Moral meetings

“We were accused of raising funds for terrorism by having a regular offering at our church service,” exclaimed a pastor in Saudi Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia sees itself as 100 percent Muslim, there are thousands of Christians working in the country as part of its expatriate work force. Many of them meet in home churches or at embassies for their weekly “moral meetings.”

The king had decreed that anyone is free to worship in the privacy of their homes, but the religious police, the mutawa, did not accept his ruling. There were still regular crackdowns on these “illegal” meetings, with whole congregations getting arrested for meeting in their homes for “organizing dancing parties.” As part of his drive for reforms in the country, King Abdullah encouraged interfaith dialogues by trying to engage the UN to promote dialogue between the world faiths, although not in Saudi Arabia, but outside its borders in Spain.

Please pray for the protection and boldness of the Church in Saudi Arabia.

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