Afghanistan (MNN) — Afghanistan continues its downward spiral. The economy is collapsing, and human rights violations fill the headlines. The Taliban’s first annual budget foresees a $501 million deficit, and there’s no plan to fix it. Poverty and hunger drive tragic trends like child marriages; aid agencies estimate 120,000 children have been used as currency since the Taliban takeover.
Afghan women wearing the Taliban’s blue burqas.
Meanwhile, blue burqas are back as Taliban officials demand women wear full-face coverings in public. Efforts to drive women out of the workforce also continue unabated. According to World Bank data, women comprised nearly 22-percent of the Afghan workforce and numbers were steadily growing before August 2021.
As Afghanistan falls apart, Afghans want to know the one true God. Afghan callers keep the lines busy at Heart4Iran’s call center.
“People are searching for the real God to hear them, to understand their situation, their problems [and] tears. People are still searching for the truth,” Shahnaz* says.
Listen to a full-length Afghanistan update from Heart4Iran here.
Some callers don’t know precisely what they’re looking for, but they know where to find it. “I had a call from Jumar; he’s not a believer,” Shahnaz says.
“He said, ‘I know I’m in the dark. Our path is not the right path. Please help me to know Jesus, to know the Bible. I want you to help me, sister; help me find the truth.’”
Shahnaz also spoke with Jumar’s daughter, Yvette. “She told me, ‘I want to know the truth. I don’t want to believe whatever my grandparents told me or what the culture says. Because this is not [what] God has planned for us,’” Shahnaz says.
“Please send me the Bible. I want to read it for my parents [and] my siblings [so] all of us can know the truth of Jesus.”
Light in darkness
Other callers know the Lord, and they crave what most of us take for granted – fellowship with other believers. When the “Taliban came and took over, many believers left Afghanistan,” Shahnaz says.
Eunice, an Afghan believer, recently called and said:
“Sister Shahnaz, we feel left behind. We had fellowship; we had some worship time, Bible study, but we don’t have [that] now. What should we do? I know I have to grow [and] be more faithful. But if I’m not hearing (the Word of God) how I can grow in my faith? Can you please help us? Can you call me every day and share with me about the Bible? Can you [join] me in some songs and I could be in His presence? I feel so alone.”
You can help in five ways through Heart4Iran. “Help us to help them know Jesus [and] grow their faith. We need each other to grow God’s kingdom in Afghanistan,” Shahnaz says.
“We saw some people left, but we have many brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. God has a plan for each one of them and each one of us.”
*Pseudonym
Header image is a stock photo taken in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy of Farid Ershad/Unsplash)