Afghanistan
Islam is the official state religion and the constitution requires that the President and Vice-President of the country be Muslim. Sharia law is the backbone of the legal system, and therefore apostasy and blasphemy against Islam are officially punishable by death. The country’s few Christians must practice their faith in secret. There are 48,000 mosques, but no Afghani churches.
Converts from Islam face intense pressure from their families and communities. One young man was banished from his family’s home, and another was severely beaten when he tried to tell others about Christ. As the Taliban has regained control of territory in the region, most of the Christian population has fled. There are a few small, underground house churches, but many of those have no pastors and no Bibles.
Prayers for persecuted Christians in Afghanistan
Christians Arrested, Tortured
In AFGHANISTAN, Christians are being arrested, tortured, and forced to tell the names of other Muslim background Believers. Some have been forced to flee because Muslims authorities have issued orders of execution against them. The Afghan intelligence agency reportedly has a list of more Christians to arrest.
Pray that they will escape their persecutors. “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.”
Christian Organizations Closed
UPDATE: In AFGHANISTAN, Muslims have shut down two church-based aid organizations after a TV network showed Afghani Christians being baptized and praying. The TV station has no evidence that the church-based aid organizations were connected with the baptism. Also, university students are demanding that the government expel foreigners accused of proselytizing.
Pray that Christians will be able to continue to work in the country. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
Believers Threatened with Execution
After an AFGHAN TV network showed Christians being baptized and praying, a government official called for the believers’ public execution.
Pray that God will protect and strengthen Afghani Christians. “Upon You I have leaned from before my birth; You are He who took me from my mother's womb.”
Secret belief in Afghanistan
A year ago, a teacher in Afghanistan gave Ahmed a Bible. He read at night, hiding the book under his mattress when he went out. But when his mother found it, she told his father, who beat him and threw him from the house, flinging his clothes into the street behind him. Later they forced him to marry a Muslim girl, hoping that might change his path. His young bride has no idea of the truth -- he secretly meets with a group of expatriate Christians, willingly facing the possibility of further persecution or even death.
Afghanistan's Church grows
Although the people of Afghanistan are not free to practice Christianity openly, there is a small but growing number of national believers. And now the Bible is readily available to Afghanis in their own language.
Ask God to draw many to Himself through His Word. "But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
Militants strick Afghani prayer meeting
Believers had gathered to pray in Afghanistan when militants stormed in. One Christian managed to escape, as bullets whizzed past, and the terrorists fled. Police later discovered that the militants had planned to behead their captives and make a video for distribution.
Praise God for delivering his children to safety. Pray that Christ will be honored in their ministry. "And he is the head of the body, the church... that in everything he might be preeminent."
Dangerous harvest in Afghanistan
As fighting intensifies in Afghanistan, Christian work is increasingly threatened. The Afghanistan Islamic Council warned the president not to allow missionaries into the country. Nevertheless, some believers continue to evangelize.
O Lord, raise up more workers for this plentiful harvest field. "And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you."
Christian aid worker shot in Afghanistan
A Christian volunteer aid worker in Afghanistan was walking to her office when militants fired from a passing car and killed her.
Pray that aid agencies will continue to find ways to operate in an increasingly insecure environment, and that believers will find ways to share the Gospel. "And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden.'"
