Afghanistan is not an easy place to live. For over three decades the country has been embroiled in conflicts both with other countries and between internal factions. The population is almost entirely Islamic (99.8%) and the majority of residents are classified as Frontier People Groups, which means they have almost no chance of hearing the Gospel from someone in their own people group. Christianity is not even acknowledged in Afghanistan which has consistently ranked among the top countries for persecution of those who choose to follow Jesus.
Abdul (name changed) was born into this environment as the son of a Muslim priest. One day Abdul heard the truth about Jesus through a radio broadcast and his life took a dramatic turn. He had a deep hunger to know more about God and salvation. Whenever he could get some cash, Abdul would sneak off to an internet café and over the course of three years he hand-copied Genesis and Matthew. Eventually Abdul was old enough to have his own smart phone through which he could freely and discreetly access scripture and became a firm Christian believer with a desire to share the Gospel with others.
Last year, in partnership with another organization, The Tide® ministry began working with Abdul to produce and air an evangelical radio program in the Dari language. The program is called “Razwana e Muhabat,” which means “Window of Love,” and primarily targets children, but the huge number of listeners responding to the program includes adults. One of those adults was a man who called to complain that since his children have started listening to this program they no longer want to go to the mosque! Even though Dari is the most widely used language in Afghanistan, the largest ethnic group there are Pashtuns who make up half the population and were born to speak Pashto, which is also the official language of the Taliban.
As mentioned in our last newsletter, we are expanding our outreach in Afghanistan to include a Pashto language radio program. It is a joy to report that Abdul and his team have been able to meet our target of having programs recorded, produced, and ready to air by the end of June 2022! This is in addition to keeping up with all the demands of the Dari language outreach. Please pray for this small team that is devoted to building God’s Kingdom in the hearts of people throughout Afghanistan. A spokesman for the Taliban was recently quoted as saying that Christianity does not exist in Afghanistan (voanews.com), but Abdul can confirm otherwise. Here are words of gratitude for you directly from Abdul;
“Thank you for your support and encouragement this past year with Dari language radio broadcast. We are excited to see the fruit of this outreach – God has been so faithful. We have received many testimonies. The children of Afghanistan are listening to the Good News. Unfortunately we can’t say the exact number of listeners from here, but we believe thousands are listening and many of them don’t want to send us a message for fear of their lives. Because we see the fruit of Dari radio ministry we are eager to produce more episodes (Pashto). It is exciting to see this as another source to share the Gospel to those who have never heard.” – Abdul (A fictional name, but a very real person!)