A Christian Family’s Key to Freedom

Fleeing Muslim Taliban oppression in Afghanistan is dangerous, but in this case, God intervened mightily.

The militant Taliban are notorious for their barbaric cruelty toward anyone who fails to follow their law. For many Christians, it’s a tragic story of detention, torture and execution. One desperate Christian family being ministered to by World Challenge fled from Afghanistan to neighboring Pakistan. 

As Abdul and his wife Zahra packed their belongings, they included their only Bible, tucked into a small cloth bag.* Inside the Bible they placed their local ID cards, indicating their religion as “Other.” But if the Bible was discovered they could face terrifying trouble. The bag with the Bible and the ID cards was placed in one of their suitcases and secured with a small lock.

At the Afghan border, Abdul and some of their children stood in one line, while Zahra and the rest of the children were in another. In the crowd they lost sight of each other. Without warning, police pulled Zahra and her children out of the line and demanded that she open her suitcase carrying the Bible.

Frightened for the safety of her family, Zahra handed over the key and began praying silently for God’s protection. The policeman grew frustrated. The key wouldn’t open the lock! He turned back to Zahra and angrily demanded why. She replied honestly: The key should work. The policeman called a colleague, who couldn’t make the key work either.

Suddenly, a high-ranking officer appeared, demanding to know what was going on. The policemen explained, and the superior began shouting at them: Why have you detained a lonely woman with her children? Then he turned to Zahra, releasing her to cross the border!

When she and Abdul were reunited, she recounted the experience. Dumbstruck, he took the key, pushed it into the lock, turned it and it opened instantly. God will work miraculously to rebuild the Church in the Muslim World. 

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^{* Not real names. For our ministry partners’ security, we don’t release names or locations in highly sensitive areas.}