Pakistan (MNN) — Insurgents killed 10 soldiers in Southwest Pakistan during a January 25 shootout. Greg Kelley with World Mission says it shows how great the unrest in the region has become.
He recently returned from visiting Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban into Pakistan. But they aren’t safe yet. “The Taliban still comes in and causes terror in the evening time. In the areas we were in, we had to make sure we were out by the evening. Because the Taliban still have influence.”
Kelley says most people in the camps have lost at least one family member to extremist violence. “A lot of the people that we spoke to particularly didn’t want their daughters to live underneath the Taliban regime. Because the daughters are being taken as sex slaves. They’re abused, and families have no say in it. The Taliban just come into communities and they essentially confiscate or kidnap the daughters.”
Sharing the story of Jesus
You can support local Christians who deliver aid to these refugees in Jesus’ name. Ask God to bring comfort and healing to them. Kelley says, “The only answer to that is the Gospel. There’s no amount of money or a nicer house that can fix that. That trauma is so buried inside of their hearts that the Gospel is the only answer. And we found incredible receptivity.”
Kelley even encountered men who once had operated in the Taliban. “They approached us. As we were interviewing them, they talked about different people they had killed. And they were just filled with guilt. But the only thing that’s going to heal their heart is the Gospel. I literally watched them receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The guilt that they had of doing the terrible things was lifted.”
These men then went to tell current Taliban members about Jesus. “That is the only solution for Afghanistan,” Kelley says.
Ask the Holy Spirit to change many hearts among extremist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Header photo courtesy of World Mission on Facebook.
