Morocco (MNN) – More than two years after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in Morocco, a number of villagers in remote locations still live in the shadow of destruction.
“Some government relief has gone into the mountains, but there are still people living in tents, and it’s cold. There’s snow in some regions,” says Patrick Anthony with FMI.
The FMI team partners with a local ministry leader who lives just outside of the earthquake’s impact zone. He and another Christian brother have spent the last few months organizing and carrying out aid distributions to people in remote, hard-to-reach areas.
But terrain hasn’t been the only difficulty. At one point during an attempted trip, the pastors were stopped from completing their journey by security forces who took issue with their Christian affiliation.
After finding a workaround, they were able to continue, eventually connecting with locals and passing out used clothing items collected by local churches. The believers were also able to pray with the villagers and begin building relationships.
“They said they were doing this in the spirit of Christmas,” Anthony says.
While communities in this region are predominantly Muslim, several parents told ministry leaders they are only Muslim by ritual. When their children asked the visitors, Who is this Messiah? Is he Santa Claus?, the men were able to give a simple overview of the Gospel.
Please pray for the local ministry leader leading this effort. Anthony says he is encouraged, as “now people want him to return and explain more.”
He and his fellow believers will need to be wise as they seek to do this, since security challenges are common across Morocco. Anthony says Christians there need to be careful to build trust slowly when engaging new people.
“When they hear of someone who’s interested to learn more about the Gospel, they’ll meet with that person – three times, five times, ten times – before they invite that person to visit their fellowship” Anthony says. “It’s just common across Morocco that people try to infiltrate the church to turn people in and to get pastors and church people arrested.”
Please pray for discernment and open doors as mountain visits continue.
“It sounds like God has opened up a tremendous door of opportunity for the Gospel in these places where people are still suffering from that earthquake a couple years ago,” Anthony says.
Pray also for boldness, safety on dangerous Atlas Mountain roads, and wisdom for believers who must answer to authorities. Most of all, pray for the villagers: some who have never heard about Jesus but may now have that chance.
View of Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Courtesy of Kaur Virunurm via Wikimedia Commons. Header photo: 2023 Earthquake damage; courtesy of Lucyin via Wikimedia Commons.
