Afghanistan
Believers Tortured
According to a recent report from AFGHANISTAN, Christians there are being tortured and murdered by Islamic terrorists. Believers are roasted with fire while alive and are killed with daggers or iron wire. They are forced to confess to crimes they did not commit and are imprisoned on false charges.
Pray for courage for these Christians in Afghanistan. “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.”
Christians Denied Refuge
In May a Muslim background believer from AFGHANISTAN was denied refugee status by the UN. He, his wife, and four children fled to India last year after his conversion to Christianity was exposed. Eight other applicants and their families were also denied refugee status. They are now in hiding, fearing deportation and execution.
Pray for wisdom and courage. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think … to Him be glory…”
Believers Fear Deportation
Two Afghan Christian refugees in the UK were told that they would be deported back to AFGHANISTAN. One said that if the Taliban doesn’t execute him for his faith, his family will. The other, a new believer, has been ostracized by Muslim Afghans and fears that he will also be killed.
Pray that they will live and be a testimony to others. “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.”
Christian Threatened, Escapes
UPDATE: A Christian imprisoned for five months in AFGHANISTAN and threatened with execution was released on bail March 30 and told to stay in town. In Afghanistan, bail is not money, but a house, a shop, and people. Despite the pressure on him not to leave town, friends helped him flee for his life to another country.
Ask God to encourage him. “He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”
Christian Beheaded
In AFGHANISTAN, a Christian was beheaded by Muslim members of the Taliban. His killers said that he was punished according to the command of Allah and as a warning to other “infidels.”
Ask God to encourage and comfort believers in this dangerous land. “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.”
Christian Prisoner Abused
UPDATE: A believer imprisoned in AFGHANISTAN for giving a New Testament has been abused by fellow prisoners, including Islamic terrorists. They physically attacked him and threaten to kill him.
Pray for safety and courage. “O LORD, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart…”
Believers Denied Refugee Status
UPDATE: Six Muslim background believers from AFGHANISTAN who fled to India have been denied refugee status. Muslims were outraged when pictures from some of their baptisms were shown on TV last year. The believers fear that in Afghanistan they will be sentenced to death by the government or stoned and burned by the people.
Ask God to protect them and their children. “...for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
Prisoner Released
UPDATE: One of the Christians imprisoned in AFGHANISTAN has been released and has left the country! He refused Muslims’ demands to renounce his faith. Praise God for his release!
Ask God to protect him and his family, who are still in danger. “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.”
Believer Waiting in Prison
UPDATE: As of the last report, a Muslim background believer in AFGHANISTAN who was arrested last year is still in prison. He is awaiting a trial and possibly a death sentence. No lawyer will represent him. Some will not defend him because they think he has no chance unless he renounces Christianity, and others will not because they have received death threats themselves.
Ask God to give His imprisoned servant strength. “For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.”
Christian Denied Lawyer
UPDATE: In AFGHANISTAN a Christian lawyer was denied permission to visit a believer accused of leaving Islam. The imprisoned believer has illegally been denied the opportunity to see the indictment and evidence against him. If found guilty of leaving Islam, he could be executed.
Continue to ask God for his release. “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent…”
Believer Caught Giving Bible, Arrested
A believer in AFGHANISTAN was arrested on October 21 after giving a New Testament to a man who later reported him. Authorities inconsistently discuss plans to release him, imprison him for 20 years, or execute him.
Pray for his release. “...I know Whom I have believed…”
Believer on Trial
A Christian imprisoned since May in AFGHANISTAN was sexually abused and beaten in jail. Under intense pressure from Muslims earlier this year, he denied his faith. Now he repents and says he is willing to sacrifice his life to testify publicly to his faith in Jesus.
Pray for courage and protection. “...Christ Jesus...abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...”
Christian on Trial in Afghanistan
A father of six in Afghanistan is scheduled to appear in court on Sunday, November 21. He was arrested in May after a TV station uncovered Christians being baptized and worshiping. Public outrage followed, and a parliamentary leader called for the public execution of converts to Christianity. A general crackdown on Christians ensued.
Christian Workers Forced to Leave
Several Christian workers in AFGHANISTAN were arrested on charges of “inciting a public disturbance regarding religion.” They had been meeting people’s physical needs and explaining their faith when people asked them about it. Now they have been released, but they had to change location.
Pray that they and their fellow workers will continue to share the Gospel. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
The Aroma of Christ
A Martyr’s wife shared another moving testimony at the Lausanne conference in Cape Town last week. Her husband was killed in Afghanistan along with seven other Christian foreigners and two Afghan helpers. You may remember their story from the October 10th prayer guide entry.
Christain Doctors Murdered
In AFGHANISTAN, the Taliban murdered a team of eight eye doctors. Muslims accused them of being missionaries and of preaching Christianity. A Muslim traveling with the doctors was spared when he began reciting the Koran.
Pray that God will comfort the believers’ families and that foreign workers will continue to share Jesus’ love. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name.”
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.”
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."
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.
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.'"
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."
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."
