Pakistan (MNN) — Pakistani and Afghan authorities are playing hot potato with the lives of 1.7 million Afghans. Two months ago, Pakistan started mass deportation undocumented Afghan foreigners. Those born in or with Pakistan special immigration visas were also caught in the mix.
The Pakistani government cites terrorist threats as the main reason for these expulsions. Nehemiah with IGF said: “Especially after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, Pakistani parties recorded that around 25% of terrorist activities increased in Pakistan. »
According to the United Nations, more than 450,000 Afghans living in Pakistan have so far been pushed towards the Afghan border. There they are stuck.
“It’s very cold there now,” Nehemiah said. “They don’t have any facilities. They’re just sitting there, out in the open, and they have nowhere to go.
Afghan Christians who traveled from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
(Photo courtesy of IMF)
Afghan Christians in Pakistan are no exception. IGF supports indigenous church planters in Pakistanand several of the ministry’s Afghan partners have been affected by the expulsions.
Nehemiah explains, “We have had a very large ministry among Afghan nationals for years and years. Many of the IMF’s Muslim-background believers are church planters who…maybe their parents were Afghan, but they live in Pakistan or were born in Pakistan. But now they are also facing this situation.
Entire Afghan religious congregations in Pakistan must now travel to Afghanistan, a country ruled by the Taliban terrorist group.
FMI is in contact with these congregations – some are even led by FMI church planters. Other IMF partners also offer support to the extent they can.
We may not know what God is doing through this movement of His Church in Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, there is evangelical hope.
Nehemiah said, “Of course it’s a sad situation. But I find joy in this situation in saying that we have people and partners who can also go and found their congregations in Afghanistan.
Pray for the wisdom and courage of displaced Afghan believers. Ask the Lord to protect the Church from the remnant in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pray that Afghan Christians will lead others to Christ by their faithful example wherever they go.
Header photo courtesy of FMI.
