PRAY FOR LIBYA

Libya is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. It has the 10th-largest oil reserves in the world. The capital Tripoli contains over a million of Libya's seven million people. Libya was an early center of Christianity. Invasions brought Islam to Libya in the 7th century. Libya a became independent as a kingdom in 1951. In 1969 Colonel Muammar Gaddafi overthrew King Idris I and ruled for 42 years until being killed in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. By 2014 two rival authorities claimed to govern Libya, leading to a second civil war. A permanent ceasefire was signed in 2020, and a Government of National Unity was formed. In 2022, the House of Representatives ceased recognising the Government of National Unity and proclaimed an alternative government, the Government of National Stability. Both governments have been functioning simultaneously since then, which has led to dual power in Libya.

In Libya, following Jesus is a huge risk for anyone. Libya is number four on the Open Doors World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Libyan Christians with a Muslim background face violent pressure from their families and communities to renounce their faith. Foreign Christians, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa, are targeted by Islamist militant and criminal groups. These groups kidnap and sometimes brutally kill Christians. Even if they avoid such a fate, sub-Saharan Christians face harassment and threats from radical Muslims (Open Doors).