Afghanistan (MNN) — President Trump’s 90 day freeze on foreign aid and a recent prisoner swap are returning Afghanistan to the global spotlight.
According to the White House, the freeze is intended to give time for the new administration to review humanitarian aid programs. Meanwhile, the prisoner swap freed two Americans and returned a Taliban fighter to Afghanistan, a country beset with ongoing humanitarian and economic crises.
Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says any time you have hostility and instability like that stemming from Taliban leadership, there is going to be great humanitarian need.
“We need to find ways we can resource Christian organizations who are also administering aid. That is also a huge way to open up the hearts of the Afghanis,” he says.
Christianity in Afghanistan
To be a Christian in Afghanistan is to daily risk your life. Everything faith-related must remain hidden from Taliban hunters, and the cost of discovery is imprisonment or death. Despite this, the church in Afghanistan is one of the fastest growing in the world.
“Here’s the thing about Christianity in Afghanistan: once the Gospel starts taking seed in a community, there’s multiplication of it,” says Kelley.
But Afghanistan remains one of the hardest places in the world to do ministry. The country’s battered political history, economic instability, and current rule by the Taliban are contributing factors. Kelley puts Afghanistan right up with North Korea in terms of ministry accessibility. The Taliban are known to recklessly drum up accusations against Christians.
“They’re incredibly unpredictable,” he says. “When you bring that alongside the great animosity toward the West, it’s just a difficult environment on all levels.”
Taliban informants routinely seek out converts from Islam.
“Although they don’t understand the Holy Spirit and what God is doing, they’re smart enough to realize when they find the location of one Christian, there are many more in that area, generally,” Kelley says.
Despite this, Afghan believers are willing to take great risk to seek out Scripture and Christian teaching. Their spirit-filled tenacity is redolent of the early church, Kelley says.
“Even though they knew if they shared their faith they would be persecuted, there was such a resiliency within them: courage and boldness, and that’s what we’re seeing in the church in Afghanistan.”
Ministry efforts
Scene from Kabul. Courtesy of Wanman Uthmaniyyah via Unsplash
Alongside practical aid, Kelley sees spiritual training and equipping of leaders as the greatest need for the Afghan church. Working with the population of displaced Afghans outside their home country, Unknown Nations provides in-person support to the small but determined group of believers.
“The internet is a powerful tool. It’s being used in beautiful ways, but then they require that fellowship,” Kelley says.
In close proximity countries, the Afghan church is working to establish beachheads. Eventually, Afghan diaspora can return to Afghanistan to spread the Gospel in a place they know and love.
“Once they come in contact with Jesus, all they want to do is share Jesus – even at the risk of their life,” Kelley says.
How to pray
Please pray for the country of Afghanistan. Pray that the church would continue to grow in faith, size, and maturity; and pray that leaders would be equipped with the resources they need to shepherd their vulnerable flocks. Pray that distributed Scripture would fall on fertile ground, and pray that hearts darkened by Islam would be drawn toward the glorious light of Christ.
Featured photo courtesy of Wanman Uthmaniyyah via Unsplash
