Teammates with a testimony – how two Christians in Morocco discovered each other

It was a beautiful moment when Younes and Qadir discovered each other’s faith and realised that they weren’t the only Christian in Morocco. These teammates in the faith are a testament to the enduring and bold witness of believers across the country amidst persecution, as well as the unity of the church. As Morocco play in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, could you take a moment to pray as they play for them and others like them in the country?

When Younes* noticed that Qadir*, an acquaintance of his, seemed to show an affection for the Bible, it prompted a bold phone call.

“Later that night, it was about 3am, I called him and asked him directly, ‘Qadir, are you a Christian?’”

Following a brief pause, Qadir said, “I am a Christian, too.”

The two young men were so overjoyed at discovering each other’s faith, they couldn’t sleep. Until then, both thought they were the only Christian in Morocco. Given the expectation to be Muslim in Morocco, it’s an assumption made by many converts. For seven years, Younes followed Jesus without meeting another Christian, praying and reading the Bible secretly, whilst for Qadir it was a couple of years.

The two met the following day and, over the next 20 hours, they couldn’t stop talking about Jesus and sharing their stories, both of which included visions in which they encountered God. They later met three other converts and, together, they rented a small apartment where they could meet secretly as a house church.

It was when they were joined by a sixth member, who was more open with others about his faith, that word of the house church got out. One day, there was a knock at the door – it was the police.

On arrival, the police searched the apartment, finding Bibles and a cross, and arrested the six men. Looking at Younes’ ID, they asked whether he was the son of their colleague, also an officer and ‘an absolutely strict Muslim’. Younes confirmed it was and his father arrived to pick him up. His faith was no longer secret. “I couldn’t deny it anymore,” he says.

The six men were all released. Younes and Qadir lost contact with others, and for a while, they lost contact with each other as the hostility from their respective families intensified.

Hatred and heartbreak

After being driven to his mother’s home by Younes’ father, Qadir’s faith was treated with scorn by his brother, who beat him up. “My brother is living a life that doesn’t match with Islam, but when Islam is at stake, he turns into a ‘real’ Muslim. He didn’t give me the opportunity to express my point of view,” says Qadir.

Qadir’s faith was costly in other ways, too. He lost friends and an internship, whilst his wider family continued to threaten him. “I was a hated person,” he says. “My eldest brother kept on saying that he would kill me and that he would get away with it.” It left Qadir in despair, contemplating taking his own life.

Younes had a similar experience. “My father brought me to my room and ordered me to undress,” he recalls. “Then he beat me up with everything his hands could find. He used his belt, a chair, his hands. He is a policeman, you can imagine how big his hands are, how strong he is. He said that I was a shame on the family.”

Younes was put under house arrest and deprived of food. Given that he’s diabetic, Younes wonders whether his father purposely withheld food so died a ‘normal death’. His mother thought the same, prompting her at great risk to intervene and help Younes and Qadir escape the country.

A few months later, Younes learnt that her mother had died. “I never saw her again, I couldn’t say goodbye,” he says.

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Airport escape

After three months in another country, where they were welcomed by Christians and even led others to Jesus, the friends had to return to Morocco. “We were so scared what would happen,” remembers Qadir. “We said goodbye to each other before we left the airplane.”

Given his position and influence, Younes’ father had taken measures, contacting the airport authorities to notify him if his son returned. Whilst Qadir walked through customs, Younes was stopped. He was terrified. “The officer was making several phone calls, probably to my father I later discovered,” he says.

Thankfully, the officer was unable to get through, meaning Younes was released and reunited with Qadir. “We were lucky we arrived in the night,” says Younes. “Usually, my father switches his phone off before he goes to sleep, so he didn’t hear the man calling him.”

That night, the two friends slept at a train station, before spending a month with a Christian friend. Gradually, they found their way again in Morocco.

Closer to God

Asked whether their conversion has been worth all the opposition they’ve encountered, the two friends laugh.

“We wanted to find God and we found Him!” Qadir says. “We experienced the hand of the Lord with us the whole time. When you read the Bible, the apostles went through hardships, too.”

“All those hardships have drawn us closer to God,” Younes adds. “We want His will to happen, not ours. If God wasn’t with us, we wouldn’t be sitting here. We feel happy with how God has taken care of us and how he brought us to the place we are now.”

Younes has no contact with his father, who has since remarried, removing any immediate threat, but he does fear that could change depending on what his father hears. Meanwhile, Qadir meets with his mother, but not the rest of his family. They blame him for his parents’ divorce and the death of his father that followed it.

It’s this loss of family that is hardest for the two young men, who say they have forgiven their loved ones for what they’ve done to them. “I was kind of the beloved son before my conversion was discovered,” Qadir says. “Now I am hated by most.”

A new family

That pain has been soothed by their new family. “The church plays a big role in our life,” Younes shares. “The Lord replaced our family with the brothers and sisters of the church, and we are now part of them. That means I don’t feel a void in me. The church helped us to face the situation. We now have spiritual fathers and mothers.”

The church has also helped practically, for example with finances for them to have a home and to be able to live without their parents’ support. Both will soon start studying, enabling them to have a job and make a living for themselves.

Whilst Younes and Qadir don’t make it a secret that they are Christians, they only share with wisdom, when others ask why they are different and are behaving differently. One day, they pray they can do just that with their families. “We always pray that God will touch them, that they will know the truth, too,” says Younes.

Teammates with a testimony

With the World Cup dominating TV screens, conversations and the headlines, many of you have taken the opportunity to pray as they play. That’s because of 14 of the 48 participating countries are on the World Watch List, including Morocco, who play France in the quarter-finals this week.

As the Moroccan team take to the field, please again take a moment to pray as they play for believers like Younes and Qadir, these teammates whose testimony highlights the isolation of many Christians in Morocco, but also their courage.

*Names changed for security reasons