The world is watching in horror as the Taliban is reemerging to take over the nation of Afghanistan. In the midst of the invasion, the Afghan church, a fledgling body 20 years ago, is facing intense persecution as the Taliban promises Sharia Law in the new Afghanistan.
World Magazine Senior Editor Mindy Belz and I spoke at length yesterday about the implications the Taliban takeover will have on the Christian church in Afghanistan.
Below is an excerpt from our interview.
It’s [the Afghan church] a unique community, mostly aged 40 and younger. They are all Muslim converts. It’s one of the fastest growing churches in the world. Since they are a tiny church, now doubled in size, they are considered very fast-growing. There are perhaps only 2,000 people. But they are an important force in Afghanistan, simply because of the force that the Gospel is. Because of the love of Jesus, the reach they have is a real thing in a dark, Taliban-shadowed country.
About two years ago, a number of these church community leaders did something amazing and brave: they decided to change their identity, their religious affiliation in particular, on their national identification cards.
All Afghan citizens have a national ID card. They are used all the time for many reasons. They often show religious affiliation. That affiliation tends to be handed down by the father of the family.
The new Christian church elders wanted to change their identification for the sake of their future generations. Not all Christians agreed that this was a good idea, but several dozens of them have changed their official identification to Christian. Now the government records show Christian affiliation. These are the Christians that have been targeted over the past few days.
At least one Christian that I know of has received a letter from the Taliban stating: “We know where you are, and we know what you’re doing.” This implies that the Taliban has access to this government record.
The Taliban then showed up to this Christian’s house the day before the full city takeover. They have also visited other Christian homes. You might argue these are small, isolated incidents, but they play against the backdrop of nearby atrocities: Afghan military who have been hauled out of their homes and shot, and in one case beheaded.
Afghan Christians are totally vulnerable with no political power. They have no-one to appeal to. They don’t even generally qualify for special immigrant visas to the United States or other Western countries because they have avoided working for American organizations who work for the Afghan military. To do so potentially exposes them to attention and danger.
That was an excerpt from an interview I conducted with World Magazine Senior Editor Mindy Belz. She is an expert not only on the Middle East, but on Christians and the Christian movement there.
In our conversation yesterday on Afghanistan, we spoke about the history of the country over the past 20 years, and how different U.S. presidents have understood the situation there. We also discussed how the recent withdrawal of the Afghan president has created a political vacuum for Taliban reemergence. Visit breakpoint.org to listen to the entire conversation.
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