of chaos and spiritual darkness, Libyans are exhausted from years of war and want peace. Through the blood of so many martyrs shed in this land, there will be great revival and restoration among Libya. We ask God to receive the blood of the martyrs in Libya and grant the land a year of grace in which the darkness and chaos will cease and the light of life will shine.

<Algeria>

Algeria is the largest country in Africa, with a vast area and a population of 47.4 million people. Of these, about 1 million are Protestant Christians.

Algeria once experienced a period of rapid gospel expansion, with missionaries from the United States, Europe, and other countries training leaders and local workers. After independence in 1962, house churches grew rapidly, and in 1972, the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) was founded to bring local and expatriate Christians together. However, the 1974 reorganization into the Protestant Church of Algeria localized the organization, which brought a period of complacency nand stagnation to the church in Algeria. But God wants to recapture the passion and evangelistic fire that the church in Algeria first had. God wants his people in Algeria to have true and pure worship, and to fulfill his will through tears of repentance and confessions of faith.

In 2018, churches in Algeria were officially closed by the government, and only one church building remains standing. With church closures lasting more than seven years, most Algerian Christians live in a state of discouragement, fear, and despair.

Young people make up 65% of Algeria's population, and they are a precious generation hungry for truth. During Ramadan, Algerians observe a strict fast, focusing on Islamic prayers and reading the Quran. They spend most of their days in mosques, and challenge each other to read the Quran multiple times. They are desperate to find a solid identity in Islam.

However, many college students are open to the gospel and, unlike previous generations, are openly expressing their doubts about Islam and even converting to atheism or Christianity. This Ramadan, many young people have taken to social media to share that they don't want to fast. We are convinced that this is the beginning of a journey to find the 'truth' that cannot be found in Islam.

Hallelujah! God's eyes have always been on Algeria, even when the door to the gospel there seemed to be firmly closed. Even though it is not easy to share the gospel in Algeria, God is doing a new thing in Algeria. The forces that oppose God are trying to outlaw the church and hinder the work of God, but there is no darkness that can stop the Lord's gospel work!

For years, tourist visas for Algeria have been a major barrier, especially for Korean workers, but in 2024, two workers entered the country to explore the field and share God's vision for a younger generation missions movement. This visit is a powerful breakthrough through the enemy's strongholds in Algeria and the beginning of a fiery missions revival led by Algeria's younger generation. The flames will burn beyond Algeria to Libya and reach all nations.

Algeria is like ripe grain ready for harvest, waiting for laborers. I decree that every fear surrounding Algeria is broken, every stronghold and protective shield of the enemy is broken, in the name of Jesus!

[Today’s Prayer]

1. God, we believe that you hear the cries of the souls crying out in Libya and Algeria and remember this people. May you, the God who rules over the nations, take control of all the circumstances in Libya and Algeria, and take away all their suffering and sorrow. Please open the closed doors of the gospel and let the Korean church and the world church serve these peoples in solidarity!

2. Remembering the Libyans who first preached the Gospel to the Greeks, and the Cyrene (Libyan) who climbed the hill of Golgotha to bear the cross of Jesus, we ask you to restore the spirituality of the early church and to raise it up as a holy army of God to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Also, in this time, in this race to the end, may the Church in Algeria awaken, in spiritual alliance with the world church, and with the vision of the Kingdom of God!