Afghanistan Aftermath: Christians One Year after the Taliban Takeover

Almost one year ago the world watched in horror as Afghanistan rapidly collapsed and the Taliban returned to power.  Chaos engulfed the nation. Many would suffer tremendously under the country’s Islamist warlords, but few more seriously than the country’s Afghan Christians. 

Today, little news emerges at all from Afghanistan. Even less is known about the country’s believers.  How did they respond when everything collapsed? How are they faring today? How can they be helped and how can the global church pray for them?

After the eruption of war in Ukraine, global outrage moved on from Afghanistan. Only whispers are heard today out of the country. The world’s attention may have moved on from Afghanistan. But wherever Christians are persecuted and suffering, there must the eyes of the Church remain.

God is still on the move in Afghanistan. 

“Luke” (pseudonym used to protect his security) recently joined the Christian Emergency Podcast to provide a rare and current window into the plight of Christians inside Afghanistan.  Luke provides helpful insight into the plight of Afghan Christians today, whether they are inside Afghanistan, stuck in refugee camps or freshly arrived in new lands. He also offers clear guidance on how you can tailor your prayers for the Christians of Afghanistan.

Specifically, Luke provided four important ways for believers around the world to pray for their spiritual family in Afghanistan:

1) Pray that the Afghan Church would remain united and in fellowship. The Afghan church has been scattered. Most of them face many struggles, although some are more intense than others. They will need one another today and in the day’s ahead. The enemy no doubt will try to divide and isolate Afghan believers. Let us pray that God would thwart any such attempts.

2) Pray that Afghan Christians living abroad would be able to help those left behind in Afghanistan. May Afghan Christian refugees prove to be a blessing to those they now find themselves amongst. However, may they also intentionally seek ways to help the Afghan Church stand inside Afghanistan. Obviously this means prayer, intercession and material support. But it also entails much more. Afghan Christians with more freedom can use their talents and energies to minister to Afghans back home. They can create gospel resources and ministry materials in their mother tongue; resources that can be maneuvered into the borders of Afghanistan. Opportunity abounds and we pray that God would move powerfully through these Afghan believers.

3) Pray for wisdom, particularly for those ministries still serving inside Afghanistan. As Luke noted in his interview, the regime in Afghanistan may have changed, but that does not mean the mission of Kingdom-minded ministries in Afghanistan changed. Christ is lord and His Gospel is to be proclaimed. May those who are called to preach the Good News in Afghanistan find wise ways to continue that work in this spiritually dark land.

4) Pray for Afghan Christian refugees currently in lands neighboring Afghanistan. It is easy to overlook, but while they are outside the Taliban’s clutches, they still find themselves in Muslim-majority countries. They remain vulnerable and we should pray for their safety and also their witness.

Please take some time to pray over these needs. Let us be intentional in our days to pray over those in harm’s way. And too little information like this is available. If you are so led, please help others around you learn about them. Share these pray points with your small groups, Sunday schools and colleagues.

God is not done with Afghanistan. In 1979, things looked bleak for the Christians of Iran, as an Islamic theocracy shouldered its way to power. In 1949, things looked bleak for the Christians of China when Mao’s Communists violently seized control of that government. But in both cases, under the worst of circumstances, God in his sovereignty chose to move - and move mightily. Decades later, Iran and China have seen the most rapid Church expansion in modern history. It’s a fitting reminder that what seems impossible for man is an easy thing for our Lord. May God do a similarly powerful work inside Afghanistan; that Christ would be made famous, the Gospel proclaimed, and lives transformed.