08/17/2021
Please pray for Afghanistan.
As American forces are swiftly and chaotically being pulled out of the war torn nation, the Taliban in Afghanistan have been making lightening fast offensive attacks, capturing city after city.
This weekend, as the President fled, the Taliban conquered the State Capital of Kabul.
A mass exodus has ensued. Online, you can find multiple videos of people swarming the few planes left at the Kabul International airport, fearing retaliation of torture or death from the Taliban because of their ties to the West. Some have compared these scenes to Saigan back in 1975 when U.S. forces pulled out of Vietnam.
What will this mean for the Afghan people? The future of Afghanistan looks bleak. In the past, before America invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban were cruel and forceful rulers. They enforced public executions for crimes of murder and adultery, they cut off the arms of thieves, and they forced women out of schools, and jobs. They are Islamist extremists at their core and they look to enforce their interpretation of Islamic law. They deny religious liberty, and oppose the Christian faith adamantly.
If the Taliban rule, we can expect to see the persecution of Christians rise exponentially.
The Taliban has recently made claims that they are now less extreme and that they want to form an “inclusive, Islamic government”. However many fear that will not be the case. One indicator that the Taliban will be just as harsh, if not more, than it was in the past is that they’re wanting to rename the country, “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, which was its name last time they ruled the state, indicating they want Afghanistan to look like it did before.
How can we be praying?
Pray that God would strengthen the Christians in Afghanistan.
Pray that God would give hope to the Afghan People.
Pray that we would not see the human rights violations we did under former Taliban rule.
Pray that God would give the Taliban revelation of what the law should be; what law is truly just, and how freedom allows societies to flourish.
Psalm 9:18- “But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.”
