The Tiger and the Lamb

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A battle for the souls of the Afghan people

Recent events in Afghanistan have put this small country once again in the world's spotlight. Afghanistan is one of the world's least-reached nations. It has 48,000 mosques but not a single church building. Several years ago, two of our recordists made recordings in fifty-one dialects. The following article is adapted from the book "Along Unfamiliar Paths" by former recordist, Marlene Muhr, and gives a few glimpses of their recording experiences.

In contrast to its many arid regions, Afghanistan also has a mountain grandeur that rivals the famous Himalayas. We were in the heart of these mountains visiting a missionary medical outpost when a ham radio message summoned us to come right away to the capital city of Kabul. Christy Wilson was the man behind the summons.

This missionary-hearted man was then the pastor of a congregation in Kabul, but his vision for the unsaved multitudes in Afghanistan went far beyond his own congregation. His invitation for us to join him in Kabul to get the gospel into the languages and dialects was for him and for us another step in believing the Lord for victory in impossible situations.

Getting down from the mountains found us on a truck that bumped along for five hours. We were let off at a remote airstrip to await a plane that would take us to Kabul and Christy.

Because of engine trouble, our plane didn't leave that day. With our heavy luggage, we wondered how we would get to the hotel in the nearby town. Out of nowhere a robed and black-bearded driver appeared in a taxi. He got out, swept our luggage in the trunk and told us to get in. Straight to the hotel he took us. Up a long flight of stairs he carried our luggage to the reception. As we turned around to pay him, he was nowhere to be seen. We ran to the door but neither the driver nor his car were to be seen. Scripture has examples of angelic assistance. But in our day? And for us?

We got to Kabul the next day on a small plane and just got settled in our room in Kabul when Christy Wilson knocked at our door. He had just received an urgent message. We must go at once to a secret location to meet the contacts for recording who were on their way to meet us there.

Under the cover of darkness we made our way out of Kabul. We drove along a torturous road that had been carved out of solid rock. We arrived at our destination in the darkness and climbed a narrow stairway to the roof. The two men whose languages we were to record arrived shortly after we did.

These two men were the first of many Afghans whose voices were to speak by cassette the glorious message of Christ. One man had just been saved in his own village, and the other was a soldier who was open to the gospel. We recorded by flashlight. One sentence at a time the messages were translated and recorded into their languages.

Over the ensuing weeks, the name of Jesus puzzled and intrigued so many of the Afghan language helpers. One admitted he had never heard that Jesus Christ had died for him.

One session was going smoothly until the language helper questioned, "Why do you talk only about Jesus? Mohammed was our greatest prophet." Christy then responded with an impromptu summary of the life of Jesus emphasizing that Jesus was God's own Son and that He had never sinned. The man listened in awe and resumed his work without another objection.

Another young man we recorded deliberately twisted the application of the message. But his conscience smote him later. He decided to come back to us and ask if he could do the recording over again, this time doing it right.

In the days that followed, we were very conscious that God was watching over every recording session. As the days went by, the speakers showed up one by one, usually under the cover of darkness. They came from all walks of life representing fifty-one dialects.

Afghanistan has long had a fabled hero named Babur the Tiger. May these recordings and the prayers of the saints hasten the victory of the Lamb of God over the Tiger of Afghanistan.

As we write, the Lord is opening doors for us to distribute tens of thousands of cassettes to refugees fleeing Afghanistan. Pray that the message of hope, as it is shared with love, would introduce many to the Savior.