Comfort and strength for Afghans after university attack
“You cannot prevent the young from hoping, or from learning,” is the message from Afghan young people, shared through SAT-7 PARS after a deadly gun attack on Kabul University that killed 22 students. On the Dari-language program Secrets of Life, presenter Shoaib comforts Afghans with the Christian message of hope and the resilience of youth.
“Jesus Christ is with us and will never leave us. He shares in our sorrow and in the sorrow of all who suffer. Not only in Afghanistan, but in all the world. The Lord is with these families and these students this week, and He is helping them. We pray that God will give them peace, and we pray that He will bring peace to Afghanistan.”
This was the message shared by presenter Shoiab on Secrets of Life following the shooting on 2 November, which was one of a spate of recent attacks targeting civilians in Afghanistan despite ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Referencing Psalm 13, which begins, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?”, Shoaib comforts viewers, saying:
“People are losing friends and family members in these explosions every day. In the first six months of this year, more than 800 people have reportedly been killed. Like King David, we may reach the point where we might think God has forgotten us or has ‘hidden His face’ from us. Not so. God will never forget us. He always sees us. He never hides His face.”
Along with this message of comfort for hurting Afghans, Shoaib shares the resilience of youth in the country.
“After the attack, students set up a hashtag saying, ‘Don’t kill us – there are too many of us. You will run out of bullets.” Today our youth and our people really want to send a single message to the terrorists, and to those who want to instill fear – that they cannot hold back the young. They cannot impede knowledge. And they cannot prevent our young people from hoping, or from learning.”
On Secrets of Life, which is produced by Pamir Christian Ministries Shoaib also shares a poem recently written by an Afghan Christian woman, which says:
“The world overflows
with pain I no longer can endure.
Come bring relief from the pain, or grant patience
When the venomous sting of this world depletes my fortitude
In that day remember me.
You, the antidote to the poison,
be my peace and vindication.
Turn, oh spinning globe,
for the Sovereign hears,
and fills the people’s emptiness.
Come remove the oppressor
or grant a heart free of hate
I have a living hope in a hand
that will wipe away the tears of the meek.”
Responding to the poem, Shoiab says, “Today there is only one person who can wipe away the tears of the helpless – the families, the students, the wounded people – and they are not alone; – there are hundreds and thousands like them. And who is He? He is Jesus Christ.”