Rob Schenck Heads Evangelical Delegation in Meeting with Moroccan Ambassador
Rev. Rob Schenck (L) heads Evangelical delegation in meeting with Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar (C)
Faith and Action president Rev. Rob Schenck convened a delegation of Evangelical leaders that met last week with Ambassador Aziz Mekouar at the Embassy of Morocco in Washington. The group discussed its concerns with the Ambassador over recent deportations of foreign Christians from Morocco, including Americans, who had been working in the Islamic Kingdom in some cases for many years.
“I have enjoyed a close friendship of several years with the Ambassador,” said Rev. Schenck. “I went to see him immediately following these unfortunate events, and he readily accepted my proposal for an open and frank discussion. Our group met with him for nearly two hours, an extraordinary length of time for a high-level diplomat. I’m very grateful for the unusual attention he gave to us and his candor in answering our sometimes tough questions.”
Ambassador Mekouar also sat for additional hour to be interviewed on the situation by Jamie Dean, a journalist with the Evangelical biweekly, WORLD Magazine.
During the last several years Rev. Schenck has participated in formal and informal exchanges between American Evangelical leaders and Moroccan Islamic leaders. One of Faith and Action’s trustees, the Reverend Dr. Harry Thomas, founder of the huge Creation Festival, the world’s largest Christian music event, also staged a similar festival in the storied Moroccan city of Marrakech five years ago.
A formal statement on the results of last week’s meeting will be released today by Dr. Samuel Goebel, president of the Evangelical Church Alliance International, who was a member of last week’s delegation.
