Under Taliban rule, Afghan Christians continue to face daily violence and extreme persecution.
Afghan Christian men are notified that their young daughters will be married off – while families ostracize other family members for being Christian converts and seek “justice” through “honor killings.”
And when you hear how much things have changed in just a few short months – you’re bound to be horrified.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued an updated fact sheet on the real situation in Afghanistan:
“While laws against apostasy and proselytization remained in place in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, the Taliban has indicated that the implementation of harsh punishments such as public executions, cutting off hands, and lashings, will return under the reinstated Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The Taliban said in September 2021 that they will continue punishments in accordance with Shari’a.”
Essentially, if an Afghan Christian expresses their faith – they face death.
Death.
Just for speaking the name of Jesus!
So what about the nearly 20,000 converts in Afghanistan who have given their lives to Christ?
USCIRF continues:
“Afghanistan has no long-established Christian denominations and traditions; since Afghan Christians converted from Islam, all are considered “apostates” according to Afghan law, which requires the courts to rely on Hanafi Shari’a jurisprudence.
Converts who already faced ostracization and the threat of honor killings by family and village members are now at heightened risk with the Taliban in power…
Societal actors, the former Afghan government, and the Taliban often view conversion as an attempt to flee Afghanistan by seeking refugee status as a member of a persecuted religious community.”
Thousands of Afghan Christians have gone underground, knowing that even meeting in secret could cost them their lives if they are ever found out.
Most have left everything behind – their way of life, family, customs, and traditions.
These Afghan Christians know what it means to forsake everything to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
They are living it out, every single day, not knowing if each morning they wake will be their last.
And the persecution against women – Christian or not – continues without mercy.
Women are being forced to deliver their babies in inhumane conditions – some even dying because conditions are so bad.
Young girls are being taken against their will and married off as child brides.
It’s truly heartbreaking to see what is happening.
We must never cease from praying for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.
As they continue to face unspeakable persecution, let us cover them in prayer and stand united with them.
May God graciously grant them a supernatural strength to endure whatever comes their way, and empower them to not lose heart.
And let us also pray that many more will come to Christ all around the world as they witness what it really looks like to take up one’s cross and follow Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17
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