Tunisia Erupts in Chaos as President Ben Ali and Tourists Flee.

More than 50 people have died in riots in Tunisia.

Tunisia is a country which has seen peaceful times until recently. Today, the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, quickly resigned as President and fled the country. The government has been terminated and there is now a huge void as to the running of this country. This is a new day for Tunisia and the Tunisian people. Where will their country go? Will it lead to a free press, more jobs, further prosperity or will it lead to anarchy and chaos.

At the moment, Tunisians are rejoicing after many years of dictatorship rule. Both young and old alike are anxious about the future. Young Tunisians are hoping for enhanced employment opportunities. The elderly are concerned about maintaining law and order. Even with the social struggles, Tunisians don't realize that of all the African nations, theirs is one of the best. However with Europe so close, it is hard to look at the rest of Africa and consider their plight.

With the changes that will eventually come to Tunisia, will it lead to an increase in personal freedoms? How about religious freedoms and human rights? Tunisia once boasted that it was the human rights capitol of the Arab world. Now is the time when it will be tested. In regards to religious freedom, the past few decades have not provided this liberty.

Mohamed was a young Tunisian man who had converted from Islam to Christianity and was having a rough time. He became a follower of Jesus while in Europe and had gone back to North Africa and was looking for work. Some students came in contact with him and tried to encourage him and spend time with him. His family had heard he had became a Christian, so they rejected him.  They encouraged him to try to reconcile with his family.

One afternoon one of the students and Mohamed went to his house and as soon as they walked into the front door, his mother, sisters and brothers spotted him. His mother charged him and started beating on him and screaming and yelling at him. She picked up the trash can and threw it at him. She yelled, “You are not my son any more. You have shamed us!”

Mohamed was shocked by the reaction of his family. He ended up sleeping in the park under the trees because he had no where to go, no job and what seemed like no future. It was a very difficult situation which a lot of Muslim converts face when they decide to leave Islam and follow Jesus Christ. The persecution from families is often more severe than the persecution from governments.  Unemployment is over 40% in North Africa, so new believers sometimes end up on the streets with no work, no place to live and no one to take them.  It’s a heavy price to pay.

For more information about Christianity in Arabic go to: www.maarifa.org

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