November 2, 2007: This page is presently under reconstruction. Previous calls for prayer for Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan on January 15, 2005 and January 15, 2006, went largely unheeded. The results of our laziness in prayer on this matter can be seen in the news every day now. While much of the information on this page is now obsolete—since much has changed in a very dangerous direction since 2006— the need is still real. The only thing that will end the slaughter and disaster in Iraqand Afghanistan is if Christians here recognize and pray in unity with our brothers there. Only God can bring a positive outcome out of this!
If you would like to contribute new updated material for this page, or to promoe a day of prayer fr our brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan in your church or area, PLEASE write me!!!
Numbers: The number of native Christians in Afghanistan is, apparently, somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000. The best estimate appears to be around 3,000, although this number is based on somewhat dated information.
Denominational flavors: No data exist. Under the conditions now existing in Afghanistan, in which churches are not allowed to meet, this information is probably irrelevant. The last officially-tolerated formal church meeting in Afghanistan occurred in Kabul in 1976. Everything that is happening is happening underground.
History: There is no real Christian tradition in this Islamic country. The tiny Afghan Church was planted almost entirely by the informal witness of believing Western diplomats between 1850 and 1976. There have been no formally-appointed Christian missionaries in Afghanistan in modern times. At the height of Assyrian missionary activity 1100 years ago, there were missionaries in all of the cities along the Silk Road, but their flocks in the Afghan cities were always small and did not survive the intervening centuries.
Locations: The native Christians in Afghanistan are, apparently, all located in the main cities, particularly Kabul. Persons who convert to Christianity in the countryside do not survive.
Persecution: Persecution of Christians is intense. During the Taliban regime, persecution was accomplished both formally, by law, and informally, by tribes and families. Since the overthrow of the Taliban, though the legal system no longer imposes criminal sentences on Christians, it also does not interfere when a Christian’s family or tribe murders him for apostasy from Islam. The situation for native Christians in Afghanistan has not been much better under American occupation or the new elected (but firmly Islamic) regime than it was under Taliban rule. Foreign aid workers who are Christian are, however, somewhat more free to operate than they were under the Taliban.
Disclaimer: None of the organizations or information sources linked below are affiliated with this site or the meeting announced therein in any way. None of them have endorsed what we are doing. The links are presented only as sources of information and as prompts to prayer. All of these information sources are also somewhat partisan. Under the existing circumstances, totally objective sources are simply impossible to find. There are numerous sources about the Assyrian Christians in Iraq (and Iran), but very few about the tiny Christian community in Afghanistan or about the other Christian groups in Iraq.
:
Persecution.org (International Christian Concern): Report on Christian persecution in Afghanistan
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: Afghanistan.
The Joshua project, information about many people groups, including those of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Operation World, another resource containing much information about many countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Christians in them.
List of Christianity Today articles on Afghanistan
Beyond the Wall: Afghanistan's 10 Largest people Groups.
Afghan Government, official site.
Network for Good: Afghanistan, links to relief agencies.