Pray for Afghanistan:
Violence in Kabul
Sometimes only poetry can express our cries before the Lord. We ask all BMS World Mission supporters to pray for Afghanistan.
An ISIS suicide bomber targeted a wedding in Kabul on Saturday, killing 63 men, women and children, and wounding over 200 people. Very young children and grandparents were killed. People like you, me, our friends. They were members of a minority Shia community, described as “poor people” by one surviving guest. They were there to celebrate a marriage.
The Taliban condemned the attack. Ten more bombs went off in Jalalabad on Monday.
In Britain we were also trying to enjoy the weekend, worrying about the future of our own country, doing our best to be the light of Christ in our churches, the Body of Christ in our food banks and ministries. We probably didn’t realise what had happened.
And how could we? We’re so used to it, so collectively numb to the violence in countries too far away to feel it, that we almost expect these things. Lord, forgive us.
Rory* was not in Kabul or Jalalabad when the attacks happened, but he could have been. He’s one of many BMS workers who live in Afghanistan, working with Afghan people for a better future. They are not superheroes or white saviours. They are ordinary Christians stepping out in faith to serve God and a country that needs as much hope, faith and love as we can offer. They see things, hear things, meet and love the people who have experienced things that most of us will never have to deal with.
On Monday he wrote this moving reflection on the violence, and he’s given us permission to share it here.
They are ordinary Christians stepping out in faith to serve God and a country that needs as much hope, faith and love as we can offer.
Monday
Write when you feel like it and write when you don’t feel like it
The regular predictable fireworks were there again tonight, same as two days ago
But in between
Oh God
The unthinkable has its teeth in the neck of the unpredictable, stealing its identity
The city shudders and rails against yet another day of anguish and because everyone knows someone who
And by the city
I mean the people
Though the rocks themselves would cry out too
They slowed down the clocks today. Has a hundred years of acceleration brought us near to lightspeed? Or just a hand upraised that says, another day will do for that, it doesn’t matter (doesn’t really matter), not compared to how people matter
And also today I did marvel at a tiny red flower with ten shades of gloss in each petal, and the brightest merry yellow pollen, facing straight up to signal in peace to the watchers in the skies, come and make me more than I am, I am motionless but you can change me from flower (an idea, an advert, a petition) to fruit
BMS workers in Afghanistan are aware of the risks involved in living in a country that has been a pawn for centuries in international struggles. They believe that God has called them there and they believe the risk is worth it. They’re helping Afghan people to rebuild their country – from trauma counselling and mental health work to helping villages prevent death through maternal health training and safe water supplies. And the risk our workers face is different: conscious and temporary. It is the people of Afghanistan who most need our prayers.
Pray for Afghanistan
- Pray for the children, women and men mourning the loss of loved-ones. Pray for healing and peace, and that they would know the support of their communities.
- Pray for God to have mercy on Afghanistan and to bring peace and an end to the extraordinary suffering there.
- Pray for stability, a minimum of violence and safety in the run-up to Afghanistan’s elections, currently scheduled for September. This is a period of high tension, so pray especially for the Afghan Government at this time.
- Pray for the ISIS fighters who planned the attacks. Pray that God would change their hearts. Pray fervently that they would be prevented from killing more people.
- Pray for BMS workers serving, often with their children, in parts of Afghanistan it is not safe to name here. Pray for God’s protection over them. Pray that they would know God’s protection and sustaining presence, and that he would use them to bring glimpses of his kingdom among those who need it most.
- Afghanistan was celebrating 100 years of independence from Britain when the bombs went off. Pray for wisdom, humility and concern for the Afghan people on the part of countries intervening in Afghanistan. Pray for repentance for wrongs done and for opportunities to make amends.
- Pray for BMS work and the work of our long-established partner in Afghanistan, that God would use our offerings to bring about lasting change.
We know God is good and that he loves the people of Afghanistan. And we pray in faith that he will help.
*Name changed.
Words by Jonathan Langley.
