The Power of the Gospel

Ch 4. Afghanistan ranks first in persecution after the Taliban return to power

Many seeds of the gospel have been sown and born fruit in Afghanistan!

American missionary William M. Miller served in Iran for 43 years from 1919 to 1962. At that time, Afghanistan was closed and there were no official missionaries. Many people, including Miller, were praying for the country. In 1921, Miller visited Zabol, which is close to Afghanistan, and secretly swam across the Helmand River, where he first stepped on Afghan soil. He brought a handful of grass because he had nothing else to bring from the wilderness. He put it one by one inside prayer letters to supporters in his home country and wrote, “This is the first fruit of Afghanistan!”

Missionary Wilson was one of those who became a missionary under Miller’s influence. In 1921, when Miller swam to Afghanistan, Wilson, a minister in Tabriz, gave birth to a son, J. Christy Wilson, who later became a missionary to Afghanistan. The Wilson family always prayed for Afghanistan, so young Christy grew up hearing and praying about the country. Christy went to Afghanistan as an English teacher in 1951. His encounter with a blind boy expanded to ministry for the blind, leading to the establishment of an eye clinic. As a result of this, the International Afghan Mission (IAM) was founded in 1966. The name, IAM, also represents the first two words in the statement “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Since then, IAM ministers have carried out various ministries and made many sacrifices while sincerely serving the people of Afghanistan.

Tom and Libby Little were among IAM optometrists who went to Afghanistan in the 1970s. They were dedicated ministers who did not leave the country and served the local people even when the Soviet Union invaded Kabul. In 2010, Tom worked as an eye doctor in Nuristan, the most rugged northern region of Afghanistan, and his wife, Libby, attended the 3rd Lausanne Conference in South Africa. There Libby spoke on the topic of “pain,” and said that remaining in the local community in a difficult moment deepened ties with the local people, resulting in the gospel bearing fruit. When she shared the story, Missionary Tom and his companions were murdered by the Taliban, on their way back from work in Nuristan. However, many seeds of the gospel were sown in Afghanistan through him and others who have served faithfully for more than 30 years, and are still bearing fruit today.

Missionary Choi Sook Hee from Korea received a degree from the United States and worked as an English professor at Handong University, then applied to Global Bible Translators(GBT) as a missionary and went to Afghanistan. Choi, who taught English at Kabul University of Education, unfortunately was found with cancer and passed away after several years of illness. Thanks to such hard work and dedication, Afghanistan has changed over the past 20 years, and in Kabul in particular, there have been changes beyond imagination. The potential of a generation that hasn’t experienced the Taliban is amazing. Of course, they are also capable of doing remarkable work if given the chance. Unfortunately, a crisis has occurred again. As was the case when the Soviet Union was invaded in 1979, and when the Taliban took over in 1996, and when the Taliban withdrew for a while in 2001, the withdrawal of US troops and the return of the Taliban to power in 2021 put a temporary brake on the ministry for Afghanistan. However, just as God has done at other times, He will continue to do His work unfathomable by humans. The Afghan refugees scattered due to the current situation will face a new environment. We need to continue praying for those at risk who have not been able to leave Afghanistan. Now is the time to pray that the Lord will control every situation, so that the grass that William Miller brought from that land would grow into countless people to bear fruit.

More than 12,000 converts over 20 years—the gates of Hades cannot overcome the church!

The Afghan Family Church Network and the International Christian Concern (ICC), an American persecution monitoring organization, estimate that over the past 20 years, there have been 10,000 to 12,000 Christians nationwide who have converted after hearing the gospel underground. Hyun Sook Foley, representative of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, stated that even after the Taliban took power, Christian media ministry organizations continued their radio broadcasts and other media efforts. She added that messages from Afghan Christians living in Taliban-controlled areas, asking how to live faithfully according to their beliefs, arrive daily.

“Most of the Christians who left this land were leaders. They felt that they were at greatest risk, and they had a good relationship with foreigners who would help them leave Afghanistan. However, it is wrong to underestimate or sympathize with remaining Christians. This is a familiar story in the history of the church. It was the same during the Boxer Rebellion in China or when Kim Il-sung seized power and Christians had to flee North Korea. Missionaries and local Christian leaders had no choice but to leave, and the new regime believed that the remaining Christians were too weak and disorganized to resist and could be easily eliminated. However, those who remained clung to Christ. Christ was all they had, and He cared for them, protected them, and helped them grow. As a result, the church became stronger and bolder, and the number of believers increased.”

Foley expects similar outcomes in Afghanistan as seen in other parts of history. She stated, “The Lord has not left Afghanistan. People can still hear His Word daily on the radio. We will continue to support Christian radio broadcasts and media ministries focused on Afghanistan. Radio and media are currently the most tangible and powerful ways for God’s people in Afghanistan to hear His voice. What the Taliban has destroyed is the Afghan government, not the Afghan church. In Afghanistan, China, or any other country, the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church.”

》Prayer Points

1. God’s hand for the salvation of the people of Afghanistan has not stopped for over 2000 years. Let’s be grateful that many seeds of the gospel have been sown in the country, including Missionary Miller, Missionary Wilson, Missionary Tom and Libby Little, and Missionary Choi, who planted the first
seeds through prayer. Also, let’s pray to God, who is still bearing the fruit of life, to bring about salvation in Afghanistan.

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.(John 12:24-26,NIV)

2. Let’s pray for the remaining Christians of Afghanistan, who have been saved by hearing the gospel over the past 20 years. Whether they are in other countries as refugees or in Afghanistan under the Taliban influence oppressing them through searches, threats, violence, and murder, let’s pray that they find refuge in the Lord. Pray that Jesus Christ will be their all and that they will be stronger and bolder than
ever before, growing in numbers. Let’s pray that God will defeat the attacks of the Taliban regime, Muslims, and Islamists, and that the church that has already grown in Afghanistan will win its final victory.

9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.(Revelation 2:9-10,NIV)

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