In the midst of the darkness, the Kingdom advances without pause
Amir arrived in Pakistán with his family after crossing the Afghan-Pakistani border, fleeing the growing crisis in his country. His story is the story of many children who are gradually arriving in this country through illegal channels seeking refuge, peace, and hope.
Littles ones like Amir arrive just with the clothes they are wearing and a pair of sandals, due to their families having to hand over everything to pay extortions to the Taliban, Pakistani army, and customs at the border during their journey.
Families like these settle in Bastis, improvised mud constructions that have no water or electricity. Most of the time they are built by the families themselves. There are families with five siblings or more like Amir's family, who arrived along with their widowed mother who is trying to survive.
Children here do not have much to do since there is a lack of schools due to the few NGOs that were running them have now left the country. They are now just returning. The older children go out scavenging through garbage to find anything they can sell to earn 50 rupees (less than a dollar) to buy some food and help their families. You would think that in an environment like this it would be difficult for children like Amir to transform their lives. However, in the midst of the darkness, the Kingdom advances without pause and does not cease to share hope.
That's right! In the midst of this, two believers, with passionate hearts, wanted to share hope with them despite the risk it represents. Daud & Fatima are a married couple who were born in a small Pakistani village, near the border of Afghanistan. It is mostly populated by Pashtuns and they were the only Christians. They had to learn two languages to fully know their customs and culture, which made them even more passionate about sharing the good news with others.
In Daud's particular case, his mother prayed that he would be a disciple of Christ, and God has answered those prayers. He desires to reach the Pashtuns for Christ and wants others to join him, so whenever he has the opportunity from his work, he shares the gospel in Pashtun and helps those who receive the message with his discipleship.
In this time, where the crisis has displaced Afghans-Pashtuns, Daud feels the burden God has placed on them and says, "a new generation has come to us and I give glory to God for this".
That is why he and his wife recently launched an initiative that seeks to show God's love through Word and Deed to 100 Afghan refugee children between the ages of 5 and 15. Together they designed a program where they teach Bible stories, play games, give food, and at the end of the program, they want to give a clothing kit to each child. This last one will have items such as shoes, sweaters, socks, and a cap, which are very useful for meeting the basic needs of the little ones, which are very evident in these times.
This is the nation that God has put in Daud's heart and he is privileged that they have come to where he is. That is why he says: "I must preach the gospel to them because it is the generation of my neighbors who need to know the Lord and have the truth preached to them in order for them to be free." They are part of the preparation of the way and God continues to open doors for the nations to come to Him, as in the gospel of Luke "Jesus sent them out and they returned rejoicing". It is of great joy for this couple to know that in the midst of the diaspora, God is preparing the hearts of the little ones.
It is wonderful to see Pakistani disciples committed to extending the Kingdom, and we know that the hearts of these little ones will be transformed by the power of the gospel in unreached nations. The displacement generated by the crisis continues and the work is just beginning. Your help is important so that more Afghan boys and girls can come to know Jesus.
