As the call to prayer sounded the women lifted their shawls and covered their heads – indicating their submission to Islam. Fatima had not missed her lmunz or ritual prayer times in months. Though she did not understand the Arabic words she was saying, the consistent attention to ritual was comforting – yet deeply distressing when life’s circumstances got the upper hand and she was unable to keep up. For now she was happy and confident. God must be smiling at her. She was more faithful than all of her friends in performing this essential religious duty. Then exam time came and her mother became ill. Between studies, housework, and providing refreshment for her father’s many guests, she missed several prayer times. Her serenity and confidence vanished.

Prayer that connects us with God as a Father, who understands our circumstances, is a deep, personal treasure. It is a dialogue in a dynamic relationship that cannot be comprehensively defined by any prescribed set of words, or confined by set times and places. God allows us to think and enter into His counsel and participate in what He has planned for the earth and its peoples. Therefore let us enter into His counsel concerning the Pashtuns, speak our minds and listen and be transformed by His. Let us also present ourselves in response to those prayers.

Pray that:

Countless Pashtuns like Fatima, who try so hard and yet remain disconsolate, will understand prayer as so much more than a good deed that puts them in good standing before God.

Many more prayer partners for the Pashtuns will be raised up, from the outside, but also from among the Pashtuns.

Many will present themselves for service in answer to these prayers.

James 5:16b,17+18 The prayer of an innocent person is powerful and it can help a lot. Elijah was just as human as we are and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling. Then when he did pray for rain, it fell from the skies and made the crops grow. CEV

Laila is a widow. She and her children were helped extensively by Christians when they were destitute refugees. She heard the message of Christ and experienced His love through His people. Now she follows Him. Laila lives in two small rooms with a courtyard, and sound carries easily from one courtyard to another. During the month of fasting she rises well before dawn to prepare a substantial meal of rice, meat and vegetable dishes. The neighbors are wary because Laila associates with Christians, and because she is a widow with no male to keep her in line, but the clattering sounds of food preparation coming from her courtyard at four in the morning, reassure them that she has not gone astray. Even so, just to be certain, the neighbors will ask Laila’s smallest daughter, who is too young to lie, whether her mother is fasting.

Laila and her older children fast from daybreak until after sunset. This ritual is part of the community culture and to break it would break her relationship with her neighbors. She would be thrown out of the community. Remaining integrated, she is able to share wisdom with her neighbors and impact their lives, as well as provide peace and stability for her children.

Pray that:

Muslim background believers will have grace and protection during the month of Ramazan, as they are scrutinized by suspicious neighbors.

Pashtuns, whose religious fervor is at an all-time high during Ramazan, will have a vision of how far they have strayed from true religion (Is. 58).

Expatriate Christians will have creative answers when Pashtuns ask, “Do you fast?”

Gal. 5:13 All that the law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself. CEV

The Pashtuns of Pakistan probably number between 15 and 20 million people, out of which about 12 million live in the “settled areas” of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). These Pashtuns are considered “settled” because they have generally left the traditional Pashtun tribal system and its harsh way of life.

As opposed to tribal Pashtuns, the settled Pashtuns are generally better educated, better informed, and somewhat more open to outside influences. The settled Pashtuns are integrated fairly well into Pakistani society, and therefore, have some access to the gospel through Urdu and English media.

Although their society is relatively “open”, they still adhere to many aspects of traditional Pashtun life. Pakhtunwali, the Pashtun honor code, is prevalent among settled Pashtuns, but it has been moderated somewhat by Pakistani civil society. Islam is still fundamental to the life of the settled Pashtun. Though settled Pashtuns who openly follow Christ are persecuted and ostracized, they are less likely to be killed than in “tribal areas”, or in the Pashtun provinces of Afghanistan.

Most women still remain sheltered in homes, although more and more women are getting a university education and some are allowed to work in select fields such as education and medical work.

Pray that:

The relative openness of “settled” society will translate into spiritual hunger and opportunities for God’s people to communicate the message of Christ.

The few secret believers among the settled Pashtuns will grow in maturity, share with extended family members and trust in God as their material provider.

God will open up new strategies for reaching people in both urban and rural areas.

Isaiah 45: 5-6 I have prepared you, even though you do not know me, so that all the world, from east to west will know there is no other God.

Surrounded by low, craggy mountains which form the Khyber Pass, Peshawar lies just 50km east of the Afghan border. The capital of the North West Frontier Province is home to approximately 2 million Pashtuns who are staunchly Muslim.

Peshawar’s historically traditional culture was altered by the Afghan crises of 1980 to 2001. In 1980, the Russian invasion brought 2 million refugees to Peshawar, bringing foreign aid, many foreigners and booming economic growth. In 1996, the people of Kabul fled to Peshawar to escape the intolerant Taliban. Kabul’s progressive, elite women defied Peshawar’s ‘backward’ culture, by refusing to stay at home and out of sight, bringing a refreshing level of diversity which remained even after the Kabulis returned home.

Peshawar still holds a mind-boggling mixture of times, present and past. It has the latest in computer technology, a modern university, and women with doctoral degrees, while farmers plough by oxen, goods are bartered for, and girls marry as young as 13 years old.

As E. Edwardes wrote in 1886, the Pashtuns are “a busy and thriving population of war-like people all armed with knives and daggers, and naturally inclined to think little of pointing their arguments with the sword”. Today, though settled Pashtuns are more peace-loving, nevertheless most households own at least one AK-47, if not several.

Pray that:

Young Pashtuns who are increasingly influenced by the internet will find sites which lead them to Christ.

Laborers with a passion for evangelism will come as professionals to this creative access city.

God will do an amazing work of salvation among the Pashtuns.

Rom. 15:21 Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.

The Pashtuns of Pakistan’s tribal belt (and of rural Afghanistan) are stereotypical of the “traditional Pashtun”. The tribal belt is a mountainous area along the Afghan border encompassing 7 districts with a combined population of more than 3 million, nearly 100% of whom are Pashtun and staunchly Muslim. Traditionally they made a living by highway robbery. Today both legal and illegal trade forms the basis of the economy of this region.

What makes these Pashtuns different is their preservation of Pashtun traditions. Tribal Pashtuns accept no law except Pashtunwali, an unwritten law that has been etched in the hearts and minds of its people for generations. It requires that a man be prepared to kill to maintain his honor. Practices such as taking revenge, hospitality, and the “protection” of women are major aspects of Pashtunwali. Women are heavily sheltered from non-related men by a custom known as purdah. In some places a young wife must cover her face even in the presence of her father-in-law. Girls are allowed to go to school, if at all, until fourth or fifth grade, after which they must remain in seclusion. Life is harsh and tough, not only on women but on men as well.

Pray that:

God will raise up people to champion the cause of these un-reached areas, by mobilizing prayer and resources, so that all Pashtuns might have the opportunity to worship Christ.

Endless cycles of violence will be broken and Pashtunwali will be tempered by the law of Christ. The gospel will reach behind the veil and will bring hope to heavily sheltered women.

Isaiah 61:1 He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

In Pashtunwali taking revenge is important for maintaining honor. In the tribal justice system when a murder is committed, the elders of the tribe get together and try to resolve the matter. According to custom the most lasting and effective form of settlement for a murder is called swara. It is the giving away of a girl to the victim’s family in marriage. The idea is that her sons will replace the one murdered. The aggrieved family accepts the girl and considers the obligation of revenge fulfilled, and their honor preserved. Without swara the dispute will result in a series of revenge killings that can go on for generations. Swara protects the males of the family, but the girl is ostracized and stigmatized for the rest of her life.

Maryam’s father murdered a man who taunted him for not acting like a true Pashtun. In settlement little Maryam was sacrificed. Before she had outgrown her dolls, she was led away to her husband’s home, deprived of any wedding celebrations. There she spends her life without honor, as payment for her father’s crime. She is not invited to participate in any family celebrations. She walks a tight-rope and any mistake is blown completely out of proportion. She is a constant reminder to the family of the member that they have lost and she is treated accordingly.

Pray that:

The wounded spirits of swara girls will be healed by the news that Someone has given His life for them.

Pakistani human rights workers will be successful in their efforts to eliminate the practice of swara.

Sending a helpless girl child to the home of one’s enemy as payment for a man’s crime is not an act of honor. Pray for redeemed notions of honor for Pashtuns.

John 3:16a For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

Alalabad, or ‘City of Glory’, a bustling city of possibly 300,000, is the largest trade and market center of eastern Afghanistan. The most densely populated areas in Afghanistan are the eastern Pashtun provinces. Nangrahar, Laghman, Kunar, Khost, Paktika, and Paktia are nearly 100% Pashtun; Ghazni, Logar, and Wardak, along with Kabul Province (not city) are majority Pashtun.

Pashtuns have paid a heavy price for centuries of bloodshed, in deep cultural and spiritual bondage. History says that of the 17,000 or so British subjects retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad in the mid-1800's, only one person made it alive to the fort in Jalalabad. This is said to be the largest single massacre of a retreating force in history.

Culturally, this area is very conservative, with a tradition very similar to Pakistan’s Tribal Territories. Support for Al Qaeda and the Taliban is prevalent, especially in remote areas. Throughout all of these Pashtun areas, believers are virtually non-existent. The few Afghan believers there are alone, unable to share their faith, and never have the opportunity to worship with fellow believers. Very few Christian workers have ever worked in Eastern Afghanistan and as a result, very little ground has been softened and few seeds have been sown.

Pray that:

God will lead mature, committed followers to these areas, many of which have never had any resident Christian workers to extend God's offer of reconciliation and peace.

The “City of Glory” will be filled with the glory of the Lord and become a launching point for the gospel to spread to areas that have never heard anything about Christ.

Khost, which is the gateway to some very remote Pashtun places, will open up for workers to enter.

Hebrews 8:12 I will treat them with kindness even though they are wicked. I will forget their sins. CEV

We have to grow this crop to provide for our families,” say the people of Eastern Afghanistan. Cultivating a quarter of an acre of poppies is enough to feed a poor family for an entire year.

Until recent government enforced bans on cultivation, at least 80% of the people of this region have been making money from poppies. Economics of the region provide few options. Industry is almost non-existent. Dried fruit is exported, but not everyone can make a livelihood off of it. A popular "grass-roots" perspective on poppy eradication is that the government should bring in international organizations to build infrastructure and industry. One leader of a poppy growing region has stated that “If we get a dam built with electricity getting to our homes, providing what we need for irrigation and industry, I guarantee no-one will grow poppies!" In this regard local sentiment is somewhat naïve as to what international governments can do. Security is almost non-existent in the area and trust levels are low. There has been a significant decrease in poppy cultivation in Eastern Afghanistan in the last year. However, those who have cut back probably have done so under real threat. How long will their patience last if governments don't provide big infrastructure inputs?

Pray that:

Internal and external support for the Taliban will end, and that security will increase in the area so that infrastructure and industry can grow.

Leaders will have wisdom to know how best to invest in projects that would help minimize the temptation to grow poppies Through changed hearts Afghans will see the evil in poppies and stop growing them.

2Corinthians 5:14 Since One has died for all of us, we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him.

Khalid sat hunched over in a close circle with three other men, a chaddar (large shawl) over their heads. Underneath, he held a match to the tin foil and inhaled heroin through a paper cylinder. Outside the university main gate, people were coming and going whose bright eyes told that they had vision and hope for the future. But Khalid and the others were oblivious to the busy scene. Sadly, no one seemed to take notice of them either.

Growing up, Khalid was the youngest of four brothers. His siblings were smart and confident. It seemed they always got the attention, the rewards. Khalid got either criticized or ignored. With little encouragement, he didn't get very far in his education. When he left home at 16, nobody chased after him to bring him back. He soon learned where others like him hung out and that getting heroin was easy and cheap. He found the escape he needed from his fears and troubled emotions. Yet soon his body was in the grip of a deadly power. Now, at 25, he looked 40, and he was sick and wasting away.

He was a Muslim. Occasionally he wondered, "Why has Allah given me such a fate?" In his rare moments of clear thinking, he would admit to himself that he needed help. Then the question, "Who can help me?"

Pray that:

NGO's with drug rehabilitation programs will find addicts who sincerely want deliverance. Pray the staff will be blessed by the Lord to be effective and have wisdom in presenting Christ.

The heroin drug trade will suffer loss and judgment and finally be stopped by God Almighty Himself if not by governments and local authorities.

God will give to Christians His love for drug addicts along with the faith and courage to find them and to offer them the Truth and hope.

James 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Mahmud Ghaznavid, whose empire stretched from Persia all the way across north India. The resistant Pashtuns finally capitulated to Islam through joining this famous warrior in conquering and plundering in the name of Allah. Only two victory towers and the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni remain to commemorate his fame. As the empire crumbled, so did the city’s glory and it remained a forgotten city for hundreds of years. British troops blew open its hitherto impregnable gates 160 year ago in revenge for the massacre by Pashtuns of 17,000 retreating British subjects including women and children. The Taliban were strongly entrenched here for more than six years until 2001. This Pashtun-dominated city is very conservative, with women wearing the full veil. Though Hazaras, the ethnic enemies of the Afghan Pashtuns, make up nearly half of the population, they co-exist in relative peace in the city of Ghazni. The primary sources of income are agriculture (wheat, grapes and other fruits), livestock, and trade. Aid and development have been slow to make their way here, despite increased accessibility by road and pleasant climate. However, the city has not been forgotten by the Lord!

Pray that:

That the peace of Ghazni will continue and the dividing walls between Pashtuns and Hazaras will be brought down in Christ.

As Pashtuns capitulated to Islam, may they capitulate once again, this time to the Prince of Peace, and bear His message along the same lines that Islam traveled a millennium ago.

The gates of Ghazni lie open today for work and witness. They feel forgotten in the eyes of the world and aid community. Who will go and bring the gospel of peace to a city known for conquering?

Psalms 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates: lift them, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!

Torpakey pulled her burka closer to her figure, as she and her 4 year old son, Jabar, climbed the worn steps to the shrine of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. It had taken weeks to save enough money. She hoped a secret visit to the shrine would be worth the risk. Her barrenness since her son’s birth had become a constant source of irritation to her husband and his mother, in whose house they lived. She was defective, and if ever he could afford it, he would take another wife. She suspected that her barren sister-in-law’s jealously when her son was born had brought the curse of the evil eye upon her. All the other shrines she had visited had been ineffectual; maybe Allah would hear her entreaty at the shrine of the most powerful ruler in Afghan history. Surely Allah was with him when he conquered and plundered India 17 times! Allah must have granted him a place already in Paradise, having done so much to advance Islam. Hardly a word passed between her and the white-bearded Mullah. A few notes of money changed hands and she had what she was after! Away Torpakey went in the vain hope that the scribbles on the paper would change her fate before Allah and thus produce another child.

Pray that:

Countless women such as Torpakey who are bound by superstitions will come to know Jesus, the only intercessor between God and man.

Torpakey will find a Christian friend. Women suffering from the shame of barrenness warmly welcome Christian prayer.

Many from other parts of Afghanistan come to Ghazni seeking healing at the shrines of poets and saints. Pray that seekers might encounter the Great Physician who gives eternal life.

Luke 5:31 Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.

Pashtuns are famous for their long-suffering, obstinate determination in the face of incredible obstacles. This great strength is often counter productive to their overall health. When someone is sick they ignore the signals and press on. Inshallah (God willing) they will get better!

There is an appalling lack of information about health and sickness. The pendulum swings from total patient ignorance of their own bodies to entire trust in the omnipotence and omniscience of the doctor and medicine to solve the problem! ‘Good’ doctors are expected to prescribe antibiotics and a list of other drugs, no matter what. Yet doctors are aware that psychosomatic illness is also common. Being sick is a way to get some individual attention or time to relax. It might be used as an escape from difficult family situations.

Attempts to promote basic hygiene and nutritional information encounter religious and cultural barriers. For example during the month of fasting exceptions are allowed for nursing women and the sick. Still many people continue to fast despite their health situation, under the belief that they will earn extra merit, or out of fear of criticism. Ignorance of their own anatomy, minimal education, superstition and fear of going against custom, often prevent the larger family unit from escaping crippling diseases and harmful health practices.

Pray that:

Medical needs will bring Pashtuns to their knees crying out to Jesus, the Healer.

Health care workers and health educators will have patience and find creative ways to carefully change traditional practices towards healthier ones.

Many Christian doctors, nurses and medical personnel will go to Pashtun areas, especially the under-served Pashtun provinces of Afghanistan.

Luke 8:48 Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.

Kandahar, capital of Kandahar province, with a population of nearly ½ million, is situated in the South-eastern corner of Afghanistan. It is the country’s second largest city and chief trade center; a market for sheep, wool, cotton, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. Kandahar lies in the Pashtun heartland and was Afghanistan’s first capital under Ahmad Shah Durrani in the 18th century. In 1994 the Taliban took Kandahar in its first major victory, and since then the city was used as their spiritual capital until their fall late 2001. Kandahar’s great treasure, a cloak allegedly belonging to the Prophet himself, is safely kept in the Mosque of the Sacred Cloak, ‘Khilka Sharif’. Prior to the Taliban’s capture of Kabul in 1996, Mullah Omar wrapped himself in the cloak in front of a cheering Taliban crowd, declaring himself ‘Commander of the Faithful’.

Recent changes in the local government have caused instability in the law and order of the region. There have been numerous bomb attacks this last year, mainly killing and injuring innocent civilians. Child abduction has also increased – these children are used mostly as sex-slaves, sometimes returned to their families for a large ransom, or killed.

Pray that:

Men and women in leadership positions may have wisdom, unity and protection. Pray for more educated Afghans to come from other areas and support their people in this region.

God will send more workers. Each worker can only share with a few and slowly.

God will reveal himself through His children, the radio, literature, dreams and other means, and that light will shine out from Kandahar into the dark southern Pashtun provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul.

Isaiah 2:4 He will settle arguments between nations. They will pound their swords and spears into rakes and shovels. They will never make war or attack one another. CEV

The tongue is a fortress and a calamity. Shameem smiled at Tanya’s appropriate reply. The beauty of Pashtun proverbs reflects the beauty of the people—poetic and cutting to the quick. Shameem confided in her neighbor, Tanya, that she had made a slip of the tongue and said something she deeply regretted. Tanya sensed an opening and used another proverb-In the mouth is the creed, but in the heart is wickedness. Tanya shared with Shameem how we need God’s help in order to have kind thoughts in our hearts, and not just nice words.

Most Pashtuns are oral communicators. Oral communicators may be able to read but they can’t really comprehend or use the information they read. They need to hear important information in appropriate oral forms such as a story, song or proverb in order to remember and use the information.

The challenge for workers among the Pashtuns is to package and deliver important truths in forms that people can appreciate and remember, so that millions of Pashtuns may not only hear, but also assimilate the good news about fellowship with God through transformational grace.

Pray that:

Long term workers would be encouraged in the task of language and culture learning. There are at least 25 million Pashtuns but less than 25 expatriate workers who can function well enough to share from the heart.

Workers would be empowered to use various oral methods of communication.

Quality, creative resources would be produced, geared to the oral communicator.

Mark 4:33-34 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable.

Twenty years ago Pashtuns listened to the shortwave radio for news and information. Nowadays urban Pashtuns enjoy a plethora of available FM radio and TV stations. New strategies are needed to adjust for this change. Some of the rural population exists as a potential shortwave radio audience; however, rural Pashtuns are resistant to differing religious ideas. Drawing in this reluctant audience demands creativity.

The New Testament is available in a major dialect. The Old Testament is being produced in two different dialects. Evangelistic and discipleship literature and cassettes are available in Pashtu, along with the Jesus Film. Producing material is much easier than distributing it. People don’t want to get caught with Christian material in their homes. One young man’s father found out he was taking a Bible correspondence course and threw him out of the house. The Lord used this for good as the young man ended up staying with his cousin who started taking the courses. Though the young man never came to faith, his cousin did.

One option in dealing with the difficulty in distribution is to make materials available on the internet. Internet clubs exist almost all over the Pashtun world and many families, even in the village areas access the internet from their homes.

Pray that:

God will provide people, anointing, and creativity for the development of new radio programs, and new media strategies for reaching Pashtuns.

God will raise up people to produce and oversee Web sites for Pashtuns at the curious, seeker and believer levels.

Bible translation projects will be protected and anointed, and that Scriptures will be developed in Southern Pashtu.

Romans 10:17 Yet, faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good News about Christ.

Eight-year-old Shahina walked slowly home and slipped quietly into her family's small courtyard. Then she saw her father sitting on his cot and stopped short. He was home early! "Where have you been?" he asked angrily. "Just playing," she said, looking down. "You're always running around," he said. "You're no help to the family. You should have been a boy! Now go and bring me some tea!" His slap brought tears to her eyes as it propelled her toward the kitchen. Tightlipped, Shahina put water on to boil and got out the black tea and sugar. I wish I was a boy, too, Father! she thought bitterly.

Her brother, Navid, had it made. Even though Navid was 2 years younger than she, he got to boss around not only Shahina but even her 15-year-old sister and her Mom. That's just the way it was in all the families she knew. All the families except for what she had seen on TV movies from the West. Families there seemed to treat daughters and sons the same. Did it have something to do with them being Christian? Shahina wondered. She couldn't help envying the Christians if they believed girls were just as good as boys. But she must not think too much, or ask too many questions, or as her mother said, she could become apostate and go to hell.

Pray that:

Christian workers will find creative ways to reach out to Pashtun children.

The love of Jesus will transform relationships.

Children will overcome the instilled fear of asking questions, and will find acceptance and answers for their inquiring minds.

Luke 1:17a And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. NIV

A clear high voice sustained the closing chorus, making the word anar (pomegranate) lilt and bubble over the packed audience with hypnotic effect. Thunderous applause drowned out the last notes. As usual, the tiny boy was ushered off the stage before the main preaching sessions began.

Anwar had known it as soon as he had heard the other boys in the Madrassah practice singing trana - that he could do it better. His mother had taught him all the songs she knew, and it hadn’t taken long for the other boys to find out that the new refugee orphan boy from Afghanistan had a sweet voice. The Mullah soon had him performing the trana to open all their functions. Dressed in immaculate turban and made up with dark eye-liner, Anwar became a sought after voice. The attention did something to numb the sadness of his loss, and yet he still longed to be held by his mother rather than paraded around like this by strange men.

He was a teenager before the doubts had come. Was the Prophet really my friend? Only he knew that his songs were now sung without conviction. He longed to sing a new song, but who would show him?

Pray that:

God will reveal himself to the estimated one and half million students at more than 10,000 Madrassahs, many of whom are orphans, who are being trained as the next generation of Mullahs.

Students like Anwar to see through the shallowness of their indoctrination and burst forth into new song.

There will be a joyous reception of the recently released trana version of John’s Gospel.

John 8:32 You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

“We were watching you.” Marcos was excited and humbled as Farid began the tale of how he eventually came to Marcos to study the Word. Marcos had been working at the university for over a year. It allowed him to have contact and influence with current and future leaders from many Pashtun areas. Yet the months spent teaching lessons, drinking tea, and building relationships seemed to be only preparing the way for a harvest that was still many years away. Then one day between classes a young man pulled Marcos aside in the hall. He was nervous and speaking incoherently about something evidently of great importance to him. Marcos pulled him into the bathroom where he confided in a hurried whisper, “We want your way. There are two of us. This is hidden.” Now, as Marcos goes to the university and elsewhere, drinking tea and teaching lessons, he is prayerfully aware that others might also be watching, wanting, hidden.

Some of the most open-minded as well as the most radical fundamentalists are on university campuses. The radical elements always appear to dominate and keep everyone else cowed.

Pray that:

Many educated and influential Pashtuns will come to Christ.

Workers will go to every university campus in the Pashtun areas, who will lead people to respect and obey the Lord. This is the beginning of knowledge.

Pray for wisdom, courage, and protection for faculty and students who wish to challenge powerful religious myths.

I Corinthians 16:9 For a wide door for effective service has been opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

With a fairly high level of English under his belt, 20-year-old Bashir felt empowered. A new high-class restaurant was opening up in the city; for sure they could use a good English speaker as a waiter. “Yes,” they said. “You can wash dishes for us 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, and we will pay you 1000 rupees ($20.00 USD) per month.” Bashir was crushed.

22-year-old Omar applied for a job with the government. Though he qualified for the job, he didn’t have $1500 (more than a year’s salary) to grease the interviewer’s palm. Patronage and bribe-taking at every level of government give impetus to the growing dissatisfaction amongst Pashtun youth.

Satellite and cable television contribute to a sense of frustration and hopelessness in young men. As the picture of affluence pours into their homes through TV, they realize they have the short end of the stick, and there is very little hope of achieving any sort of comparable living standard.

There are two common reactions to this frustration. One is turning to the naiveté of Islamic fundamentalism. Others feel their only hope is in leaving Pakistan to reap the riches of the developed world. Few search for answers outside of fundamentalism and materialism.

Pray that:

Young men will be disillusioned with both materialism and fundamentalism.

In this time of great disillusionment that God would open young people’s hearts to find answers in the Injil (the gospels).

Christian workers from “affluent” countries will find meaningful and creative ways of communicating their sufficiency in Christ.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ESV

Pa kher raghley! – Welcome! It’s an expression that Pashtun women exchange countless times each day. Their lives revolve around the home and hospitality. When a guest arrives, the household chores and other activities are dropped to give full attention to the guest. Men enter a separate men’s guest room; women enter the family home and unveil their faces. After some gup shup (chit chat), the women of the house disappear to the kitchen and later bring out tea and snacks or a meal. These are essential to Pashtun hospitality and cannot be refused. It is over tea that conversation flows. Women share the news of the day – weddings, births, funerals – their joys and their sorrows, laughter and tears.

Rearing children and entertaining guests are the essential roles of Pashtun women, living their lives behind high walls, curtains and veils. They are seldom alone. A young bride comes to live in her in-laws home and takes her place in the family. Her husband’s extended family becomes her world and network of relationships. She must work hard to be accepted by all. Her hospitality skills, diligent work and submissive spirit are key. Just as tea tastes better as it steeps, so over time relationships warm up to a comfortable level. It’s a long-term investment of the heart to reach Pashtun women with the good news.

Pray that:

Pashtun women will open their doors and hearts and seek a relationship with the living God who loves them.

Women workers among the Pashtuns to reach out in patient love and boldness to their neighbors.

The Word will penetrate Pashtun women’s hearts.

Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

“I can feel your eye!” The love note came as a text message. Jamil was elated. Razia was interested in him. He fired a message back.

A momentary extended eye contact with the opposite sex indicates attraction and sometimes leads to an exchange of phone numbers followed by a secret relationship, despite the risk of discovery and severe consequences. Growing urban affluence and education have provided young people with new avenues to develop relationships.

A strict code of separation of the sexes, called purdah, heightens the mystery and attraction of the opposite sex. The practice of purdah is reinforced by the belief that a woman can not to be trusted, and if given any opportunity she will be unfaithful. This leads men to watch over their wives and daughters with unreasonable suspicion. Most young wives have to endure harsh treatment by controlling husbands.

As a child a Pashtun girl enjoys freedom but only for a short span. She soon learns the requirements of modesty, submission and endurance. In Afghanistan and the “tribal” and rural areas 13-15 year old girls are frequently given in marriage and required to handle family responsibilities while yet still children themselves. Urban men increasingly want to marry girls who have at least completed high school.

Pray that:

Young women will know their value and trust in the Good Shepherd to lead, provide for, and honor them (Psalm 23).

Pashtun girls from believing families will be matched with gentle, believing husbands, and for wisdom as they develop a new Pashtun redeemed culture.

Pray against wrong ideas which put both sexes under burdens which are too hard to bear.

Matthew 11:28-29 NLT Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.

“If an Afghan man comes to Christ, but his wife does not, chances are he will not last. If an Afghan woman comes to Christ, even if her husband does not, chances are she will hold on. If a man and his wife both convert, they will never turn back.” These are the words of the Afghan martyr, Zia Nodrat, who was killed in May, 1988 for not recanting his faith. In keeping with how the gospel has taken root in many other places, the process has been slow, but if Zia were alive today he would be rejoicing in hope. By faith we have great reason to rejoice in what God is doing among the Afghan and Pakistani Pashtuns.

In 1988 the Body of Christ among the Pashtuns consisted of a small handful of disconnected men. Today, it is beginning to look more like a body. Instead of a handful of scattered men, there is now a handful of believing families who are reaching out to extended family members and working slowly and wisely to bring others in. Some are even sharing outside their extended family, especially where avenues exist for finding the more open-minded. Women are sharing wisdom with their neighbors. Instead of a few completely ‘secret’ believers, there are now a few Pashtuns whose godly character is being noticed by their neighbors, family and friends. The yeast has been added to the dough.

Pray for:

Pashtun disciples to obey the Word, be filled with the Spirit, and visibly transformed.

Many disconnected seekers and believers to trust each other and bond with other members of the body.

Realistic expectations for those doing the slow work of finding and teaching Pashtun disciples.

Deuteronomy 10:22 When your ancestors went to live in Egypt there were only 70 of them. But the Lord has blessed you, and now there are more of you than there are stars in the sky. CEV

When Asif became a believer, he shared everything with his new wife, Salma, who was only thirteen years old. Family members found out. They called in the local mullah, who tried for three days to convince Salma to divorce Asif, depriving her of sleep. Death threats and rejection followed. Many times over the next several years, Asif and Salma, along with their small children, had to move house, as neighbors discovered the “apostates”. Somehow they held on. Today they have found stability, their home bears the fragrance of Christ, and salvation has also come to several extended family members.

Because of strict purdah (seclusion of women) and female illiteracy, it is men who usually hear and accept the gospel first. Fear often hinders them from sharing their faith with their wives. Most believing parents are afraid to say much to younger children who attend public school, for fear the children will not have enough sense to keep quiet.

There is a small but growing number of children of believing families who are reaching marriageable age and need to find believing mates. When believing families become related through marriage, the Body of Christ will grow. Their interaction will be socially acceptable. It will even be their social obligation to visit each other regularly!

Pray that:

Men will have the faith and courage to share with their wives; parents will know how to wisely impart faith to their children.

Believing young people will meet, and be allowed by their families to marry.

Each precious believing family will be protected from evil and grow spiritually. They are indeed the seed of the church.

Joshua 24:15 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Swat Valley, sometimes referred to as the "Switzerland of Pakistan," is nestled in the Hindu-Kush Mountains of Pakistan's Northwest Frontiers Province. Swat is a traditional Pushtun homeland, a cradle of Pushtun culture which remained an independent kingdom until after the formation of Pakistan. Ancient and modern clash in Swat, where subsistence farmers with beards like Mohammed farm in the shadow of new cell-phone towers. But while modernity is gradually arriving, there is still very little light of the gospel in Swat -Swatis are still 100% Muslim.

Swati Pushtun men practice a very conservative brand of Islam, and public opinion favors strict observance of Sharia law nearly as rigorously as by their cousins, the Taliban. Pushtun women customarily follow folk practices including divination and talking with jinn, which is in fact spirit channeling. The spiritual condition of the valley is dark indeed. And yet many young people desire a more modern life and are eager for friendship with visitors.

There is currently no known evangelistic outreach focusing on the Swat Valley, and significant logistical obstacles to overcome to establish a church there. But vision-casting visitors have found that there are hearts open to learning more about Jesus.

Pray that:

God will raise up a team of church planters to go to Swat, and give them robust strategies and open the doors for His work to be established there.

God will pour out His Spirit in hearts throughout the Swat Valley to prepare the way for the hearing of His word.

God will establish national and local leaders who will promote peace and policies which permit workers to enter the country and the valley.

Numbers 13:2 Send some men to explore the land.

Romana looked up wearily from the heavy, wet clothes she was shifting into the spinner of the semi-automatic washing machine. She hoped she could get the load done before the village electricity was cut off for the day. “Sure!” she grumbled to herself, “My husband’s second wife brings this machine as part of her dowry! But who has to load it? Me, the uneducated, unwanted first wife.”

Rashid had chosen the pretty, young Faiza himself, unlike his arranged marriage to Romana 15 years earlier. It had been a whole year since their marriage, but Romana could still taste the bitter rejection. Only once had she felt some relief from this pain. Rashid had met a foreign couple at the Public Call Office as they tried to make a call to their home country. He had invited them to his house, sitting with the man, while Faiza sat separately with the woman. She was a beginner in the Pashtu language, but when she understood that Faiza was actually a second wife, she asked to meet the first wife. Romana came in head down, and was shocked when the foreign woman greeted her warmly and motioned for her to sit, too. She felt a love and acceptance coming from this woman that she hadn’t felt from anyone.

Pray that:

God will open up ways for the gospel to reach rural areas giving pioneering believers creativity and boldness to reach out.

Villagers will come to Christ in cities where they go to find work, and bring back light to their villages.

Humiliated women will find relief, and polygamy commonly practiced in rural areas will cease.

Matthew 9:38 The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.

Kala Dhaka is an isolated, semi-autonomous Pashtun area in the Karakoram mountain range of northwestern Pakistan. Prior to the earthquake of October 2005 in Pakistan’s northern areas, Kala Dhaka was forgotten, unknown, and untouched by the outside world. It is highly unlikely that any foreigners have entered Kala Dhaka in over 100 years, and certain that there has been no presence of the gospel among them. It is a place where hospitality coexists with hate and violence.

The earthquake brought the whole region into the global spotlight, and millions of dollars of relief and development aid have poured into northern Pakistan through NGO’s large and small. Kala Dhaka was by some measures only slightly affected by the earthquake, as compared to other areas which were severely affected. Therefore, Kala Dhaka didn’t receive much aid. This has been a source of dismay among many of the Kala Dhaka elders who have seen the attention given to other areas and now want some attention for their own people. The Kala Dhaka Coordinating Committee of clan elders has given an open invitation to NGOs to provide services and aid to their people. This is an opportunity never seen before, and which may disappear as the earthquake fades from memory.

Pray that:

God be praised! There is an open door and a clear invitation for outsiders to work in Kala Dhaka and other hitherto inaccessible, remote Pashtun areas affected by the earthquake.

Culturally sensitive and light-bearing workers will come to these fields.

The elders who have given a clear invitation for aid work in Kala Dhaka will be unmistakably blessed by God for opening the door to their tribal area.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

Weary but excited, the young new worker had finally arrived at her new home in Pashtunistan, the Land of the Pashtuns. It was as though she was landing on a different planet. She knew in her heart that life would never again be the same. Immediately this young woman began to understand just how different and difficult life among the Pashtuns would be for her. All the freedoms she once knew were stripped away: the independence of shopping alone, going to a friend’s house unescorted, or the power of self-confidence. She would need to get used to a life of dependence and separation.

Life for her husband seemed quite a bit easier on the surface, yet she knew he would have struggles too. Sharing life in the community with his spouse had ended. He would be chastised for caring for his wife’s feelings or wanting to spend time with her in the home. Friendships would be approached cautiously until the men no longer feared the Christian foreigner’s motives. There was also the challenge of trying to understand and love each other on a multi-national team of people from very different cultures. This was going to be one difficult task, but God had promised that His grace would be sufficient.

Pray that:

New workers would quickly find favor in the eyes of their communities.

The workers would patiently rejoice in all circumstances and be strengthened by His calling.

God would begin to break down the barriers that make work among the Pashtuns so difficult.

Rom.4:20-21 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Growing up “between worlds” is what describes the lives of third culture kids, or TCK’s. These are children of overseas workers, be they missionaries, diplomats or other workers living in another culture. They find themselves living between their “home” or passport culture and their parents’ adopted culture, not fitting in completely in either world. So they create a world they feel more comfortable in, a third culture of those with similar intercultural experiences. Usually TCKs find their closest friends among other TCKs. They end up with friends all over the world, from many different cultures, who feel like family.

Change is another hallmark of a TCK’s world. They move from place to place, country to country, school to school. There are advantages and disadvantages. TCKs in spite of being adaptable, often feel rootless. Many are not sure how to answer the question, “Where do you come from?” On the other hand, they tend to have language skills, adventurous spirits, and a worldview far broader than most of their peers.

It is a challenge to integrate back into their passport countries as young adults. They are hidden immigrants, not looking physically different, but feeling very different inside.

Pray that:

TCKs among Pashtuns will sink their roots down deep into Christ.

They will be grateful for the rich heritage of their intercultural experience, and that they will use their unique gifts and talents for God’s glory.

Parents will have wisdom to meet the challenge of schooling their children adequately, especially parents from non-English-speaking countries who want their children to integrate back into their home cultures.

Deuteronomy 33:12 Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for he shields them all day long.

As Obed arose he was careful not to waken his eight siblings and father who were still sound asleep on the floor. Their two-bedroom house was home for their family of eleven and also his uncle's family who moved in to help with the rent. His mother was already at work in the small courtyard making the morning tea. Obed enjoyed the early morning and the view of the rugged mountains that surround the desert city of Quetta. Soon the pollution and dust would hide the skyline as the city would begin to bustle with its bulging population of around 1 million.

He stepped into the street, heading to the market to buy vegetables for his mother. This was his world – a world his sisters hardly knew. As he walked past a park he saw it was filled with long bearded young men, Talibs, whose pants were hemmed above their ankles and prayer caps rested on their heads ready to say Islamic prayers. He knew the extreme form of Islam the Taliban had imposed over Afghanistan and wondered if that was truly what God desired for his life and community. Obed had many questions.

Quetta is home to several ethnic groups of which the majority is Pushtun. The city teeters between modern and tribal, fundamentalism and secularism, hope for development and abject poverty.

Pray that:

Christ will be revealed to the young in this conservative city which has produced and hosted many Taliban. Some are open to change and looking for hope and lasting truth.

Women will come and minister to the women since men absolutely cannot.

God will continue moving by His Spirit through dreams and healings.

Isaiah 43:18,19 Forget what happened long ago! Don’t think about the past. I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands. CEV

Although most Pashtuns are found in Afghanistan and in the NWFP of Pakistan, there are millions living elsewhere.

The city of Karachi in Pakistan has one of the largest Pashtun populations anywhere. Many of the city’s taxi and truck drivers, chowkidars (house guards), and shopkeepers are Pashtuns. Some estimates put the city’s Pashtun population at more than 3 million people.

The Province of Baluchistan sits in the southwest corner of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The northern section of this province, including the city of Quetta, has about 2 million Pashtuns. Other significant populations of Pashtuns throughout Pakistan include the cities of Islamabad and Lahore, and the trucking and transportation industries country-wide.

There have been large numbers of Pakistani Pashtuns who have migrated to England, where there are identifiable communities of Pashtuns. Many have also migrated to N. America and are scattered everywhere. There are also significant pockets of Afghan Pashtuns who have migrated to Europe, the USA, and Australia.

There are hundreds of thousand of Pashtuns working throughout the Persian Gulf region. Other pockets of Pashtun businessmen and traders include China and Thailand.

Pray that:

Where ever they are, more and more Pashtuns will meet believers who will demonstrate God’s love and explain God’s Word to them.

Pashtuns, who come to Christ in other lands, will share the gospel with family and friends back home.

God will provide creative access strategies for Karachi and send workers to this city with the largest population of Pashtuns. (At the time of this writing there are no expatriate workers there targeting Pashtuns.)

Deuteronomy 14:29 You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the Lord your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do. CEV