Morocco

Seven months after being kicked out of Morocco, more than a dozen Christian parents have still been unable to see their foster children.

And the chances that they'll ever be reunited with them seem very slim.

The foster parents, who were raising 33 orphaned or abandoned children at a Moroccan orphanage called Village of Hope, have appealed their expulsion and are awaiting a decision by the Administrative Court of First Instance in Rabat, Morocco. more >>

ISTANBUL (Compass Direct News) – Nearly five years into the prison sentence of the only Christian in Morocco serving time for his faith, Moroccan Christians and advocates question the harsh measures of the Muslim state toward a man who dared speak openly about Jesus.

By the end of December Jamaa Ait Bakrim, 46, will have been in prison for five years at Morocco’s largest prison, Prison Centrale, in Kenitra. An outspoken Christian convert, Bakrim was sentenced to 15 years prison for “proselytizing” and destroying “the goods of others” in 2005 after burning two defunct utility poles located in front of his private business in a small town in south Morocco.

Advocates and Moroccan Christians said, however, that the severity of his sentence in relation to his misdemeanor shows that authorities were determined to put him behind bars because he persistently spoke about his faith. more >>

WASHINGTON – Eddie and Lynn Padilla made a commitment to take care of up to eight abandoned children in Morocco.

The couple from Denver moved to the North African country in 2006 and took in their first Moroccan child two years later. They were raising four children – two of whom are biological – when they were charged with proselytizing the native kids and kicked out of the country earlier this year.

"I want to be reunited with my kids," Eddie said of his two foster children as he spoke in a somber voice. more >>

A delegation of evangelical church leaders visiting Morocco urged Rep. Frank Wolf on Friday to postpone hearings on the recent expulsion of Christians.

"We believe it is too early to hold hearings because much more time is needed to determine facts and to give this issue the attention it deserves," said the Rev. Dr. David Anderson, spokesman for the delegation.

A hearing, led by Wolf (R-Va.), is scheduled for June 17 to look into the "harsh nature" of the expulsions of more than 40 Christians – some of whom are U.S. citizens – who were accused of proselytizing. more >>

Amid criticisms for the string of expulsions of Christians over the past year, the Moroccan government has been "sincere" in listening to Christian voices on the issue, says one evangelical leader.

"It's rare for an ambassador to spend over two hours with a group of people not from a government agency," the Rev. Dr. Samuel Goebel, president and CEO of the Evangelical Church Alliance, told The Christian Post on Wednesday. "They were open to what we had to say and listened carefully."

Goebel led a delegation of evangelical leaders last week to meet with Aziz Mekouar, the ambassador of Morocco, to discuss the deportation of Christian foreigners and the government closure of a Christian children's home that cared for abandoned children. more >>