Urban &Rural

Abdullah was back where he started. What was he going to do?

Abdullah grew up in a small farming community an hour drive from the nearest city. Like many other

young men, after graduating from high school he left his village to look for employment in Casablanca, the largest city and commercial center of Morocco. After several years of laboring in factories, sharing a cramped room with co-workers, preparing his own food and barely scraping by, he finally decided to return to his village. Abdullah was tired of the noise, pollution, and impersonal nature of urban life. He missed his family, the quiet, the fresh air, his friends, and his home. So, he returned to hisbirthplace. Before long he was faced with the lack of available jobs except for an occasional day or two of work as a farm laborer.

Abdullah's predicament is typical of many drawn to the city. In 1960, 70% of Moroccans resided in rural areas. Today over half live in urban centers due primarily to urban migration. Longtime city dwellers will often maintain strong ties with extended family in the villages of their forefathers. Many continue to identify strongly with their "bled", the region or village where their family originated.

Despite the drive to seek a better life through employment available in the cities, many do not find the "good life" there.

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

"Jesus said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."" Mark 5:19

• Pray the millions of Moroccans who leave home and family to seek their futures and fortunes in the cities would find Christ in the process.
• Pray that as Moroccans come to Christ in cities they would be burdened and emboldened to take the Gospel back to family and friends in rural villages.
• Pray the primarily urban-based Moroccan church might gain a vision and a passion for reaching the vast rural population of Morocco.