Image: People who convert to the Christian faith risk exclusion by family, friends and the local community - and ultimately martyrdom.
Normal to suffer martyrdom
The sermon for the church service I attended on Sunday, December 1, 2014, began dramatically. I was not far from Kabul, in southern Tajikistan, Afghanistan's neighbor to the north. The pastor told me that he had received a text message in the morning that five Christians had been martyred in Afghanistan the night before; three foreign Christian development workers and two local converts. Taliban forces had attacked a home where they were gathered.
At the service we prayed for the bereaved and for Afghanistan. Tajiks, like the majority of Afghans, are Persian and the two peoples are culturally close. The martyrdom of these Christians shows the seriousness of being a Christian in Afghanistan.
3000 Christians - in a country with 30 million inhabitants
In Afghanistan, 99.9 % of the population is Muslim and the constitution enshrines Islam as the country's religion. The exact number of Christians is not known, but it is probably around 3000.
These Christians mostly practice their faith in secret, either with their families or in small groups with other believers. Confessing their Christian faith can cost them their lives.
Parliament demanded death penalty for Christians
In 2010, an Afghan TV station broadcast private video clips and photos of a baptism and prayer service. This led to great outrage in the country and in the parliament, which has adopted several international conventions on rights, even called for the death penalty for Afghan Christians.
Christians are pressured to adapt to Islam
The pressure to conform to Islam in all areas of life is immense, whether in family, work or public life.
Fact: A few years ago, the Taliban, who since their defeat in 2001 have clearly strengthened again, threatened Christians in the country with extermination on a website. Christian church life takes place entirely in secret. There is not a single church building in the entire country, not even for foreign Christians.
Please pray for Afghanistan and the Afghan Christians. Pray that they will have the strength and boldness - also to spread hope in a country plagued by poverty and poor health.
Also support our health project in the country, where poor people receive medical care.
