What started with eight Christians in Luke Anwari’s Afghanistan apartment in 2011 has grown to 450 men and women together from different clans in what is otherwise a segregated society.
What started with eight Christians in Luke Anwari’s Afghanistan apartment in 2011 has grown to 450 believers in 30 to 35 house churches. Surviving the tumultuous political journey of his country, Luke now works from a base in Canada to help Afghan Christians “beset by years of suffering” find new life through the power of reconciliation.
Although he had to leave the country in 2014, he has remained a prominent voice for religious freedom. He trains and supports Christian leaders in the increasingly large Afghan house church network, has translated Christian books and materials into Dari, and maintains a strong online presence for Afghan Christians and Afghans inquiring about the Christian faith.
These house churches gather “like a family,” Luke says. They eat a meal together, read portions of the Bible, pray, share stories and sing. In a country whose social structure is characterized by distrust, these house churches welcome believers from all tribes. “We trust each other in Christ.”
Perhaps more remarkable is they experience gender reconciliation. Afghan society is gender segregated and only in someone’s family do men and women gather together. In the house churches men and women from different clans and families worship together.
Older women might be comfortable with gender segregation. “It’s worse for the younger generation. A 20-year-old girl had gone to school, had walked around, gone for ice cream, had a carefree life. Now [she’s] sitting in the corner of her apartment in Kabul. She can’t go out, go to school, do anything. They feel hopeless there right now.”
In these house churches men and women are together, worshipping and growing. Afghanistan is among the “worst country to be a woman and the worst country to be a religious minority. There are no Christians in Afghanistan who have not suffered.”
But Luke says, “This is a good season to be sharing the gospel of reconciliation.”
- Luke Anwari was the guest on an All Things Reconciled podcast episode several months ago. Listen to it here.
- He will be sharing his testimony in a live webinar hosted by Loving Muslims Together planned for this weekend. Contact them to learn more.