Afghanistan and Persecuted Christians

It might come as a surprise to learn that Afghanistan, with it's Islamic warlords and extremism, is only number 6 on the list of top 50 persecuting countries, yet it's true. This brings one to wonder how easy it might be in Afghanistan.

Not easy...

The key to persecution in Afghanistan is that it most often comes from neighbors and family while the police and government turns a blind eye.  Open Doors USA says that even though there is no open church in Afghanistan, the church continues to grow. This is extremely encouraging to hear as the US has been involved in Afghanistan for some time now, obviously as part of the War on Terror. I have been part of that conflict from my position on my ship. The country has a Christian population estimated to be 0.02% of the general population.

Killings haven't been common recently, though harassment continues. One story of a killing is from The Voice of the Martyrs Website. For more information, you can also read my review of Kabul 24.

I've been involved, although only from a distance, with the war in Afghanistan. The more I learned since the start of the war, the more I was grateful that we were there, at least, hopefully, providing some sort of relief for the people of Afghanistan. I'm only saying this as a believer, not a sailor. I hope that my deployments have helped, in some small way, move Afghanistan from #4 to #6. I have hopes for the future as well. We'll see how it goes!