1st century. Acts 2:9 tells us that on the day of Pentecost, Parthians, Medes and Elamites heard the gospel. The Parthian kingdom covers part of present-day western Afghanistan.
2nd century. According to the Church Father Eusebius, the Apostles Thomas and Bartholomew were sent to what is now western Afghanistan and according to tradition they were also in northern Afghanistan.
5th century. Tradition refers to Herat as a bishopric in the 6th, 10th - 11th centurieswith Christian communities, mostly Nestorians. The area was on the Silk Road from China. Balkh was a mission center from which missions were sent to China and elsewhere.
13th century. A Christian prince in present-day Afghanistan converted to Islam, probably for political reasons.
14th century. By this time, there were practically no Christians left in Afghanistan.
17th - 18th century. Christian Armenian traders settled in the Kabul area and a new Christian minority community developed. But by 1771, they were driven out of Afghanistan by Muslims.
I 1919 wasAfghanistan gained independence from Britain and was ruled as a monarchy until 1973. After a series of military governments, a government was formed that survived with Soviet help.
I 1978 culminated in the Soviet invasion, which lasted a decade.
I 1996 the Taliban came to power and followed a strict interpretation of Islam.Conversion to the Christian faith could result in the death penalty, imprisonment and confiscation of property.
September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center in New York was attacked. The Taliban falls under Western attacks on the country as punishment for the fact that Al-Qaeda, which was behind the terrorist attack, had bases in the country.
2004: First democratic elections in Afghanistan. A new constitution followed, making Islam the state religion and the basis for all legislation and interpretation of laws.
2015: Danish European Mission donors begin supporting two clinics in Kabul that provide medical care to the poor.
2021: The Taliban gains control of all of Afghanistan's provinces. The future is uncertain for all Afghans - especially women, dissidents and Christian converts. Before the Taliban took power, there were an estimated 3000 underground Christians in the country. This number is lower now as more Christians have fled the country.
Sources: Under Cesar's Sword (University of Notre Dame), encyclopodia.com et al.
