Displaying items by tag: Afghanistan

When our brothers and sisters are displaced because of their faith in Christ, we can support them through prayer. As we pray, we open our hearts to their needs and grow deeper in fellowship with them. Pray for the Lord to meet all their needs. (Philippians 4:19) Pray for their healing from physical and emotional trauma. (Psalm 147:3) Pray for them to be able to love and forgive their persecutors. (Matthew 5:44) Pray for persecutors to repent and trust in Christ. (Luke 15:10) Christians in Burma, China, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Vietnam are persecuted by their governments and religious freedom is violated. Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, the Central African Republic, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sudan, and Turkey are countries whose governments allow or engage in ‘severe violations of religious freedom.’. Take time to pray for Christians in these nations. 

On 22 June, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed at least 1,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure - homes, health facilities, schools, water networks - leaving thousands vulnerable to further harm. On 3 July Mohammad, who lost 18 family members, believed one body was still trapped beneath bricks and mud where his home was. Mohammad’s home is now a very basic tent sheltering his sister with a broken leg, she still hasn't had a visit from a doctor and is in a lot of pain. Very little aid is trickling through to his village, the communication is poor, there are no health facilities in surrounding areas and above all else the routes there are incredibly tough. Aid agencies haven't found a safe landing zone for helicopters and so all survivors can do is watch as vital support flies past. Bodies remain in the rubble, impossible to reach without proper help and the smell is heartbreaking because it is from dead bodies.

In Afghanistan, after America and its allies withdrew, the Taliban controlled the government, declaring an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, employing harsh tactics to expose Christians. This has brought persecution in Afghanistan to its highest levels since the Taliban’s first government in 1996. In Nigeria Fulani Militants, the largest nomadic ethnic group, have killed tens of thousands of Christians and left many more homeless since 2000. Having seen increasing violence against Nigeria’s Christian population in the Middle Belt, it is alleged that the Fulani militant aggression is aided by stakeholders within the Nigerian government. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s Supreme Leader, exerts control over every aspect of Iranian life, both physically and spiritually. As an Islamic republic, Iran poses severe limits on the ability of Christians to practice their religion, enforcing a hardline regime that allows the brutal torture and execution of many Iranian Christians.

Pictures show landslides and ruined mud-built homes where rescuers scramble to find people buried under the ground and treat the injured in the deadliest earthquake in twenty years. On 22 June, people started to bury over 1,000 dead, and help over 1,500 injured. The Taliban leadership appealed to the international community to clear any barriers created by sanctions and come to their aid. Communication is difficult because mobile phone towers are damaged, and the death toll could rise still further where dwellings in rural areas are unstable or poorly built. Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan's emergency services were stretched to deal with natural disasters. A doctor from Paktika province said medical workers were among the victims: ‘We didn't have enough people and facilities before the earthquake, and now it has ruined the little we had. I don't know how many of our colleagues are still alive.’  Some have expressed surprise because the Taliban have said their rescue operation is complete, less than 48 hours after the quake.

The situation for women deteriorates rapidly as restrictions erase girls and women from public life. They are virtually prisoners in their homes. Christians remain in danger as the Taliban do house-to-house searches and even confiscate people’s smartphones. Men, women and children are being deprived of freedom to think and live freely in different ways. But Pastor Ebadi speaks hope into viewers’ lives on SAT7 Christian broadcasting, saying, ‘Jesus Christ is the only one who can help us be freed from the cage in which we are held. Whatever the chains, whether sin, power, desire, or temptation, Jesus can rescue us. While we are alive, we must encourage and help one another.’ SAT7 is responding to the need for emotional and spiritual support through regular live broadcasts of Secret of Life and the pre-recorded programme Window of Light. Later this year they will broadcast two seasons of the Dari scripture teaching programme.

Release International reports, ‘With all eyes on Russia’s assault on Ukraine, we will be watching closely to see how Russia is treating Christians of faiths other than Russian Orthodox.’ The USCIRF has long criticised the Taliban for their extremist policies. Its 2022 report warns, ‘Afghans who do not adhere to the Taliban’s harsh and strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and adherents of other faiths or beliefs are in grave danger. With the Taliban’s return to power, religious freedom conditions in Afghanistan, and the overall human rights situation, have significantly deteriorated. Christian converts (and other minorities) practise their faith in hiding due to fear of reprisal and threats from the Taliban.’ Also religious persecution in India has taken a significant turn for the worse. In Nigeria there is an anti-Christian dimension to much of the violence which the government is failing to control.

Health workers in Pakistan are marking children’s fingers as having had a polio vaccination, when in reality parents have refused the vaccine after believing conspiracy theories that they are harmful, blasphemous, or a plot to sterilise Muslims. This is the biggest challenge - to eradicate the crippling virus in one of its last haunts. Deteriorating security along the border is making the situation worse, as militants cross from Afghanistan - the only other country where polio is still circulating. After two years free of polio Pakistan has two poliovirus cases. They were also paralysed, raising further concerns that there may still be hundreds of cases in the region. On average, only one in 200 infections leads to paralysis. Bill Gates, who invests billions in the polio fight, said ‘it would be tragic if the disease made a comeback because it would spread back across the world and eventually you have what you had before 1988 - hundreds of thousands of paralysed children.’

In March the anti-Taliban group NRF started preparing a 2022 spring offensive against the Taliban government. Meanwhile tensions with Pakistan are high due to Pakistan security forces being targeted from Afghanistan. Islamabad has accused Kabul of doing little to stop this. Taliban-affiliated fighters (TTP and ISIL) have for years been operating along the porous border between the two countries, carrying out numerous attacks inside Pakistan. Now Pakistan’s air raids inside Afghanistan in response to the killing of its soldiers have raised tensions even higher. On 27 April the Taliban warned Islamabad of ‘consequences’ after nearly 50 people had been killed by Pakistani air raids in the border provinces. Pakistan has not confirmed being responsible for the raids, but Afghan residents have protested in the streets saying those killed were civilians. IS affiliates have also carried out attacks inside Afghanistan, posing a major security threat to Taliban rule.

Extreme hunger is causing parents to sell their kidneys to feed their children. Illegal organ trading existed before the Taliban takeover, but the black market exploded when millions more were plunged into poverty after international sanctions. Currently the UN estimates that 24 million people, 59% of the population, are in need of lifesaving humanitarian aid. ‘I had to do it (sell a kidney) for the sake of my children,’ said 32-year-old Nooruddin, ‘I didn’t have any other option. I regret it now.’ He was speaking outside his home, where clothes hang from a tree and a plastic sheet is a window pane. ‘I can no longer work. I’m in pain and I cannot lift anything heavy.’ The practice is so widespread where Nooruddin lives, that it is nicknamed ‘one kidney village’. Children desperately search through litter for food waste, and shops are closed. People have no money to buy things. Mother-of-three Aziza said, ‘If I don’t sell my kidney, I will be forced to sell my one-year-old daughter.’

At least eight Westerners have been arrested in Afghanistan during different incidents in the last two months, marking a sharp escalation of Taliban actions against Westerners living in the country. No formal charges have been lodged against the six British citizens, one of whom is an American legal resident, and one US citizen. Afghanistan’s former vice-president tweeted that nine Westerners had been ‘kidnapped’ by the Taliban, naming journalists Andrew North, formerly of the BBC who was working for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and Peter Jouvenal, who has worked with the BBC and CNN. The reason for each of the specific detentions is unclear, and they are not thought to be related. Peter's family believe he is detained in error. He was working openly, having frequent meetings with Taliban officials to discuss investments in Afghanistan's mining industry. Peter suffers from high blood pressure and needs medication.