Urgent: Pray for the Persecuted Afghan Church

The infant church of Afghanistan is going through the harshest persecution in its history. The world does not care and the global church does not know.

As an Afghan minister of the Gospel, these last months has been very hard for us as I lead a team of Afghans, who evangelize, disciple, and minister to the Afghan people. Serving among the most unreached peoples in the world, while continually being rejected, discouraged, and threatened is hard in general, but this month has been especially hard.

The pressure and the persecution of Afghan believers inside Afghanistan is on the rise. Furthermore, with the rise of the Taliban, Islamic fundamentalism and opposition to the Gospel message has also dramatically increased. We know both of these facts to be true first hand as we are engaged with Afghan believers inside Afghanistan and in the diaspora.

So, we have been on our knees, praying for the Afghan church. We want to obey the command of the Word of God that says: “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Hebrews 13:3).

For us, remembering those in prison is not simply an act of intellectual projection, but we see the faces of those whom we love and care about, who are currently in chains. We deeply suffer as we know how they are mistreated. We cry before the Lord, praying for Him to console them. We weep before our Lord, asking Him to comfort them by His Spirit. 

It is not far-fetched to say that “our tears have become our food while they continually taunt us: where is your God?”. And yet, we remember the Lord’s faithfulness and we remember our call to pick up our crosses to follow Him.

Our dear brothers and sisters, the beautiful church of our Lord Jesus Christ, I implore you by the name of the Crucified and Resurrected Lord, please do not forget the persecuted church of Afghanistan in your prayers, nor us as the weight of a whole nation is upon our shoulders.

We are deeply suffering. I invite you to suffer with us and bear this weight with us, for the sake of the glory of God and the Lamb who is worthy of our worship, even if that worship is simply weeping, weeping, and weeping before His Throne for now, awaiting the day that He will wipe the tears of His bride with his own pierced hands.