(Voice of the Persecuted) You are invited to join us on Thursday, February 2, 2023, in a prayer conference call for the persecuted church hosted by Persecution Watch.
Afghanistan: Population: 38.9 million, Christians – thousands
The Taliban’s takeover of power in August 2021 forced many Christians either further underground or away from the country entirely. Many house groups closed, if not all, with believers forced to leave behind everything they own. This legacy continues into 2022.
The rigid form of society imposed by the militant group leaves no room for deviation, meaning Christians – most of whom are converts from Islam – must keep their faith secret. The consequences of discovery remain unthinkable.
Although conversions usually happen as a family unit in Afghanistan, if a woman decides to convert to Christianity on her own, discovery can bring violence, house arrest, forced marriage or sexual abuse. Women and girls already suffer acute oppression and discrimination under the Taliban. Following Jesus can severely exacerbate this.
Since men are at the forefront of public life, male converts can face harassment, ostracism, kidnap, violence, and death, if discovered. Consequently, Christian men opt to keep low profiles, with some choosing low-level positions in the workplace, to avoid unwanted attention.
Thousands of Afghan refugees are now living in countries bordering Afghanistan, often in poor conditions in camps for displaced people, and many Christians are among them.
However, since leaving Islam is considered punishable by death under the prevailing Islamic law, choosing to follow Jesus remains an extraordinarily brave decision to make, because it can have devastating consequences – be it at the hands of the authorities, or even a believer’s family, tribe, or clan in an attempt to preserve its ‘honor’.
Prayer Points
- Pray that the Lord will touch Hibatullah Akhundzada, who is Taliban leader, in a very special way to protect and preserve human life.
- Pray that the Lord will protect Christians from discovery when Muslim militia conduct house to house searches to detect and kill Christians.
- Pray that the Lord will make His believers invisible to the forces of darkness, put a hedge of protection around them and help them to deflect probing questions like “we don’t see you in the mosque.
- Pray that the Lord will protect His believers who are forced deeper in the underground to hold church services.
- Pray to the Lord that the isolated Christians in Afghanistan will find secret fellowships to find comfort and strength.
- Father God, we pray that you would touch the Taliban leadership to recognize the value of women as helpmates and as teachers.
- Lord, we ask You, the great and almighty God to supernaturally open the doors to education for girls and women.
- Pray that the Lord to protect Christian teenagers and women from forced marriages to Muslim men.
- Pray for the Christian refugees who fled from violence and persecution that they easily adapt to the culture in their new country
- Pray that believers have easy access to the internet online bibles and that messages will give them find strength and comfort.
- Pray to the Lord that He will appear to many Muslims in their sleep and that they will become seekers to find out more – to be connected to believers.
- Pray to the Lord to protect the NGOs secret networks from detection by the forces of darkness. to be able to bring help to believers in Afghanistan.
- Pray for Christians to be deeply anchored in faith and that they know that we pray for them.
- Pray that in spite of all the persecution that the Lord will grow the numbers of believers and that the day is near where Christian can come above ground.
Again, we want to lift-up these persecuted witnesses to the Lord:
- Leah Sharibu, prisoner of Boko Haram since 2018, pray for her release.
- Alice Loksha Ngaddah, kidnapped February 2019. She is a mother of two, working as a nurse for UNICEF. Pray for her release.
- Pray pastor Wang Yi to be released from prison
- For the release of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani from Iran, and his family as their Persecution continues. Pastor Nadarkhani is serving the second year of his six-year sentence, recently reduced from ten years.
- Pray for Ryan Kohler, pilot for Mission Aviation who is in prison in Mozambique. While flying supplies to orphanages in the Northeast of the country, he and two others were detained and accused of supporting terrorism.
The Harvest
- “I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18)
Andy, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Moderator
Prayer Conference Call Details
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
From any location on your phone
USA Time Zone:
9:00 PM Eastern
8:00 PM Central
7:00 PM Mountain
6:00 PM Pacific
Call in number: (667) 770-1476
Access Code: 281207#
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What is Persecution Watch?
Persecution Watch is a U.S. national prayer conference call ministry that prays specifically for the global Persecuted Church. For over a decade, Blaine Scogin led this national network of believers who faithfully pray for the persecuted and the global harvest for the Kingdom of God. The group meets via a free call-in service every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night at 9pm Eastern time in the United States (please check your time zone). Blaine also served as Prayer Director for Voice of the Persecuted, and the missions became one. Brother Blaine passed into glory on December 26, 2019. It was truly a blessing for all of us to serve alongside this dear man of God and he will be greatly missed. The prayer mission of Persecution Watch remains an important part of our mission. Voice of the Persecuted is committed to continue the prayer conference call for the persecuted along with the dedicated Persecution Watch prayer warrior team.
Prior to the passing of Brother Blaine, he confirmed the passing of the torch as prayer conference call leader to Nadia Dybvik. Nadia has a burdened heart for the persecuted and is a prayer warrior standing in the gap for them. She joined the Persecution Watch prayer team in 2013 and has been part of the core ever since. Before becoming the prayer call leader, she served in the role of prayer moderator since 2015. Blaine chose Nadia for her faithfulness to pray for the persecuted and her strong commitment to the Persecution Watch mission. We are blessed not only with her gift of prayer, but her genuine love for every brother and sister in Christ that comes on the call to pray. May the Lord continue to bless Nadia and the prayer team in the mission and their personal lives.
“Pray for us” is the number one request that we hear from the persecuted. As the members of the first century Church were moved by the Holy Spirit to pray, we too must continue to serve those suffering persecution by lifting them up to the Lord through prayer.
On occasion, persecuted brothers and sisters have been invited on the conference call to share the trials they are facing. The team serves to encourage them by washing their feet in Spirit led prayer. Time is often reserved for those on the call to ask questions. We believe this helps to gain a better understanding of the situation that persecuted Christians endure in their specific nations. Q&A also helps us to focus our prayers based on their current needs.
Persecution Watch also hosts callers who want to pray united from other nations. If your heart is perplexed by the sufferings of our persecuted brothers and sisters, you no longer need to pray alone.
We welcome all who desire to pray for the persecuted church and consider it a joy to pray together with you. If you are new to the call and cannot find your voice, listen in and pray silently or on mute. We are grateful and thank the Lord for bringing us all together to pray in agreement for our persecuted family in Christ. We can all be prayer warriors on this call!
God bless and protect you in your faithfulness to serve.
Lois Kanalos, Founder, Voice of the Persecuted, Nadia Dybvik, Persecution Watch Prayer Call Leader and the Persecution Watch Prayer Team
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Note to Voice of the Persecuted (VOP) readers: The Persecution Watch prayer team is also the prayer team of Voice of the Persecuted. SIGN UP today.
VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED 