Prior to August 15th, some researchers estimated that there were approximately 1200 Christians in Afghanistan. Radio host Glenn Beck might have just changed that by raising $28 million to evacuate them. According to his update at https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2021/august/after-raising-over-28-million-to-rescue-afghan-christians-glenn-beck-shares-incredible-update, 1200 happens to be the exact number that his planes have taken out of the troubled land in the past two weeks. We’re so thankful that some of the highest-profile Afghan believers have now been extracted to safety. But… at the same time, we can’t help but ache now for the non-believers left behind, who now have less chance of hearing the Good News. It’s a catch-22, right? Nobody wants to see a believer tortured or killed. But all of us also longed for the 35 million people who are now left behind to hear the Good News, right? Is it not true that, if the deck was stacked against non-believers before, then now – wow. How will they ever hear? If you have an opinion, please comment – and feel free to do so anonymously. (Thanks for the heads-up on this effort, Keith!)
10) What’s Your Take on Extracting Christians From Afghanistan?
My prayer is that the excesses of radical Islam will backfire and that, like in Iran, that it might accelerate the desire for something better and create more openness to the gospel. I hurt for what will happen to the underground church but they will probably remain more faithful than the western church.
With a cloistered view of the church and a view of America as the new Israel these extractions are inevitable, especially when high profile media personalities desire it.
While the highest profile believers can have a great mobilization impact from the relative safety of the west, the end result of trying to get all believers out is to isolate further those who are seeking but now have no one to lead them.
It is a tough call.
In Russia in the Perestroika era more than 150,000 Russian Baptists and Pentecostals immigrated. Many of those were deeply committed and well educated and spiritually mature. Normal non Christian Russians and Orthodox Russians saw them as traitors or ‘Motherland haters. That mass exodus arguably weakened the remaining church and certainly lowered their influence on the many seekers of that era.
The 35 million muslim afghans remaining should be the focus of our prayers and reaching them the focus of our resources.
Until nine years ago, my answer would have been, “Of course, Christians should stay! Build up the church. ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed is of the Church.'” After all, that’s what all the experts say. And then a friend’s life was in danger. No protection from her family. In theory, I hope believers stay. But once I knew someone personally, it changed my perspective. I don’t believe there’s an easy answer.
I trust that those who criticize Afghan Christians for leaving are willing to go and take their place. Unfortunately, I don’t notice many Americans volunteering for martyrdom.
One Brigada participant wrote, “In 1988, my best friend asked me to join him on a clandestine mission to smuggle the Jesus Film into Afghanistan. As our departure grew near so did our excitement. Backpacks, camping gear, thousands of dollars in cash, and 500lbs of film equipment boarded a plane for Karachi, Pakistan.” He then shared, “Read more at https://ephesiology.com/blog-post/our-graves-a-stepping-stone/ “