“Afghanistan has no visible church”, explains SAT-7 broadcaster and Pastor Shoaib Ebadi. But since the year 2,000 a church with less than 100 known indigenous believers has grown to five or eight thousand.
With them in mind, his programme, Secret of Life, aims to model what church can be, beginning with an “impact spot” that addresses a current situation before continuing with teaching from the Bible, worship songs and interviews with other Christians. These have helped to disciple the seekers and believers who watch the live programme each week and, in some cases, meet secretly in small groups. Since the August 2021 return to power by the Taliban their security and lives are even more at risk.
In this interview with SAT-7 UK Press Officer Lindsay Shaw, Shoiab shares some of the messages he is receiving and the challenges that all Afghans are facing. But he also believes that, as many foreign Christians have had to leave Afghanistan, the local believers have a greater opportunity to lead the Church in ways that are most sensitive and relevant to local culture and context.