This letter was published earlier this month by Afghan Christians in India.
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Letter to the Body of Christ around the world, written by members of the Afghan Christian
community on June 9, 2010:
To the Body of Christ:
This letter is written by the Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi, India which is a small community of 150 Afghan Christian refugees and asylum seekers.
We left our country because we were sentenced to death on the account of our Christian faith (conversion), as Afghanistan is a Muslim Country, the Afghan Government is an Islamic government, and Islam is the only formal religion of the country, and according to the Constitutional law of the Afghan Islamic Republic, conversion is considered as a big crime, Christian are called pagans and infidels and are sentenced to death by the Afghan Government. Christians are considered criminals. Death penalty is waiting for all those who want to leave the darkness and come to the true light, repent from their sins, and put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and Savior of all human being.
We believe that you (the Body of Christ) have already heard that some pictures and movies of the Afghan believers (from Delhi and Kabul) were shown by an Afghan Private TV (Noorin TV), this TV channel showed these picture in a especial program (Sarzameen Man), and the Government and people were encouraged and provoked to think about the issue of conversion, to make a stand against it and to take serious and practical measures and actions to destroy Afghan Converted Christians (Sons of God) and those who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Lost.
The Afghan Parliament, Senate, Religious Council and Islamic Parties and leaders made statements that the Afghan Government has to search, find, arrest, deliver to courts and executes all Afghan Christians, and the Christian NGOs and Organization have to be stopped too. University students protested against Afghan Christians in Kabul and Herat Provinces, and the Afghan Government also made a statement that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed, and the Christian NGOs and Organizations which involved with the issues of conversion will be closed.
Mr. Mujajdi the Chairman Of Afghan Senate said that if the Afghan Government does not take serious action, he and other Islamic leaders will call and request the Afghan people to take practical measures to kill all Afghan Christians.
President Karzai himself showed his personal interest in this regard and said that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed and Christian organizations which are involved with this issue will be stopped. He ordered the Afghan security organs to take serious measure in this regard. The Afghan Home Minister and the Chairman of the Afghan Intelligence told to the Afghan Parliament that 4 Afghan Christian individuals and one family are arrested and they are under investigation, 13 NGO are recognized and suspended, names of the Afghan Christians are listed and the Afghan Intelligence agency is trying to arrest them. Two Church organizations by the names of WCA and NCA are closed.
As we are in contact with our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, many believers are arrested, our houses are checked by police and intelligence people in Afghanistan, our families and parents (though they are Muslim) are under investigation and even arrested, and all Afghan believers are misplaced.
So, We (Afghan Christian Community) along with our other Afghan Christian brothers and sisters who are in
Afghanistan request you to:
1. Please pray for us and for this critical situation, pray for those who are arrested, and those who are under investigation.
2. Please come together and help your Afghan brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are sentenced to death, we are arrested, we are under investigation, the Afghan Government kills us because we believe on Jesus Christ, we know that we should consider it pure joy when we suffer
(James 1: 1 -4), and we are enjoying all suffering all joy. But we also know that faith without deeds is useless (James 2: 14 – 17), and this is the time to raise your voice for your brothers and sisters, for our children, for our old parents, for the execution of thousand Afghan believers. This is the day that all of us should come together and pray, think, help and raise our voices to the International Community, to put pressure on the Afghan Government to stop killing, persecuting and executing Afghan Christians, to give us freedom of religion, to respect and accept us as Afghan Christians
3. We do not know how the whole world and especially the Global Church is silent and closing their eyes, while thousand of their brothers and sisters (Body of Christ) are in pain, facing life danger and death penalty, and are tortured, persecuted and called criminals because they believe on the Truth. We need to wake up, get up and speak up today, and to prove it that we are really in concern, and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should help the persecuted part of the body of Christ, for His Glory. If we really believe that Lord Jesus Christ is God, then, He commands us to love Him and to love our neighbor, if our own brothers and sisters, are in pain and suffering, and we are silent and we ignore them and their suffering, then the question is that do we really obey Lord Jesus commandment of love Him and our neighbor?
So, dear brothers and sister (the Body of Christ), we (Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi) on behalf of all Afghan Christians request you to support us by your prayers and practical measures, lets tell to the Afghan Government, that we are not pagans and infidels, we are not criminal because of our Christian faith, and lets tell them not to sentence us to death.
May God bless you!
Afghan Christian Community
(Obaid S. Christ)
Dear Mr. Christ-
My prayers are with you in this horrendous persecution.
Dr. John Harutunian
Newton, MA
Member, Park Street Church, Boston
I’ll pray that and I’ll pray that you can love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Dr. Clark,
Thank you so much for posting this. Earnest prayer is certainly the most important thing that Christians around the world can do for our persecuted brethren in Afghanistan.
Yet do you have any direction as to what other things we can specifically do to help here, in a tangible sense – i.e. in the spirit of James 2? Do you know if there are any Christian ministries that are directly involved in relieving these precious saints, to which one might contribute?
Thanks.
Hi Phil,
Good question!
One thing that comes to mind: people could contact their congressman and/or senator to see if our representatives are aware of what is happening. It’s not as our government is not involved with the Afghan gov’t.
Hi Phil,
NGOs with a Christian influence are indeed pulling out of Afghanistan because of the deteriorating security situation, but, in order to continue their ministry, many are relocating to the various Afghan ex-pat communities which are scattered literally around the world. Many of these NGO “missionaries” work in partnership with denominational missions organizations to minister to the Afghan ex-pats which include some believers. So we could all contact our respective denominational mission entity or even parachurch organizations to see if it is possible to help in a practical way.
I’ve heard from my nephew that the spiritual warfare in Afghanistan is thick and dark, and it continues in the ex-pat communities where believers are still endangered due to the honor culture. In addition to holding up the Afghanis in prayer, please also pray for the missionaries who have had to leave dear Afghan friends behind and who are, at least in some cases, discouraged because their ministry has been ended in-country.
To make matters worse for the Afghan believers in North India, they are also in danger from the radical Hindus there.
I will be praying for these brothers and sisters and will include this in my pastoral prayer on the Lord’s Day. There is no greater encouragement to our brothers and sisters then to offer our prayers on their behalf before the throne of our God.
Thanks for posting this, Pastor.
Out of curiosity, would your average Libertarian or someone like Ron Paul in the United States argue that our government should not be involved even in this type of situation in Afghanistan?
It’s distressing that while I hear about trouble in Afghansitan, I have never heard of this persecution.
Yes, pray – but prayer without action – so call and hassle your government to threathen this heathenic Afgan puppet governement (which is literally controlled by the US and european governments) with sanctions and they will back off – the devil is a coward!