Afghanistan (MNN) — Over one year after the Taliban conquered Afghanistan, the local church continues to grow.
We previously reported that Heart4Iran has launched a virtual church platform for Christians in the country. The platform reaches people who speak Dari, various dialects of a Persian language spoken in Afghanistan.
Cammy Perez, digital media manager for Mohabat TV, says, “What excites me about Afghan virtual church is the possibility of discipleship, of people really becoming disciples and then creating disciples themselves and being sent out. We get to see just the tip of the iceberg, just really scratching the surface of what’s going on.”
Openness of Afghans
Christians in Afghanistan face persecution on top of a difficult economic situation. But God is capable of remarkable things.
Edwin Keshish-Abnous, Managing Producer of Mohabat TV, says, “When we talk about Afghanistan, we understand that Afghans, because of the context of the country, are really devoted to their faith, which is Islam.”
Keshish-Abnous says in this environment, he always expects little communication with Afghan Christians. But they surprised him by engaging with the Iranian online church. “When we started launching the Farsi virtual church, it was amazing to see how Afghans have been engaging with it.”
“I think the Afghan engagement with the virtual church was even a little bit more than the Iranians.”
The new Dari church is online, but Keshish-Abnous says it looks very much like a regular church. “We’ll need supervision and solid leadership who cultivate and promote the community. And we will need to have a biblical strategy to build that community.”
Perez says many Afghans reached out after participating in the online church, wanting to take on leadership responsibilities.
Pray the love of Afghan Christians will bring healing and restoration to the whole country.
(Photo courtesy of David Mark from Pixabay)
