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‘The list has been circulated’
Imagine what would it feel like to be in your home, knowing that the next knock on the door could mean tragedy for you and your family.
For secret believers in Afghanistan, this is the reality they’re living with as the Taliban search homes, looking for anyone connected with the West or Christianity.
“The list has been circulated with our names on it,” Saad says—a list that includes the names of Christians whom the Taliban has targeted, he adds. Since the takeover, Taliban house searches have become a regular occurrence.
“Some [of us] have been killed. Some have been kidnapped, some have disappeared,” Saad shares. “It feels like the morning after a massive cataclysmic explosion.”
Since the Taliban takeover, the secret church in Afghanistan has been scattered– some have fled, some have stayed, some are missing or can’t be contacted.
“We call one another and ask about headaches, shoulder pain, all injuries old health concerns, all in a bid to remain connected,” says Saad. “For now, this is all we can ask.”
He continues: “When the Taliban took control, it was everything we feared. You cannot understand it like I do. I cannot explain it in words.”
Fatimah reminds us that the fear is not new.
“There may be new soldiers in the capital city, but this is not new, these threats,” she explains. “The pain of living for Jesus and risking everything to follow Him, there’s nothing new about that. Not for me, and not for my grandparents who also lived for Him and followed Him. That’s been the reality for Afghan believers for more than 40 years. First, under the Taliban, and then under the American-supported Afghan government, even before the Taliban took control last month.”
Hope in the darkness
On August 15, 2021—the night the Taliban took control— Saad says he felt as if someone had stepped into his memories, trying to snuff them out to “speak fear” to him.
That same night, Saad and Fatimah welcomed their baby girl into the world. The significance is not lost on Saad: “A baby girl born to a Christian family on such a fateful night.” That night as the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Saad’s father read Psalm 20 over their newborn from the other side of the curtain where Fatimah laid.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call! (Psalm 20:7-8).
On one side of the room, the men huddled together, acutely aware of what was happening to their country and in their lives.
“We were afraid. We are afraid,” Saad shares.
“These soldiers are not committed to human dignity,” Fatimah adds. “Their eyes are looking all the time how to have power and how to demean anyone who wants to think and dream. It is our thoughts and dreams that need to be preserved and saved. Our faith lives there, in our hearts, and in our minds.”
The measure of love
Since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, secret believers there have shared their dire need for intercessory prayer. One believer even told us, “Prayer is what we need most.”
Saad and Fatima echo that call.
“For us, everything has been taken away,” Saad says. “We need you to ask God on our behalf.”
Even when we can’t be with them physically, we can meet our Afghan family when we come together in prayer. “When you pray, you meet us in the room of God’s throne where we can have communion,” Fatima says.
Saad and Fatima and their families are reading and meditating on John 17—Jesus’ prayers for Himself, His disciples and apostles, and us (“those who will believe in Me through their message” v. 20). The couple is focusing on the measure of love:
“If you love us, pray for us,” Saad says. “This is where we are together: at the foot of the cross, where the full measure of love is known. If you love me—if you love Jesus—pray for us.”
Saad knows that the days, weeks and months, even years, ahead will be difficult for him, his family and all those who follow Jesus in secrecy. He talks about intentional actions he will take as he trusts Christ in Afghanistan:
“It will not be easy,” he says. “I do not know where to begin, but I will begin with encouraging my wife that there is a hope for our daughter.
“We do this because we believe Jesus is here and is alive.”
Share your prayers in the comments below!
(Reprinted with permission from Open Doors. Article by Lindy Lowry. Photo Credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images).
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O Father, this precious royal family, now entering their third generation, put us to shame, but their perseverance brings glory to You! And You have said that those who endure to the end will be saved. Please give them an extra measure of endurance, even joyful endurance, as they obey You in trials and tribulations.
I ask You, Father, that Your light in them be so bright that the enemy will not be able to see or harm them, as they abide under Your Almighty shadow, but that it will be the just-right beacon for every lost sheep in the region to find You.
Continue to be glorified in this family, Father, as we join them in rejoicing in You always!
Loving Father, I thank you that I have never lived in a secret underground church. I thank you for my freedom to worship freely. I ask forgiveness for this great power Nation that I live in has made their situation worse. As I read through this article all I could think is how could we do that to those people. Forgive America for what was done. I plead the blood of Jesus over these two precious saints Sadd & Fatima. I ask you give Fatima peace that passes all understanding toward the future of her baby daughter. I pray over that baby make a way to give her a future full of hope. Protect them Lord give them peace provide for their every need. In Jesus name, Amen
This song was on my heart this morning. My prayer today for these precious Afghan believers.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong;
And now, O King Eternal,
We lift our battle song.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords’ loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy
The heav’nly kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
We follow, not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning
Where’er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o’er us,
We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.
Let us remain firm in the profession of our faith (hope) without wavering, for he who has promised us is faithful. Exhort one another, and so much the more when you see that day approaching. Read Hebrews 10:23-27. AMEN