top of page

[2024 Ramadan Day 13] The eternal nation of the Lord's praise, Afghanistan


"The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. (Isaiah 43:21)"

Afghanistan is the intersection of the east and west civilizations in the heart of the Silk Road. Geopolitically, it is a crucial point of constant aggression, looting, war and conflict in the power struggle of the world powers.


When the Taliban was deposed by the U.S. in 2001, it attracted the attention of the Global Church, and God allowed a history of God's wondrous works to be revived there. It is a land that was allowed the joy of harvest as it is where spiritual revival is in 2nd place in the Islamic nations. Rejoice Afghanistan!


However, the struggle for interests in world politics in 2018 led to the Taliban's return to power. The search for survival and freedom of faith led to the tragedy where many Afghans left for neighboring countries or Europe as refugees. After the Taliban retook control of the country, Islam's fundamentalism-driven religious politics and the extinction of human rights have added to the country's growing political and social retreat and impoverishment.


In October 2023, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan's northwestern province of Herat killed more than 2,000 people. Herat is 120 km east of the Iranian border and the capital of Afghanistan's culture. According to World Bank statistics, in 2019, the city was home to about 1.9 million people. The Taliban government was also helpless against the vast forces of nature, and no recovery has been made. Most of the victims of the earthquake were women and children.


Currently, Kandahar is the spiritual capital city of Afghanistan, and Kabul is the administrative capital city. On the surface, crimes are significantly reduced in Kabul, allowing people to travel freely even at night. With the end of the civil war, bombings and shocks seem to be gradually disappearing. Still, the system through coercive terrorism is strengthening.


Forty to sixty thousand CCTVs are installed in downtown Kabul, and CCTV installations are compulsory for all apartments and companies. On the surface, it is establishing a surveillance system to expand and achieve a surveillance system that guarantees the safety of citizens. Due to this reign of terror, the citizens frequently report their neighbors.


The country monitors the Taliban's adherence to the Sharia law through its "Ministry of Virtue and Vice" and mainly eradicates women's human rights. Currently, women's education in Afghanistan is allowed for up to six years in elementary school and is not permitted after that. All beauty parlors are also closed. Women's freedom of action is also suppressed, and travel and plane rides are restricted without their husbands or brothers. They also banned performances and music at wedding halls and closed university music colleges. The surveillance of foreigners and NGOs has intensified, and the surveillance system is being expanded through new intelligence agencies. Intelligence agents are also sent to public places (such as restaurants), driving people's livelihoods into fear.


The pain of this surveillance and fear is amplified, but His works are calling for the souls in Afghanistan. There has been a sister called sister A who had been fellowshipping with the Gospel with a field minister. In sister A's dream, she followed the voice calling her and was led to a big two-storey house. She went upstairs and met someone wearing white clothes and a cape, and this person gave sister A a book saying that this would solve all her questions. When she received it, she saw it was a bible. As she understood the Gospel she could not understand even when she heard it, she began her journey of faith by acknowledging the Lord with her mouth. Her husband also accepted the Gospel, and her family is now reading the Bible and worshipping. Through the one-year rehabilitation program run by the Drug Addiction Center, three people have been set free from addiction and have met Jesus, the One who truly sets them free. The Taliban government, with a positive response, is also preparing to build another rehabilitation center in City B.


Although the Taliban government is putting on a political show with the aid of the world government, they are depriving women of human rights and educational opportunities with religious laws. The Lord's work has raised churches in the land for the past two decades. May the Global and Korean Churches shout out to the Lord for the Afghan churches and souls who are under Taliban tyranny! May the churches that have been allowed in the land not be afraid of the Taliban government's tyranny and will boldly win with faith.


"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (Jeremiah 29:11-12)"

[Today's prayer]

1. Although the level of closure and terror amid a battle for the interests of the world's politics is increasing due to the Taliban, through the works of the mighty Holy Spirit during this time of Ramadan, may there be grace of the restoration of the souls and may they realize the powerlessness of the fast during Ramadan that is happening under the religious oppression of the Taliban government as law. Without the grace and compassion of the Lord, they can never awaken from their spiritual ignorance. May there be blessings from Jesus, the true master of life, who will reveal and meet those earnestly seeking the master of their souls as they pray and fast.


2. We pray for the Afghanistan Church. May the Afghanistan Church rise as a powerful church that will complete the vision of the Kingdom of God as they only love God, not spare their lives, and overcome the politics and powers of the world.

Comments


bottom of page