Beaten Up By The Taliban

First published in Magasinet Stefanus #4. 2024. Photo/Written by: Johannes Morken 

"God's love keeps us going," Zara tells Magasinet Stefanus. For security reasons, her real name cannot be disclosed. We meet Zara in a small town outside Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. She shares her story in a house used by Christians who support Afghan boys and women who fled to the neighboring country when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan. 

Encountering Christians in China 

Zara and her husband were initially Muslims. Her husband, a businessman, encountered Chinese Christians during one of his many business trips to China, their eastern neighbor.  

"He experienced love. He shared that with me when he came home," Zara recounts. In 2016, both accepted Jesus. "With Christ's love in our hearts, we could love others. We tried to practice our faith by showing others love and donating ten percent of our business income," she adds. 

However, the couple kept their conversion a secret from their relatives. When asked why they didn't go to the mosque, they said they had to take care of their children. “We knew our lives were in danger if our neighbors discovered our conversion. We didn't know any other Christians." 

Instead, Zara, her husband, and their children followed the Christian TV channel SAT-7. 

Beaten Up by the Taliban 

Zara's husband shared his faith with colleagues on trips to China. This drew the attention of the Taliban. They summoned him to Kandahar, the stronghold of the most conservative and powerful Taliban leaders. 

"My husband got scared," Zara says. "He replied that he couldn't come because he was busy with work. When he asked why they wanted him, they said he had nothing to fear but they had questions about what he had brought from China."  The meeting was rescheduled to Ghazni, much closer to Kabul. 

"He was beaten and knocked unconscious. He still has scars on his body. He woke up in the hospital. The driver told him the Taliban had asked him to drive there because they thought he was dead. The doctors in Kabul removed a blockage in his brain," Zara explains. Back home, they received serious threats over the phone and outside their house. They moved three times between 2019 and 2021. Her husband had to quit his job. 

"We lost our home and our jobs. We are scared. We only have the Lord and our daughters," Zara says. 

"We lost our home and our jobs. We are scared. We only have the Lord and our daughters."

Fleeing the Taliban 

When they heard rumors that the Taliban were approaching Kabul, they panicked. Three months before the Taliban seized the capital in August 2021, the family fled to Dubai. From there, they traveled to Tajikistan. 

In a park in Dushanbe, Zara met a foreigner and bravely asked if he was a Christian. He said yes. Zara and her husband began reading the Bible with him and his wife. "We joined a house church. During a meeting, our daughters, then 14 and 16 years old, raised their hands and said they wanted to be baptized. They hadn't told us beforehand."  

There are many Afghan refugees in the small town in Tajikistan. Zara and her husband have been called "kafir" in the street—a derogatory term for non-Muslims. 

"We Show Love" 

One day, another Afghan grabbed her husband's shirt and harshly demanded, "Why are you dragging people to Jesus? Why have you given people Bibles?" 

"We know some people hate us. But we pray for them and share our faith with those we meet when we go door to door, asking what they need help with. When we show love to others, they don't harm us. In one home, we prayed for a woman who wanted prayer. Her husband got angry and asked what we wanted. We replied that we came to help and that we don't demand anyone to become Christian." 

"Do you have any hope of returning to Afghanistan?" 

"No, not now. We lost our home and our jobs. We are scared. We only have the Lord and our daughters," Zara replies.