As the United States concluded its abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, many have been left stranded to suffer under the Taliban’s regime.
Christians are one of the most hated and oppressed religious minority groups within Afghanistan, especially with the added risk of the Taliban. Most Christians in Afghanistan are converts from Islam which puts them at an even greater risk. Being a convert from Islam is considered “apostate”.
This will lead to an even higher rate of persecution from the Taliban for those that are converts from Islam to Christianity.
On the Open Doors World Watch List, a yearly report on the most dangerous places for Christians, Afghanistan ranks second, just underneath North Korea. Merely showing interest in the gospel could lead to execution under the Taliban’s regime.
Christians make up less than 0.3% of the actual population of Afghanistan, which could be another factor in the heavy persecution. While the U.S. Department of State has estimated that there are only about 8,000 Christians in Afghanistan, that information is unreliable because the nation does not officially recognize anyone as being Christian.
With the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan now being evacuated, there is no safe place for Afghan Christians. Reports from Frontier Alliance International, a Christian ministry that has been working in Afghanistan for decades, indicate that the Taliban are going door-to-door hunting for Christians and promptly executing them if they find any evidence. The ministry also reports that the Taliban have a “hit-list” of known Christians that they are targeting.
This story, however, does not come without hope.
Civilian efforts are taking place to evacuate as many known Afghan Christians from the clutches of the Taliban. Popular radio host Glenn Beck has set up The Nazarene Fund to raise money, with more than $20 million raised so far, to rescue Christians from Afghanistan, particularly women and children.
Hopefully, with the recent equating of the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan with the Fall of Saigon, there can also be an equation made with the evacuation of Dunkirk, where civilians did their own duty to assist in a time of crisis.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps