If I were to ask you what country is America’s oldest ally, what would you say? You’d probably guess Morocco because it’s in the title, and you would be right! We have a 232-year-old unbroken treaty with Morocco leading all the way back to 1786, but our relationship goes back another nine years before that. In 1777, while George Washington and his troops were taking the field to defend that newly penned Declaration of Independence, the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed III, was the first to recognize the colonies as their own sovereign nation. He granted American ships recognition and safe passage through the Straits of Gibraltar and in Moroccan ports.
Morocco today is a picture of a peaceful Muslim society. They have thriving businesses, a welcoming tourism industry, and robust trade with other countries. If you visited Casablanca, Fes, or Marrakech you would most likely not have a negative experience. They have beautiful architecture, a rich history, and very friendly and laid back people. However, the political entanglement of Islam with the government has created some unique situations.
For instance, when it comes to trade, Morocco exports more cannabis than just about any other country, but the drug is illegal in the country. The country is 99% Sunni
The Joshua Project identifies 24 different indigenous people groups within Morocco. There are three major divisions among the Moroccan natives. Arabic speaking Moroccans, which do not identify as Berber, make up about 22 million. The native Berber peoples, in more than a dozen different varieties, account for another 12 million. The remainder is a hodgepodge of lots of different groups including Moors, Moroccan Jews, and Bedouins that make up less than 1 million total.
The majority of Moroccans have a strong prejudice against Christians and are resistant to the Gospel, and the media helps fuel these attitudes. In an effort to avoid the religious violence and conflict occurring between Muslims and Christians in other African nations, the Moroccan people and government try to keep all Christian activity secret. The government is opposed to an indigenous Moroccan Church, but one is emerging nonetheless, and an estimated 2,000 Moroccan believers meet in small house churches. Unity of the church is difficult with believers scattered around the nation, sometimes isolated from other believers.
Pray that the westernization of the country would allow for more freedom of religion so the gospel would be allowed to spread freely. Pray that God would open hearts and minds to the truth of Jesus whom Muslims believe was just a prophet. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully through the many people witnessing to the Moroccan Arabs. Pray for Moroccan Arab believers to become effective and fruitful in sharing God’s word among their families and communities to fuel a movement of God’s blessing spreading from household to household.