Displaying items by tag: Afghanistan

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck western Afghanistan, four days after a series of deadly quakes left at least a thousand people dead. This second earthquake struck an area near Herat early on 10 October. There are conflicting reports about the number of casualties: one spokesperson reported at least 120 injured. It flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by Saturday’s quakes. Rescue workers and volunteers have been working around the clock to try to dig out survivors and bodies from the ruins of the villages since the weekend. Relief efforts have been hampered by poor infrastructure in the impoverished country, following decades of war and a decline in foreign aid.

The Taliban exists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the two forces are not compatible. Recent clashes between them caused the closure of a significant connecting thoroughfare between the two countries. Trucks carrying fruits, vegetables, and other commodities were stranded at the Michni checkpoint border crossing. The two groups were firing at one another, and authorities from both governments are trying to determine the cause and how to de-escalate the conflict. The border between the two countries is 1,675 miles long, and for decades it has seen many conflicts between the security forces. Pray for the negotiating parties of both countries to reach an agreement about this critical border crossing that will keep the border open and flowing for aid supplies (1 Corinthians 1:10).

30 August was the two-year anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Despite promises of a more moderate rule, Taliban leaders have imposed harsh measures. ‘It’s not a very good time in Afghanistan because of the hopelessness, the fear. People are tired of Islam,’ says Mina, an Afghan Christian working with Global Catalytic Ministries. ‘At first, I was feeling sorry for myself. I cried for three weeks. Then God’s grace opened my eyes.’ In June, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada described Afghanistan’s conditions as comfortable for women according to the Islamic Shariah: ‘The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored, and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights.’ However the Taliban removed girls from school, barred women from public spaces, and cracked down on media freedoms. Earlier this year, officials banned women like Mina from the workplace.

Illinois pastor Robby Dawkins recently shared on Facebook a photo of him praying for a former Taliban leader in Afghanistan. It was a powerful moment which quickly went viral. ‘This (now former) Taliban leader attended our training in Afghanistan. He was so hit by the Holy Spirit’s power that he crumpled to the ground when I laid hands on him and prayed.’ People are praising God for encountering a leader of the Taliban, as Afghan Christians have been through brutal persecution by the group. ‘Several there said this guy would normally kill us if it wasn’t for the impact Jesus made on him, transforming his entire life.’ Afghanistan needs Jesus today more than ever: let us continue to pray for revival in the nation.

Baby Tayabullah is motionless. His mother moves the oxygen pipe and puts a finger under his nose to check his breathing. She realises he is fading and cries. The hospital's ventilators are broken and small oxygen masks are not available, so mothers hold oxygen tubes near their babies' noses, trying to do what staff or medical equipment should be doing. About 167 Afghan children die daily from preventable diseases that could be cured with the right medication. If you go inside paediatric wards you will wonder if that estimate is too low. Rooms full of sick children, two or more in each bed, ravaged by pneumonia. Just two nurses looking after sixty children, in a room full of babies in a serious condition. A nurse said, ‘We don't have equipment or enough staff, which child should we check first? We can do nothing but watch babies die.’ When the Taliban seized power, foreign funding stopped and hospitals failed.

Sixty days in a cage, no light, and tortured, is one of the extreme cruelties which Christians in Afghanistan experience. They are under a death sentence, yet there are over 10,000, almost all converts from Islam. They have a long, dangerous, and deadly road ahead of them. Please pray for the underground church facing the ultimate threat: turn back to Islam or die. Pray also for the safety of the known Christians who have been open about their faith. May God give them wisdom in all they say and do. Also a humanitarian crisis of incredible proportions has grown more complex and severe since the Taliban took control. Job losses, lack of cash, and soaring food prices have resulted in nearly 20 million not having enough to eat. Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse. The currency is at an all-time low. See

The war in Ukraine and the poor global economy have enabled dictators, regimes, and terrorists to take ad­vantage of the situation while the world’s attention was distracted. This will worsen in 2023, to the detriment of Christians. Ask God to protect China’s Christians as the crackdown on house churches accelerates. Pray for all the minorities in Myanmar, where the 2021 political coup has led to many attacks and bombings of churches. The internally dis­placed use churches as shelters. Iran has also taken the opportunity to crack down on churches, Christians, and Muslim-back­ground believers this year. Pray for Christian arrests and torture to diminish in 2023. Indian Christians need our prayers for an end to the anti-conversion laws being enforced in Hindu communities. Afghanistan has no national income and no natural resources, and all assets are frozen worldwide. Christianity is illegal. Those forced to stay or needing support to find safe havens need God's protection.

In the second winter since the Taliban took over and foreign funds were frozen, millions are a step away from famine. Abdul says, ‘Our children keep crying; they can’t sleep. We have no food. So we go to the pharmacy to get them tablets to make them drowsy.’ Ghulam has alprazolam tranquilisers in his tunic - they are used to treat anxiety disorders. Others are giving tablets which treat depression and anxiety. Doctors say that when given to young children who do not get adequate nutrition, these drugs cause liver damage, chronic fatigue, and behaviour disorders. Five tablets cost ten Afghanis, the price of a piece of bread. Ammar had surgery to remove his kidney to repay money borrowed to buy food for his family. ‘I sold my five-year-old daughter for 100,000 Afghanis,’ Nizamuddin says. ‘That's less than half what a kidney goes for.’ He bites his lip, and his eyes well up.

In August 2021 Afghans dreading the return of the draconian Taliban regime risked their lives clinging to the outside of departing planes, desperate to escape. Afghanistan is now the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Closing the ministry of women’s affairs demonstrated a return to the denigration of women that had previously characterised the Taliban rule. Except for healthcare workers, women must stay at home ‘to protect their safety’. Girls’ secondary schools stay closed ‘until a comprehensive plan is prepared according to Sharia and Afghan culture’. The Taliban have re-established the ‘Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue’ to enforce their strict interpretation of Sharia. Their drive for only the ‘purest’ form of Islam has left no room for Christians in Afghanistan. Please pray for the safety and protection of secret believers from being discovered, and for the families who have to leave everything behind as they flee to safety. See also

‘People may ask, ‘How is it possible for an Afghan man to become a Christian?’’’ Homayoun, who was once bent on violence and vengeance, is now a pastor. He shared his testimony on SAT-7 PARS live programme Signal, in the hope that God will use his story of transformation to touch the lives and hearts of viewers facing enormous challenges in Afghanistan and Iran today. ‘I grew up in Afghanistan and come from a Muslim background. As I got older, I always had God on my mind, I prayed five times a day and read the Quran. I wanted to know God and I wanted to know the truth, but I never found peace and tranquillity. Eventually I joined the army. I wanted to fight Daesh, the Taliban, or anyone really. But it didn’t work out. God didn’t want me to kill anyone.’ Read Homayoun’s testimony here