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Growing Faith Under Pressure

Dear friend of Langham,

It was winter of 2002 when I set foot in northern Afghanistan as part of my work with a
Christian relief agency. My team was there to serve in a region that had resisted the Taliban
but had been devastated by three years of drought and famine. What I witnessed has been
seared into my heart.

The women were out of sight, and the men and boys carried rifles to kill animals for meat.
There were no paved roads, no electricity, and no running water. I’ll never forget walking with
barefoot children in a foot or more of snow, watching their fathers dismantle their homes to
use as wood to buy food. The center of village life was the mosque, where desperate people
gathered to pray.

Their physical hunger was visible, and the spiritual hunger was palpable.

Nurturing hope in countries under pressure
As followers of Jesus, you and I can turn to God’s Word and a community of faith for peace
and healing in the midst of devastation. In Afghanistan, ranked second on the list of places
1
where it’s hardest to be a Christian, there is no visible church. Followers of Jesus, a tiny fraction
of the population, worship in secret. It is unknown how many in Afghanistan are Christians
—but estimates are less than 0.3%. (99.7% practice Islam.)

1. Open Doors’ World Watch List of the top 50 countries where it’s most dangerous to be a Christian.

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