Worthy Christian News > Christian Persecution > Christian Persecution - Asia > Afghanistan > Afghan Christians standing in faith and calling for prayer, “God has a purpose and a plan”

Afghan Christians standing in faith and calling for prayer, “God has a purpose and a plan”

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan and local Christian pastors facing the threat of intensified bloody persecution are standing in faith while calling on the worldwide Body of Christ for prayer. “God has a purpose and a plan,” an Afghan pastor told International Christian Concern (ICC).

During a video interview with ICC, the Afghan pastor, whose name was not given for security reasons, said: “Definitely we trust in the Lord and pray that He [spares] His people. We believe in God and we believe that as Christians we know there is persecution.”

“Every Muslim background believer like myself that converted to Christianity knows the consequences of conversion. Islam is very clear, for the apostasy it is death. And there is no mercy on those people,” the pastor told ICC.

Meanwhile, other Afghan pastors have been sending out emails and messages asking for prayer, 9Marks reports. “We are hidden right now in different areas,” one pastor reported. Another leader said: “We can’t go out like normal. It’s dangerous. We moved to one of my friend’s houses, but it’s not safe at all.” Yet another said: “Pray for me to be strong in my faith. It is really hard to stay here.”

Writing for 9Marks, Pastor Josh Manley of RAK Evangelical Church in the nearby United Arab Emirates, called on the Body of Christ to pray for physical protection and for spiritual and material provision for the believers in Afghanistan. “While our Afghan brothers and sisters face terrible uncertainty, we should be like the believers in Acts 12 who themselves faced serious threats and persecution but, without ceasing, offered up earnest prayers to God,” Manley said.