August 26, 2021

Dear John,

In just a few days, America will pause to memorialize the tragedy of September 11, 2001. On that infamous morning, the World Trade Center in New York City was destroyed by two hijacked airplanes, while another crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Afghanistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists, overseen by Osama bin Laden, were responsible for those attacks, which cost the United States nearly 3,000 lives.

America quickly launched a military response, sending U.S. troops into Afghanistan to combat the Taliban government and seek-and-destroy bin Laden, who was finally located and killed on May 2, 2011. But although U.S. forces displaced the Taliban and Afghanistan became a republic, the Taliban regrouped, developed into an insurgency, and made their way back through Afghanistan.

Twenty years have passed since 9/11. And tragically, just days ago, the Taliban -- taking advantage of the United States and its NATO allies withdrawing troops from Afghanistan -- swept into the capital city of Kabul. The Afghan republic collapsed, and the president fled.

Today, as we write this, our hearts are heavy. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is producing untold human tragedies. Desperate scenes at the Kabul airport -- and the violence erupting across Afghanistan that Western media does not see -- portray an international tragedy of immense proportion.

And for some 10,000 to 12,000 Afghan Christians, whose numbers have grown as they've worshipped in small, underground groups, this is a life-and-death emergency. They are being specifically and openly targeted by the Taliban.

These troubling events are a call to prayer. Family Research Council has been tracking the situation in Afghanistan, and we ask you to join us as we intercede for our endangered sisters and brothers there. For more on what's happening and how you can pray, please see the following resources:

The sobering religious freedom lesson of Afghanistan by Tony Perkins and Travis Weber

Afghan Christians Are Facing a Taliban Reign of Terror by Lela Gilbert

Explainer: What the Taliban Takeover Means for Afghan Believers by Arielle Del Turco and Tyler Watt

"They Need a Miracle": Pray for the People of Afghanistan by Arielle Del Turco

5 Ways to Pray for the People of Afghanistan by Arielle Del Turco

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, FRC's Executive Vice President, recently shared his take on the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

As Christians, women and girls, and many others flee, hide, and face a bleak future under the Taliban, please join us in keeping them in your prayers.

In His Name,

Lela Gilbert
Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom

Arielle Del Turco
Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty

"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them..."
Hebrews 13:3