(From Help The Persecuted, htp.org) In the summer of ’21, mass evacuations were not on Help The Persecuted’s radar…then U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan, and the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021.
Phone calls started to pour in, persecuted Christians in Afghanistan fearing for their lives as their homes became warzones—knowing their faith was a certain death sentence. A young woman, Farida, left a desperate voicemail that was especially haunting:
“Hello brother…excuse me for calling you a lot. I am very worried, and my last hope is for you to get us out of here. My father has been missing since yesterday…and we are afraid that the Taliban will attack our house….”
When the Kabul airport was no longer an option, our team began to pray because helping Farida and others seemed impossible. On August 31, the final U.S. transport plane took off, carrying the last of military personnel but leaving thousands of Afghan allies and persecuted Christians behind.
We prayed, asking God to show us what to do. Doors began to open in ways that left us amazed. We mobilized our connections in Afghanistan and forged new ones as a group of well-connected advisors and volunteers came together almost overnight.
We began to move persecuted Afghans to the northern part of the country, where it was easier to hide from the Taliban and gain access to bordering countries. Farida, her sisters, and her mother all arrived and were placed in our temporary Safe House. Soon after, they joined about 200 persecuted Afghans we helped evacuate on various flights out.
But there were so many more who needed our help…
Teenage sisters Esin and Kashm had been living with their Christian uncle after their parents’ divorce years ago. As the Taliban invaded, the sisters disguised themselves by wearing burqas and exited their building unnoticed. They soon arrived at our Safe House and waited with hundreds of their countrymen not knowing what the future would hold.
And then God moved.
On October 20, Help The Persecuted chartered two flights out of Afghanistan. On that day, 545 persecuted Christians were successfully evacuated and landed in a temporary location while their resettlement plans could be worked out. It was a miracle of proportions we never could have imagined.
All in all, we evacuated more than 750 persecuted believers from the Taliban’s regime.