A Letter from Our Executive Director

August 17, 2021

Greetings Friends,

Many of you have heard of the news coming out of Afghanistan. If you haven’t, the short version of it is, Taliban militants have entered Afghanistan's capital Kabul, and their President, Ashraf Ghani, has fled the country. In effect, this means that the Taliban now controls the country via military force. There is much more to the story, and I encourage you to do your own research to learn about the crisis. The purpose of this letter is to update you on the state of Christian missionaries in Afghanistan, the state of Christian nationals in Afghanistan, and to inform you how you can help.

The State of Christian Missionaries in Afghanistan

Many of you have reached out to us in recent days asking about any missionary partners we have in Afghanistan. Of our 83 missionary partners, only two were pledged to go to Afghanistan, and neither have departed yet. This means that The Go Fund currently has no missionaries in the country of Afghanistan. Additionally, I have spoken with a director of an international Christian missions agency, and he has informed me that most (if not all) Christian workers and missionaries in the country of Afghanistan have evacuated as of 1-2 weeks ago. Mission agencies have kept a close watch on the situation, and have proactively pulled out their workers in advance of the chaos we read about in the news today. This reinforces the value of partnership with a strong missions agency, as a necessary complement to the local church. They not only train and deploy missionaries, but they also provide emergency evacuation, at a great cost.

The State of Christian Nationals in Afghanistan

The Christian church in Afghanistan has seen rapid growth in the last 20 years. There are many Afghan believers who we will never hear about or see on the news, but they exist, and they are a part of the global Christian community. These are our brothers and our sisters in Christ. Though most foreign missionaries are now safe, they are not. The Taliban have made it a central part of their mission to eradicate both Christianity and Christians themselves. This means that Afghan Christians have a target on their heads. There is no easy way to say it—the Taliban is coming to kill them, and their families. There is no government presence in the country, foreign or national, who can protect them from the evil mandate of these extremists.

How You Can Help

Many of you have also reached out to ask how you can help, or perhaps you have wondered how. The sad truth is that there is no easy fix to this problem and no amount of money that can correct this evil that is being done in the name of a false god. However, as Christians, we are far from powerless. We serve a creator who is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). We also serve a God whose eyes are “on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12). That said, I invite you to join us in praying for Afghan believers in the following three ways:

  1. Pray that they would be bold in their faith in Jesus, even up to the point of death

  2. Pray that God would spare their lives from Taliban militants

  3. Pray that the blood of the martyrs would be the seed of the Christian church in Afghanistan

We must remember that our true battle is not against flesh and blood, or Taliban militants, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). Yet, one day, this will all be a distant memory, and a multitude of believers will be gathered, crying out with a loud voice in worship to our Great King (Rev. 7:9-10). Among us will be Afghan believers, some of whom died for their faith. In that moment, we will be convinced more than ever, that for them (and ourselves), to die was indeed gain. Until then, we ask for his Kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.

Even so, Lord, come quickly.

 
 

Additional Resources on the Crisis in Afghanistan: