Monday, March 27, 2006

"One man's bold step has shaken the world."

Hussain Andaryas said the publicity surrounding the Abdul Rahman case has resulted in a surge of interest in Christianity among Afghans.

Sunday, Afghan officials said that Rahman would likely be released soon while the case against him was examined further. Reports have said variously, that this is due to lack of evidence or doubts about Rahman’s sanity.

Andaryas said he understood from well-placed sources inside Afghanistan that Mr. Rahman is not insane. And of the possibility that Kabul may declare him mentally unfit to stand trial, he said it is simply a matter of politics, a convenient way to “get rid of shame.”

Andaryas runs a collection of Christian websites in Afghanistan's Dari-Persian tongue as well as daily radio programs and a weekly television program.

He is in daily contact with individuals in his homeland, and has been reporting for several years about the risks faced by Afghan Christians -- all converts from Islam and thus considered apostates worthy of death, according to Islamic law (shari'a).

He said the websites normally drew about 300 unique visitors every month, but since the Rahman story emerged had attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The number of emails received also has risen enormously, and 13 people are now tasked with responding to them.

The majority of emails are negative and many are abusive, coming from Muslims who felt that Rahman and other apostates -- including Andaryas himself -- should be severely punished. But there also are many messages of support.

And then there are emails coming from Afghans wanting to know more about Christianity, asking where they can get a Bible in the Dari or Pashto language, or sharing the news that they had become believers in Jesus Christ.

Among the most stirring messages are those from Afghan Muslims marveling about a faith for which a man was willing to die and wanting to study the Bible further.

"I strongly believe God is using this situation for His glory," Andaryas said
"One man's bold step has shaken the world."


Read the article - here

7 comments:

Jacqui said...

YAY!! Isn't God so amazing how He works?! He is good.

Elizabeth Pruett said...

Zachary,
Persecution is always used to enlarge the church. We need to pray that the seeds that have been planted would grow into faith in Christ.

Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

Zach,

This is phenomenal that more and more Muslims are seeing the fact that God is the only way, and this event is a breakthrough in this area.

My brother Michael has a blog that he started today, the address is

munchymike.blogspot.com

He would be obliged if you could advertise him to a few people. He will be writing some quality Christian posts soon, and delights in receiving comments(as I do).

Sparky

Keebler the Elf said...

Zach,

Sorry to bug you again, but need some assistance with blogging again. Can't figure out how to put pictures like yours and Elizabeth's on my blog. Have been trying to figure it out for about 3 months. Already know how to download my own pictures, but don't know how to download Internet pictures.

Help would be spectacular.

Sparky

Wholesome Works said...

Sparky,

I'll send you an e-mail.

Zachary

Anonymous said...

Hey Zach,

Thanks for including us in your links. I am sorry to say that Michael is having technical difficulties(he can't get into his first blog), so for now the temporary address has been changed to munchymikes.blogspot.com

He can't even delete his blog, because when he signs in, the dashboard is blank except for the Create a Blog link. SO, he got your comment, and you can still go to the old site, but for now, he can't write anything on the old site. He will write on the new site, then will transfer back as soon as the error is fixed.

Thanks,
Markus

Elizabeth Pruett said...

Zachary,
There seems to be a blog fever going around. Check out the latest victim here.

Elizabeth