Displaying items by tag: Afghanistan
Afghanistan: nothing can be done as babies die
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.
Afghanistan: persecuted and hungry
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
Asia: hotspots on the horizon
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.
Afghanistan: 'I drug my children to help them sleep'
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.
Afghanistan: how to pray, one year on
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
From vengeance to forgiveness
‘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
Global: Christians persecuted and displaced
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.
Eastern Afghanistan: Earthquake aftermath
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.
Global: Top three 2022 ‘Persecutor of the Year Awards’
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.
Afghanistan: earthquake kills over 1,000
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.